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Dear friends in Rome: This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen to be a missionary, and sent out to preach God’s Good News. This Good News was promised long ago by God’s prophets in the Old Testament. It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came as a human baby, born into King David’s royal family line; and by being raised from the dead he was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God himself.

And now, through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us undeserving sinners; and now he is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done for them, so that they, too, will believe and obey him.

6-7 And you, dear friends in Rome, are among those he dearly loves; you, too, are invited by Jesus Christ to be God’s very own—yes, his holy people. May all God’s mercies and peace be yours from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let me say first of all that wherever I go I hear you being talked about! For your faith in God is becoming known around the world. How I thank God through Jesus Christ for this good report, and for each one of you. God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to the one I serve with all my might, telling others the Good News about his Son.

10 And one of the things I keep on praying for is the opportunity, God willing,[a] to come at last to see you and, if possible, that I will have a safe trip. 11-12 For I long to visit you so that I can impart to you the faith[b] that will help your church grow strong in the Lord. Then, too, I need your help, for I want not only to share my faith with you but to be encouraged by yours: Each of us will be a blessing to the other.

13 I want you to know, dear brothers, that I planned to come many times before (but was prevented) so that I could work among you and see good results, just as I have among the other Gentile churches.[c] 14 For I owe a great debt to you and to everyone else, both to civilized people and uncivilized alike; yes, to the educated and uneducated alike. 15 So, to the fullest extent of my ability, I am ready to come also to you in Rome to preach God’s Good News.

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now everyone is invited to come to God in this same way. 17 This Good News tells us that God makes us ready for heaven—makes us right in God’s sight—when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.[d] As the Scripture says it, “The man who finds life will find it through trusting God.”

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively;[e] God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day.[f]

21 Yes, they knew about him all right, but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care. And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what he wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead. 23 And then, instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they took wood and stone and made idols for themselves, carving them to look like mere birds and animals and snakes and puny[g] men.

24 So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to—yes, vile and sinful things with each other’s bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn’t obey the blessed God who made these things.

26 That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God’s natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sex relationships with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved.

28 So it was that when they gave God up and would not even acknowledge him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip.

30 They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents. 31 They tried to misunderstand,[h] broke their promises, and were heartless—without pity. 32 They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others to do them, too.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:10 God willing, literally, “in the will of God.” that I will have a safe trip, or “that I will finally succeed in coming.”
  2. Romans 1:11 the faith, literally, “some spiritual gift.”
  3. Romans 1:13 among the other Gentile churches, literally, “among the Gentiles.”
  4. Romans 1:17 This is accomplished from start to finish by faith, literally, “[This] righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” “The man who finds life will find it through trusting God” (Habakkuk 2:4).
  5. Romans 1:19 is known to them instinctively, literally, “is manifest in them.”
  6. Romans 1:20 no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day, implied; or “no excuse for saying there is no God.”
  7. Romans 1:23 puny, literally, “mortal.”
  8. Romans 1:31 tried to misunderstand, or “were confused fools.”

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle(A) and set apart(B) for the gospel of God(C) the gospel he promised beforehand(D) through his prophets(E) in the Holy Scriptures(F) regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a](G) was a descendant of David,(H) and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b](I) by his resurrection from the dead:(J) Jesus Christ our Lord.(K) Through him we received grace(L) and apostleship to call all the Gentiles(M) to the obedience that comes from[c] faith(N) for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.(O)

To all in Rome who are loved by God(P) and called to be his holy people:(Q)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.(R)

Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,(S) because your faith is being reported all over the world.(T) God, whom I serve(U) in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness(V) how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times;(W) and I pray that now at last by God’s will(X) the way may be opened for me to come to you.(Y)

11 I long to see you(Z) so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift(AA) to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware,(AB) brothers and sisters,[d](AC) that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)(AD) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

14 I am obligated(AE) both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.(AF)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,(AG) because it is the power of God(AH) that brings salvation to everyone who believes:(AI) first to the Jew,(AJ) then to the Gentile.(AK) 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed(AL)—a righteousness that is by faith(AM) from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f](AN)

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

18 The wrath of God(AO) is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.(AP) 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,(AQ) so that people are without excuse.(AR)

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.(AS) 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools(AT) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images(AU) made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over(AV) in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.(AW) 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,(AX) and worshiped and served created things(AY) rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.(AZ) Amen.(BA)

26 Because of this, God gave them over(BB) to shameful lusts.(BC) Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.(BD) 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.(BE)

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(BF) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,(BG) 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;(BH) 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,(BI) no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(BJ) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(BK) of those who practice them.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 1:3 Or who according to the flesh
  2. Romans 1:4 Or was declared with power to be the Son of God
  3. Romans 1:5 Or that is
  4. Romans 1:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 7:1, 4; 8:12, 29; 10:1; 11:25; 12:1; 15:14, 30; 16:14, 17.
  5. Romans 1:17 Or is from faith to faith
  6. Romans 1:17 Hab. 2:4