Romans 1
1
Greeting
1Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, #1 Cor. 1:1; 9:1; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:11called to be an apostle, #Acts 9:15; 13:2; (Gal. 1:15)separated to the gospel of God 2#Acts 26:6which He promised before #Gal. 3:8through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was #2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Chr. 17:11; Is. 9:7; Jer. 23:5; Gal. 4:4born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4and #Ps. 2:7; Acts 9:20; 13:33; Heb. 1:2declared to be the Son of God with power according #Ps. 16:10; (Heb. 9:14)to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5Through Him #Eph. 3:8we have received grace and apostleship for #Acts 6:7; Rom. 16:26obedience to the faith among all nations #Acts 9:15for His name, 6among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
7To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, #Acts 9:13; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 1:2, 24called to be saints:
#Num. 6:25; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Desire to Visit Rome
8First, #1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:15; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that #Acts 28:22; Rom. 16:19your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9For #Rom. 9:1God is my witness, #Acts 27:23whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that #1 Thess. 3:10without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11For I long to see you, that #Rom. 15:29I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by #Titus 1:4the mutual faith both of you and me.
13Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but #(1 Thess. 2:18)was hindered until now), that I might have some #Phil. 4:17fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
The Just Live by Faith
16For #Ps. 40:9, 10I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for #1 Cor. 1:18, 24it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, #Luke 2:30; Acts 3:26; Rom. 2:9for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17For #Rom. 3:21; 9:30; Phil. 3:9in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, #Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38“The just shall live by faith.”
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
18#(Acts 17:30)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and #Rom. 6:13; 2 Thess. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:13; 1 John 5:17unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because #(Acts 14:17; 17:24)what may be known of God is manifest in them, for #(John 1:9)God has shown it to them. 20For since the creation of the world #Job 12:7–9; Ps. 19:1–6; Jer. 5:22His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but #2 Kin. 17:15; Jer. 2:5; Eph. 4:17became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22#Jer. 10:14; (1 Cor. 1:20)Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the #1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15, 16incorruptible #Deut. 4:16–18; Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11; Acts 17:29God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24#Ps. 81:12; Acts 7:42; Eph. 4:18, 19Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, #1 Cor. 6:18to dishonor their bodies #Lev. 18:22among themselves, 25who exchanged #1 Thess. 1:9the truth of God #Is. 44:20; Jer. 10:14; 13:25; 16:19for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to #Lev. 18:22; Eph. 5:12vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things #Eph. 5:4which are not fitting; 29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32who, #(Rom. 2:2)knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things #(Rom. 6:21)are deserving of death, not only do the same but also #(Ps. 50:18); Hos. 7:3approve of those who practice them.
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Romans 1: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Romans 1
1
1I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve Christ Jesus. I have been appointed to be an apostle. God set me apart to tell others his good news. 2He promised the good news long ago. He announced it through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. 3The good news is about God’s Son. He was born into the family line of King David. 4By the Holy Spirit, he was appointed to be the mighty Son of God. God did this by raising him from the dead. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5We received grace because of what Jesus did. He made us apostles to the Gentiles. We must invite all of them to obey God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him. 6You also are among those Gentiles who are appointed to belong to Jesus Christ.
7I am sending this letter to all of you in Rome. You are loved by God and appointed to be his holy people.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Longs to Visit Rome
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. People all over the world are talking about your faith. 9I serve God with my whole heart. I preach the good news about his Son. God knows that I always remember you 10in my prayers. I pray that now at last it may be God’s plan to open the way for me to visit you.
11I long to see you. I want to make you strong by giving you a gift from the Holy Spirit. 12I want us to encourage one another in the faith we share. 13Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to visit you. But until now I have been kept from coming. My work has produced results among the other Gentiles. In the same way, I want to see results among you.
14I have a duty both to Greeks and to non-Greeks. I have a duty both to wise people and to foolish people. 15So I really want to preach the good news also to you who live in Rome.
16I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes. It is meant first for the Jews. It is meant also for the Gentiles. 17The good news shows God’s power to make people right with himself. God’s power to be made right with him is given to the person who has faith. It happens by faith from beginning to end. It is written, “The one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
God’s Anger Against Sinners
18God shows his anger from heaven. It is against all the godless and evil things people do. They are so evil that they say no to the truth. 19The truth about God is plain to them. God has made it plain. 20Ever since the world was created it has been possible to see the qualities of God that are not seen. I’m talking about his eternal power and about the fact that he is God. Those things can be seen in what he has made. So people have no excuse for what they do.
21They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. 22They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. 23They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.
24So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They made one another’s bodies impure by what they did. 25They chose a lie instead of the truth about God. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he is praised forever. Amen.
26So God let them continue to have their shameful desires. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. 27In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual desire for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the wrong things they did.
28They didn’t think it was important to know God. So God let them continue to have evil thoughts. They did things they shouldn’t do. 29They are full of every kind of sin, evil and ungodliness. They want more than they need. They commit murder. They want what belongs to other people. They fight and cheat. They hate others. They say mean things about other people. 30They tell lies about them. They hate God. They are rude and proud. They brag. They think of new ways to do evil. They don’t obey their parents. 31They do not understand. They can’t be trusted. They are not loving and kind. 32They know that God’s commands are right. They know that those who do evil things should die. But they continue to do those very things. They also approve of others who do them.
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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