New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

1Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

2God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.

2which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

3The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line,

3concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

4and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

4who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

5Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,

6And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

6among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

7I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. God’s Good News

7to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

9God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.

9For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

10One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.

10always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

11For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

11For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

12When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

13I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.

13I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

14For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike.

14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

15So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

15So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” God’s Anger at Sin

17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

18But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

19because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

20For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

21Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

22Professing to be wise, they became fools,

23And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

24So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.

24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

25They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

25For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

26For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

27And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.

29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

30They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.

30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.

31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;

32They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org