⁸ First, ^(A)I thank my God through Jesus Christ ^[a]for you all, because ^(B)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. ⁹ For ^(C)God, whom I ^(D)serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly ^(E)I make mention of you, ¹⁰ always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by ^(F)the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(G)I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be ^[b]established; ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. ^13 (H)I do not want you to be unaware, ^(I)brethren, that often I ^(J)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some ^(K)fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (L)I am ^[c]under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(M)barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So, for my part, I am eager to ^(N)preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶ For I am not ^(O)ashamed of the gospel, for ^(P)it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the ^(Q)Jew first and also to ^(R)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(S)the righteousness of God is revealed ^[d]from faith to faith; as it is written, “^[e](T)But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For ^(U)the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who ^(V)suppress the truth ^[f]in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^(W)that which is known about God is evident ^[g]within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For ^(X)since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, ^(Y)being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not ^[h]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became ^(Z)futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ^22 (AA)Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(AB)exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and ^[i]crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AC)God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be ^(AD)dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for ^[j]a ^(AE)lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AF)who is blessed ^[k]forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AG)God gave them over to ^(AH)degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is ^[l]unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, ^(AI)men with men committing ^[m]indecent acts and receiving in ^[n]their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit ^[o]to acknowledge God any longer, ^(AJ)God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are ^(AK)gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, ^[p](AL)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, ^(AM)disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, ^(AN)unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of ^(AO)death, they not only do the same, but also ^(AP)give hearty approval to those who practice them.

⁹ For this reason also, ^(A)since the day we heard of it, ^(B)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^[a](C)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(D)wisdom and understanding,