Romans 2:16

Amplified Bible

on that day when, as my gospel proclaims, God will judge the secrets [all the hidden thoughts and concealed sins] of men through Christ Jesus.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
All this will happen on the day when God will judge people's secret thoughts through Jesus Christ. This is part of the Good News that I tell everyone.

Revised Standard Version
on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
at the daye when god shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ accordinge to my Gospell.

Hebrew Names Version
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Yeshua the Messiah.

International Standard Version
on that day when God, through Jesus Christ, will judge people's secrets according to my gospel.Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 25:31; John 5:22; 12:48; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 3:6; 16:25; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Timothy 1:11; 2 Timothy 2:8; 1 Peter 4:5; Revelation 20:12;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

New Century Version
All these things will happen on the day when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge people's secret thoughts. The Good News that I preach says this.

Update Bible Version
in the day when God judges the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Christ Jesus.

Webster's Bible Translation
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

English Standard Version
on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

World English Bible
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus, according to my gospel.

Weymouth's New Testament
on the day when God will judge the secrets of men's lives by Jesus Christ, as declared in the Good News as I have taught it.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
in the dai whanne God schal deme the priuy thingis of men aftir my gospel, bi Jhesu Crist.

English Revised Version
in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

Berean Standard Bible
This will come to pass on that day when God will judge men's secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

Contemporary English Version
when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone's secret thoughts, just as my message says.

American Standard Version
in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

Bible in Basic English
In the day when God will be a judge of the secrets of men, as it says in the good news of which I am a preacher, through Jesus Christ.

Complete Jewish Bible
on a day when God passes judgment on people's inmost secrets. (According to the Good News as I proclaim it, he does this through the Messiah Yeshua.)

Darby Translation
in [the] day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ.

Etheridge Translation
in the day when Aloha judgeth the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jeshu Meshiha.

Murdock Translation
16 in the day in which God will judge the secret [fn] of men, as my gospel [fn] , by Jesus the Messiah.

King James Version (1611)
In the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ, according to my Gospel.

New Living Translation
And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone's secret life.

New Life Bible
There will be a day when God will judge because He knows the secret thoughts of men. He will do this through Jesus Christ. This is part of the Good News I preach.

New Revised Standard
on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.

Geneva Bible (1587)
At the day when God shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ, according to my Gospel.

George Lamsa Translation
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jesus Christ.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
In the day on which God judgeth the secrets of men according to my glad-message through Christ Jesus.

Douay-Rheims Bible
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
At the day when God shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christe, accordyng to my Gospell.

Good News Translation
And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.

Christian Standard Bible®
on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

King James Version
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Lexham English Bible
on the day when God judges the secret things of people, according to my gospel, through Christ Jesus.

Literal Translation
in a day when God judges the hidden things of men, according to my gospel, through Jesus Christ.

Young's Literal Translation
in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my good news, through Jesus Christ.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in the daye whan God shal iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ, acordinge to my Gospell.

Mace New Testament (1729)
in the day, when according to my gospel, God shall judge the secret actions of men by Jesus Christ.

New English Translation
on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

New King James Version
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Simplified Cowboy Version
My message on this has always been plain as a sorrel horse. God will look at who someone really is and judge them accordingly through Christ Jesus.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Legacy Standard Bible
on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Contextual Overview

¹Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically] judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce]. ²And we know that the judgment of God falls justly and in accordance with truth on those who practice such things. ³But do you think this, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things, and yet do the same yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His verdict? ⁴Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]? ⁵But because of your callous stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are [deliberately] storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶He WILL PAY BACK TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS [justly, as his deeds deserve]: ⁷to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life. ⁸But for those who are selfishly ambitious and self-seeking and disobedient to the truth but responsive to wickedness, [there will be] wrath and indignation. ⁹There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, ¹⁰but glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

God: Romans 2:5, Romans 3:6, Romans 14:10-12, Genesis 18:25, Psalms 9:7, Psalms 9:8, Psalms 50:6, Psalms 96:13, Psalms 98:9, Ecclesiastes 3:17, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Ecclesiastes 12:14, Matthew 16:27, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 8:17, John 12:48, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 9:27, 1 Peter 4:5, 2 Peter 2:9, Revelation 20:11-15

by Jesus: John 5:22-29, Acts 10:42, Acts 17:31, 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8

according: Romans 16:25, 1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Timothy 2:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 38:25 - Discern Job 20:27 - heaven Psalms 44:21 - knoweth Psalms 90:8 - our Proverbs 24:12 - doth not he that Isaiah 51:5 - mine Matthew 12:36 - every Matthew 13:41 - and them Matthew 25:32 - before Mark 6:11 - in the day Luke 12:2 - General John 16:11 - judgment Acts 24:25 - judgment Romans 2:12 - in the law 1 Corinthians 3:13 - the day 1 Corinthians 5:13 - God 2 Corinthians 4:3 - our 2 Corinthians 10:14 - the gospel Ephesians 5:12 - in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - our 2 Thessalonians 2:14 - our gospel Hebrews 4:13 - with Hebrews 6:2 - eternal

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
So the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts (inhabitants).

