1 Paul[a], a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle[b], having been separated[c] for the good-news of God 2 which He promised-beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 concerning His Son— the One having come from the seed of David according-to[d] the flesh, 4 the One having been designated[e] as the Son of God with power according to the Spirit[f] of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord— 5 through Whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of [g] faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of His name, 6 among whom you also are called ones of Jesus Christ, 7 to all the ones being in Rome, beloved ones of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I am giving-thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world. 9 For God is my witness— Whom I am serving in my spirit in[h] the good-news of His Son— how unceasingly I am making mention of you 10 always in my prayers, asking if somehow now at last I shall be prospered in the will of God to come to you.
11 For I am yearning to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you so that you may be established. 12 And this is that I may be encouraged-together-with you among you— through each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 And I do not want you to be-unaware, brothers, that often I planned to come to you— and was prevented until now— in order that I might have some fruit among you also, as indeed among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and foolish. 15 So for my part, I am eager also to announce-the-good-news to you, the ones in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed-of the good-news, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone believing[i]— both to the Jew first and to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of [j] God is revealed in it from faith to faith, just as it has been written [in Hab 2:4]: “But the righteous one shall live by faith”.
God’s Wrath Is Upon All Sin
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness[k] and unrighteousness[l] of people holding-down[m] the truth in[n] unrighteousness.
Because God Revealed Enough of Himself In Creation For The World To Be Without Excuse
19 Because the thing known of God is evident[o] in[p] them, for God made it evident to them. 20 For His invisible things— both His eternal power and divine-nature— are clearly-seen, being understood since the creation of the world in the things made, so that they are without-excuse.
And Having Known This Truth About God, The World Did Not Honor Him As God
21 Because having known God, they did not glorify Him as God or give-thanks, but became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless heart was darkened.
They Turned From The Glory of The Immortal God To Their Crafted Images of God
22 While claiming to be wise, they became-foolish 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a likeness— an image of a mortal person and of birds and of four-footed-animals and of reptiles. 24 Therefore God handed them over[q] in the desires of their hearts to impurity so that [r] their bodies are dishonored among them.
They Turned From The Truth To Worship The Creation Rather Than The Creator
25 Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie[s], and worshiped and served the creation[t] rather than the One having created— Who is blessed forever, amen. 26 For this reason God handed them over to passions of [u] dishonor. For both their females exchanged the natural [sexual] function for the one contrary to nature, 27 and likewise also the males, having left the natural [sexual] function of the female, were inflamed by their craving for one another— males with males committing the indecent-act[v] and receiving-back in themselves the return[w] which was due their error[x].
They Disapproved of Keeping God In Mind
28 And as they did not approve to have[y] God in their knowledge, God handed them over to a disapproved mind, to do the things not being proper— 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, evilness, greed, badness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; whisperers[z], 30 slanderers, God-haters[aa], violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evils, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, unfaithful[ab], unaffectionate[ac], unmerciful; 32 who, having known the regulation of God that the ones practicing such things are worthy of death, not only are doing them, but are also giving-approval to the ones practicing them.
Footnotes
- Romans 1:1 On when this book was written, see Act 20:3. Paul was in Corinth, Rom 16:23.
- Romans 1:1 Or, called to be an apostle.
- Romans 1:1 That is, set apart, appointed.
- Romans 1:3 Or, with respect to.
- Romans 1:4 Or, declared to be.
- Romans 1:4 Or, His spirit.
- Romans 1:5 That is, consisting of; or, proceeding from.
- Romans 1:9 That is, in connection with.
- Romans 1:16 Or, exercising faith. Same root word as ‘faith’ in v 17.
- Romans 1:17 That is, from God; or, belonging to God; or, the God-kind of-righteousness.
- Romans 1:18 That is, lack of reverence toward God; profaneness.
- Romans 1:18 That is, wrongdoing; actions violating God’s standards.
- Romans 1:18 Or, suppressing, holding back, restraining.
- Romans 1:18 That is, in connection with; or, by means of.
- Romans 1:19 Or, clear, visible, plainly seen.
- Romans 1:19 Or, among.
- Romans 1:24 Or, gave them up.
- Romans 1:24 Or ‘impurity, the dishonoring as to their bodies among themselves’.
- Romans 1:25 That is, the lie of false religion. Or, falsehood.
- Romans 1:25 Or, creature.
- Romans 1:26 That is, characterized by; or, leading to; or, proceeding from.
- Romans 1:27 Or, the shameful-deed.
- Romans 1:27 This is a neutral rendering; negatively it means ‘penalty’.
- Romans 1:27 Or, deception, delusion.
- Romans 1:28 Or, hold, retain.
- Romans 1:29 That is, gossips.
- Romans 1:30 Or, God-hated. These may be combined as slandering whisperers, God-hated violent ones, proud boasters.
- Romans 1:31 Or, undutiful.
- Romans 1:31 Or, without good feelings for others.