God’s Good News for Rome

1Paul, a •slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostlea, b and singled outc for God’s good newsd — 2which He promised long agoe through His prophetsf in the Holy Scriptures — 3concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of Davidg, h according to the fleshi 4and who has been declared to be the powerfulj Son of Godk by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.l 5We have received grace and apostleshipm through Him to bring aboutn the obedienceo of faithp among all the nations,q, r on behalf of His name, 6including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling:s

7To all who are in Rome, loved by God,t calledu as •saints.v

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faithw is being reported in all the world.x 9For God, whom I serve with my spirity in telling the good news about His Son, is my witnessz that I constantly mention you,aa 10always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.ab 11For I want very much to see you,ac so I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

13Now I want you to know,ad, ae •brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until nowaf) in order that I might have a fruitful ministryag among you,ah just as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians,ai, aj both to the wise and the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the good newsak to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Will Live by Faith

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel,al, am because it is God’s power for salvationan to everyone who believes, first to the Jew,ao and also to the Greek.ap 17For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith,aq, ar just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.as, at, au

The Guilt of the Gentile World

18For God’s wrathav is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,aw 19since what can be knownax about God is evident among them,ay because God has shown it to them. 20For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,az being understood through what He has made.ba As a result, people are without excuse. 21For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.bb 22Claiming to be wise, they became foolsbc 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.bd

24Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their heartsbe to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,bf and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.bg •Amen.

From Idolatry to Depravity

26This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions.bh For even their females exchanged natural sexual relationsbi for unnatural ones. 27The males in the same way also left natural relationsbj with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with malesbk and received in their own personsbl the appropriate penalty of their error.

28And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. 29They are filled with all unrighteousness,bm evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,bn 30slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful,bo inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,bp 31undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,bq, br and unmerciful. 32Although they know full well God’s just sentence — that those who practice such things deserve to diebs, bt — they not only do them, but even applaudbu, bv others who practice them.