Genesis 2:2
And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Genesis 2:9
And [in that garden] the LORD God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil.

1 Samuel 15:22
Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obedience to the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed [is better] than the fat of rams.

1 Timothy 4:4
For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;

1 Timothy 6:17
As for the rich in this present world, instruct them not to be conceited and arrogant, nor to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In the day when God shall judge,.... These words are to be read in connection with Romans 2:13, and express the time when both Jews and Gentiles will be judged, called a "day", both because of the clearness and evidence of the judgment that will be made, and because a certain time is fixed, though not known, which will surely come; also the matter of the judgment, which will be,

the secrets of men: whether good or bad, which are only known to God and themselves, and which may have been done ignorantly by them; "for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil", Ecclesiastes 12:14, which is so interpreted by the Jews t,

"when R. Jochanan came to that Scripture, he wept; "for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing";''

upon which the gloss says, yea, for those things which are hidden from him, which he has committed through ignorance, will he bring him into judgment; everything, even the least thing in a literal sense, but not for such silly trifling things they mention in the same place; doubtless the Holy Ghost means the secrets of men's hearts and actions, and the hidden things of darkness which are contrary to the holy law of God. The person by whom this awful judgment will be carried on is,

Jesus Christ; to whom all judgment is committed, who is ordained Judge of quick and dead, and is every way fit for that office, being God as well as man, and so both omniscient and omnipotent: and this the apostle says will be,

according to my Gospel; his meaning is not that the Gospel will be the, rule of judgment, because he speaking of the judgment of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, who never heard of the Gospel; but that what he had said concerning a day of judgment, of Christ's being the Judge, and of God's judging by him the secrets of men, were as true and as certain as the Gospel which he preached was; and was "conformable", or agreeable to it, as the Arabic version reads it, and might be learned and proved from it. This he calls, "my Gospel"; not because the author or subject of it; but because it was committed to his trust and was preached by him; and in opposition to, and to distinguish it from the Gospel of the false apostles. Eusebius says u, that the Apostle Paul had used to call the Gospel according to Luke his Gospel, and that it is said, that whenever he makes mention of his Gospel, he designs that.

t T. Bab. Chagigah, fol. 5. 1. u Eccles. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. p. 73.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the day - This verse is doubtless to be connected with Romans 2:12, and the intermediate verses are a parenthesis, and it implies that the pagan world, as well as the Jews, will be arraigned at the bar of judgment. At that time God will judge all in righteousness, the Jew by the Law which he had, and the pagan by the Law which he had.

When God shall judge - God is often represented as the Judge of mankind; Deuteronomy 32:36; Psa 50:4; 1 Samuel 2:10; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Romans 3:6; Hebrews 13:4. But this does not militate against the fact that he will do it by Jesus Christ. God has appointed his Son to administer judgment; and it will be not by God directly, but by Jesus Christ that it will be administered.

The secrets of men - See Luke 8:17; Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,” etc., Matthew 10:26; 1 Corinthians 4:5. The expression denotes the hidden desires, lusts, passions, and motives of people; the thoughts of the heart, as well as the outward actions of the life. It will be a characteristic of the day of judgment, that all these will he brought out, and receive their appropriate reward. The propriety of this is apparent, for,

1. It is by these that the character is really determined. The motives and principles of a man constitute his character, and to judge him impartially, these must be known.
2. They are not judged or rewarded in this life. The external conduct only can be seen by people, and of course that only can be rewarded or punished here.
3. People of pure motives and pure hearts are often here basely aspersed and calumniated. They are persecuted, traduced, and often overwhelmed with ignominy. It is proper that the secret motives of their conduct should be brought out and approved.

On the other hand, people of base motives, people of unprincipled character, and who are corrupt at the heart, are often lauded, flattered, and exalted into public estimation. It is proper that their secret principles should be detected, and that they should take their proper place in the government of God. In regard to this expression, we may further remark,

(1) That the fact that all secret thoughts and purposes will be brought into judgment, invests the judgment with an awful character. Who should not tremble at the idea that the secret plans and desires of his soul, which he has so long and so studiously concealed, should be brought out into noon-day in the judgment? All his artifices of concealment shall be then at an end. He will be able to practice disguise no longer. He will be seen as he is; and he will receive the doom he deserves. There will be one place, at least, where the sinner shall be treated as he ought.

(2) To execute this judgment implies the power of searching the heart; of knowing the thoughts; and of developing and unfolding all the purposes and plans of the soul. Yet this is intrusted to Jesus Christ, and the fact that he will exercise this, shows that he is divine.

