| 1 | From Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) called to be an apostle, (a special messenger) set apart to [preach] the Gospel (good news) of
and
from God, |
| 2 | Which He promised in advance [long ago] through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures— |
| 3 | [The Gospel] regarding His Son, Who as to the flesh (His human nature) was descended from David, |
| 4 | And [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness was openly
[a]designated the Son of God in power [in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner] by His resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord (the Messiah, the Anointed One). |
| 5 | It is through Him that we have received grace (God’s unmerited favor) and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith
and
make disciples for His name’s sake among all the nations, |
| 6 | And this includes you, called of Jesus Christ
and
invited [as you are] to belong to Him. |
| 7 | To [you then] all God’s beloved ones in Rome, called to be saints
and
designated for a consecrated life: Grace
and
spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 8 | First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because [the report of] your faith is made known to all the world
and
is
[b]commended everywhere. |
| 9 | For God is my witness, Whom I serve with my [whole] spirit [rendering priestly and spiritual service] in [preaching] the Gospel
and
[telling] the good news of His Son, how incessantly I always mention you when at my prayers. |
| 10 | I keep pleading that somehow by God’s will I may now at last prosper
and
come to you. |
| 11 | For I am yearning to see you, that I may impart
and
share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen
and
establish you; |
| 12 | That is, that we may be mutually strengthened
and
encouraged
and
comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. |
| 13 | I want you to know, brethren, that many times I have planned
and
intended to come to you, though thus far I have been hindered
and
prevented, in order that I might have some fruit (some result of my labors) among you, as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. |
| 14 | Both to Greeks and to barbarians (to the cultured and to the uncultured), both to the wise and the foolish, I have an obligation to discharge
and
a duty to perform
and
a debt to pay. |
| 15 | So, for my part, I am willing
and
eagerly ready to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome. |
| 16 | For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news)
of Christ
, for it is God’s power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes
with
a personal trust
and
a confident surrender
and
firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, |
| 17 | For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just
and
upright shall live
and
shall live by faith. |
| 18 | For God’s [holy] wrath
and
indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress
and
hinder the truth
and
make it inoperative. |
| 19 | For that which is known about God is evident to them
and
made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. |
| 20 | For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature
and
attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible
and
clearly discernible in
and
through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], |
| 21 | Because when they knew
and
recognized Him as God, they did not honor
and
glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile
and
[c]godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. |
| 22 | Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. |
| 23 | And by them the glory and majesty
and
excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for
and
represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. |
| 24 | Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], |
| 25 | Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it). |
| 26 | For this reason God gave them over
and
abandoned them to vile affections
and
degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural
and
abnormal one, |
| 27 | And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another—men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own
[d]bodies
and
personalities the inevitable consequences
and
penalty of their wrong-doing
and
going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution. |
| 28 | And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God
or
approve of Him
or
consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base
and
condemned mind to do things not proper
or
decent
but
loathsome, |
| 29 | Until they were filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping
and
covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy
and
jealousy, murder, strife, deceit
and
treachery, ill will
and
cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters
and
gossipers, |
| 30 | Slanderers, hateful to
and
hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient
and
undutiful to parents. |
| 31 | [They were] without understanding, conscienceless
and
faithless, heartless
and
loveless [and] merciless. |
| 32 | Though they are fully aware of God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves but approve
and
applaud others who practice them. |
Cross references:
-
Romans 1:17 : Hab. 2:4.
-
Romans 1:20 : Ps. 19: 1-4.
-
Romans 1:25 : Jer. 2:11.
|