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12 
“So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in [the path of] their own counsel.(A)

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12 So I gave them over(A) to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

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So I will choose their punishments,
And will bring the things they dread upon them
Because I called, but no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen or obey.
But they did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

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so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and will bring on them what they dread.(A)
For when I called, no one answered,(B)
    when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil(C) in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”(D)

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21 For even though [a]they knew God [as the Creator], they did not [b]honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for [c]an image [worthless idols] in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], 25 because [by choice] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:21 Anyone who attributes the existence of the world to chance or to a different creator is already guilty of deliberately rejecting God, because to deny the true God one must set aside common sense.
  2. Romans 1:21 Lit glorify.
  3. Romans 1:23 Paul’s indictment of idolatry (images) is logical and devastating. He emphasizes that idols are essentially copies of living creatures, whether in human form (as, for example, in ancient Greek myth) or otherwise (as in Egyptian idolatry and metaphysics). These lifeless images are clearly powerless, and even the living creatures which they supposedly represent are either nonexistent hybrids and monsters, or else ordinary creatures on earth who could hardly create so much as a grain of sand.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.(A) 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools(B) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images(C) made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over(D) in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.(E) 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,(F) and worshiped and served created things(G) rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.(H) Amen.(I)

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28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive,

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28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(A) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

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