Romans 1

The Gospel Exalted

1Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, 12called as an apostle, 3set apart for 4the gospel of God, 2which He 5promised beforehand through His 6prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son, who was born 7of a 8descendant of David 9according to the flesh, 4who was declared 10the Son of God with power 11by the resurrection from the dead, according to the 12Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and 13apostleship 14to bring about the 15obedience of faith among 16all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6among whom you also are the 17called of Jesus Christ;

7to all who are 18beloved of God in Rome, called as 1920saints: 21Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8First, 22I thank my God through Jesus Christ 23for you all, because 24your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9For 25God, whom I 26serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly 27I make mention of you, 10always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by 28the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11For 29I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be 30established; 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. 1331I do not want you to be unaware, 32brethren, that often I 33have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some 34fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 1435I am 36under obligation both to Greeks and to 37barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So, for my part, I am eager to 38preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16For I am not 39ashamed of the gospel, for 40it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the 41Jew first and also to 42the Greek. 17For in it 43the righteousness of God is revealed 44from faith to faith; as it is written, “4546But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Unbelief and Its Consequences

18For 47the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who 48suppress the truth 49in unrighteousness, 19because 50that which is known about God is evident 51within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For 52since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, 53being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21For even though they knew God, they did not 54honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became 55futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 2256Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and 57exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and 58crawling creatures.

24Therefore 59God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be 60dishonored among them. 25For they exchanged the truth of God for 61a 62lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, 63who is blessed 64forever. Amen.

26For this reason 65God gave them over to 66degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is 67unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, 68men with men committing 69indecent acts and receiving in 70their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28And just as they did not see fit 71to acknowledge God any longer, 72God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are 73gossips, 30slanderers, 7475haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, 76disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, 77unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of 78death, they not only do the same, but also 79give hearty approval to those who practice them.