Chronological
Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece
20 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging[a] them and saying farewell,[b] he left to go to Macedonia.[c] 2 After he had gone through those regions[d] and spoken many words of encouragement[e] to the believers there,[f] he came to Greece,[g] 3 where he stayed[h] for three months. Because the Jews had made[i] a plot[j] against him as he was intending[k] to sail[l] for Syria, he decided[m] to return through Macedonia.[n]
Salutation
1 From Paul,[a] a slave[b] of Christ Jesus,[c] called to be an apostle,[d] set apart for the gospel of God.[e] 2 This gospel[f] he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 concerning his Son who was a descendant[g] of David with reference to the flesh,[h] 4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power[i] according to the Holy Spirit[j] by the resurrection[k] from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him[l] we have received grace and our apostleship[m] to bring about the obedience[n] of faith[o] among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name. 6 You also are among them,[p] called to belong to Jesus Christ.[q] 7 To all those loved by God in Rome, called to be saints:[r] Grace and peace to you[s] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome
8 First of all,[t] I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel[u] of his Son, is my witness that[v] I continually remember you 10 and I always ask[w] in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God.[x] 11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift[y] to strengthen you, 12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith,[z] both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware,[aa] brothers and sisters,[ab] that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.[ac] 14 I am a debtor[ad] both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 Thus I am eager[ae] also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.
The Power of the Gospel
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.[af] 17 For the righteousness[ag] of God is revealed in the gospel[ah] from faith to faith,[ai] just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”[aj]
The Condemnation of the Unrighteous
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people[ak] who suppress the truth by their[al] unrighteousness,[am] 19 because what can be known about God is plain to them,[an] because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people[ao] are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts[ap] were darkened. 22 Although they claimed[aq] to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings[ar] or birds or four-footed animals[as] or reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over[at] in the desires of their hearts to impurity,[au] to dishonor[av] their bodies among themselves.[aw] 25 They[ax] exchanged the truth of God for a lie[ay] and worshiped and served the creation[az] rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,[ba] 27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women[bb] and were inflamed in their passions[bc] for one another. Men[bd] committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God,[be] God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.[bf] 29 They are filled[bg] with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with[bh] envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, covenant-breakers,[bi] heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they fully know[bj] God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die,[bk] they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.[bl]
The Condemnation of the Moralist
2 [bm] Therefore[bn] you are without excuse,[bo] whoever you are,[bp] when you judge someone else.[bq] For on whatever grounds[br] you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth[bs] against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think,[bt] whoever you are, when you judge[bu] those who practice such things and yet do them yourself,[bv] that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know[bw] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness[bx] and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed![by] 6 He[bz] will reward[ca] each one according to his works:[cb] 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 8 but[cc] wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition[cd] and do not obey the truth but follow[ce] unrighteousness. 9 There will be[cf] affliction and distress on everyone[cg] who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek,[ch] 10 but[ci] glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For all who have sinned apart from the law[cj] will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.[ck] 14 For whenever the Gentiles,[cl] who do not have the law, do by nature[cm] the things required by the law,[cn] these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 15 They[co] show that the work of the law is written[cp] in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend[cq] them,[cr] 16 on the day when God will judge[cs] the secrets of human hearts,[ct] according to my gospel[cu] through Christ Jesus.
The Condemnation of the Jew
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law[cv] and boast of your relationship to God[cw] 18 and know his will[cx] and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,[cy] 19 and if you are convinced[cz] that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth— 21 therefore[da] you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor[db] idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”[dc]
25 For circumcision[dd] has its value if you practice the law, but[de] if you break the law,[df] your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys[dg] the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And the physically uncircumcised man,[dh] by keeping the law, will judge you to be the transgressor of the law, even though[di] you have the letter[dj] and circumcision! 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart[dk] by the Spirit[dl] and not by the letter.[dm] This person’s[dn] praise is not from people but from God.
3 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Actually, there are many advantages.[do] First of all,[dp] the Jews[dq] were entrusted with the oracles of God.[dr] 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, their unfaithfulness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being[ds] shown up as a liar,[dt] just as it is written: “so that you will be justified[du] in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[dv]
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates[dw] the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)[dx] 6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances[dy] his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as some who slander us allege that we say.[dz] (Their[ea] condemnation is deserved!)
The Condemnation of the World
9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 10 just as it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”[eb]
13 “Their throats are open graves,[ec]
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.”[ed]
14 “Their mouths are[ee] full of cursing and bitterness.”[ef]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”[eg]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[eh]
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under[ei] the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him[ej] by the works of the law,[ek] for through the law comes[el] the knowledge of sin. 21 But now[em] apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets)[en] has been disclosed— 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ[eo] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified[ep] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed[eq] him[er] at his death[es] as the mercy seat[et] accessible through faith.[eu] This was to demonstrate[ev] his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.[ew] 26 This was[ex] also to demonstrate[ey] his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just[ez] and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.[fa]
27 Where, then, is boasting?[fb] It is excluded! By what principle?[fc] Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person[fd] is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.[fe] 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one,[ff] he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify[fg] the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead[fh] we uphold the law.
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