1 Paul,a[Gal. 1:10] a servant of Christ Jesus,b1 Cor. 1:1; [1 Cor. 9:1; Heb. 5:4]; See 2 Cor. 1:1 called to be an apostle,cSee Acts 13:2 set apart for the gospel of God, 2 whichdTitus 1:2 he promised beforehandech. 3:21; 16:26; Luke 1:70 through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son,fSee Matt. 1:1 who was descended from DavidgGal. 4:4 according to the flesh 4 andh[Acts 13:33] was declared to be the Son of Godi2 Cor. 13:4; Eph. 1:19, 20; Phil. 3:10; [Acts 10:38; 26:23] in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whomjch. 12:3; 15:15 we have received grace andkSee Acts 1:25 apostleshiplch. 6:16; 16:26; 1 Pet. 1:2; [ch. 15:18; Acts 6:7] to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his namemSee Acts 9:15 among all the nations, 6 including you who arenRev. 17:14; [ch. 8:28, 30] called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:o1 Cor. 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First,p1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:15, 16; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3, 4; [ch. 6:17; Phil. 4:6; 2 Tim. 1:3] I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,qch. 16:19; [1 Thess. 1:8] because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 rPhil. 1:8; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10; [ch. 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:23; 11:10, 31] For God is my witness,sSee Acts 24:14 whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son,t2 Tim. 1:3 that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehowuch. 15:32; [1 Thess. 3:10] by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 Forvch. 15:22, 23; [Acts 19:21] I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouragedwSee 2 Pet. 1:1 by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, thatxch. 15:22, 23; [Acts 19:21] I have often intended to come to you (butych. 15:22; [1 Thess. 2:18] thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap somezPhil. 4:17; [John 4:36] harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 a1 Cor. 9:16 I am under obligation both to Greeks and tobSee Acts 28:2 barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 Ford[Ps. 40:9, 10]; See Mark 8:38 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it ise1 Cor. 1:18, 24 the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jewfch. 2:9; See Acts 3:26 first and also tog[Mark 7:26]; See John 7:35 the Greek. 17 For in ithch. 3:21; [2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9] the righteousness of God is revealediSee ch. 9:30 from faith for faith,1Or beginning and ending in faithjGal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38; Cited from Hab. 2:4 as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith. ”2Or The one who by faith is righteous shall live
18 ForkEph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; [ch. 5:9] the wrath of Godl[ch. 2:5] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can bemch. 2:14, 15; Acts 14:17; 17:24-27 known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,n[Ps. 19:1-6; Jer. 5:21, 22] have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but theyo2 Kgs. 17:15; Jer. 2:5; Eph. 4:17, 18 became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 pJer. 10:14; 1 Cor. 1:20 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 andqPs. 106:20; Jer. 2:11; [Deut. 4:16-18; Acts 17:29] exchanged the glory ofr1 Tim. 1:17 the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Thereforesver. 26, 28; [Eph. 4:19] God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, tot[1 Thess. 4:4] the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God foruIsa. 28:15; 44:19, 20; Jer. 10:14; Amos 2:4; [2 Thess. 2:11] a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,vch. 9:5 who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reasonwver. 24, 28 God gave them up tox[Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:5] dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,yLev. 18:22; 20:13 men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,zver. 24, 26 God gave them up toa[Jer. 6:30] a debased mind to dob[Eph. 5:4] what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they knowcch. 2:26; 8:4 God's decree that those who practice such thingsdch. 6:21 deserve to die, they not only do them buteLuke 11:48; Acts 8:1; 22:20; [1 Cor. 13:6; 2 Thess. 2:12] give approval to those who practice them.