Of men - Of all people, whether Jew or Gentile, infidel or Christian. The day of judgment, therefore, may be regarded as a day of universal development of all the plans and purposes that have ever been entertained in this world.

By Jesus Christ - The fact that Jesus Christ is appointed to judge the world is abundantly taught in the Bible, Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5; John 5:22, John 5:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Matthew 25:31-46.

According to my gospel - According to the gospel which I preach. Compare Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:8. This does not mean that the gospel which he preached would be the rule by which God would judge all mankind, for he had just said that the pagan world would be judged by a different rule, Romans 2:12. But it means that he was intrusted with the gospel to make it known; and that one of the great and prime articles of that gospel was, that God would judge the world by Jesus Christ. To make this known he was appointed; and it could be called his gospel only as being a part of the important message with which he was intrusted.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 2:16. In the day when God shall judge — And all this shall be farther exemplified and proved in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ; which judgment shall be according to my Gospel-according to what I am now laying down before you, relative to the impartiality of God, and his righteous procedure in judging men, not according to their opinions or prejudices, not according to revelations which they never possessed, but according to the various advantages or disadvantages of their political, religious, or domestic situation in life.

Much stress has been laid on the word, φυσει, by nature, in Romans 2:14, as if the apostle designed to intimate that nature, independently of the influence of Divine grace, possessed such principles as were sufficient to guide a man to glory. But certainly the term cannot be so understood here. I rather think that the sense given to it in Suicer's Thesaurus, vol ii. col. 1475, reipsa, revera, CERTAINLY, TRULY, is its sense here: for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, φυσει ποιη, TRULY, or in effect, DO the things contained in the law, c. This seems to be its sense in Galatians 4:8: When ye knew not God, ye did service to them which φυσει, CERTAINLY are no gods i.e. are false gods. Suicer quotes Cyril of Alexandria, (sub Anathematismo iii. in Actis Ephesinis, p. 212,) speaking of the union of the two natures in Christ; he calls this union φυσικην, natural; that is, says he, αληθη, true, or real. He adds, that the word should be thus understood in Ephesians 2:3: We were by nature, φυσει, children of wrath; and says, φυσει αντι του αληθως. φυσει is here used for αληθως, TRULY; We were TRULY, INCONTESTABLY, the children of wrath, even as others. That is, like the rest of mankind, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and, consequently are exposed to punishment. Some think that this text refers to the natural corruption of man; but, although it is true that man comes into the world corrupt, and that all men, since the fall, are very far gone from original righteousness, yet it is not clear that the text in Ephesians 2:3, speaks of any other thing than the effects of this degeneracy.

I prefer this sense, in the passage in question, to that which says the light of nature, or natural instinct, is here meant; for I know of no light in nature that is not kindled there by the grace of God. But I have no objection to this sense: "When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do, by the influence of God upon their hearts, the things contained in the law, they are a law unto themselves; that light and influence serving instead of a Divine revelation." That the Gentiles did really do the things contained in the law, in reference to what is termed natural justice, and made the wisest distinctions relative to the great principles of the doctrine of civil RIGHTS and WRONGS, every man conversant with their writings will admit. And in reference to this the word φυσει may be legitimately understood thus-they incontestably did the things contained in the law, c.

The passage in Romans 2:15, Their thoughts-accusing or excusing one another, certainly does not refer to any expostulations or operations of conscience for this is referred to in the preceding clause. The words accusing, κατηγορουντων, and excusing, απολογουμενων, answering or defending one another, μεταζυαλληλων, among themselves, are all forensic or law terms, and refer to the mode of conducting suits of law in courts of justice, where one is plaintiff, who produces his accusation; another is defendant, who rebuts the charge and defends himself; and then the business is argued before the judges. This process shows that they have a law of their own, and that to this law it belongs to adjust differences-to right those who have suffered wrong, and to punish the guilty.

As to the phrase written in their hearts, it is here opposed to the Jewish laws, which were written on tables of stone. The Jews drew the maxims by which their conduct was regulated from a Divine revelation: the GENTILES theirs from what God, in the course of his providence and gracious influence, had shown them to be right, useful, and necessary. And with them this law was well known and affectionately regarded; for this is one meaning of the phrase, written in the heart. It was from this true light, enlightening the Gentiles, that they had so many wise and wholesome laws; laws which had been among them from time immemorial, and of which they did not know the origin. Thus Sophocles, in the noble speech which he puts in the mouth of Antigone:-

Ου γαρ τι νυν γε κὐχθες, αλλ' αει ποτε

Ζη ταυτα, κοὑδεις οιδεν εξ ὁτου φανη.

"Not now, nor yesterday, but evermore

These laws have lived: nor know we whence they came."

Antig. ver. 463-4.

These are the laws, νομινα, which the Spirit of God wrote originally on their hearts; and which, in different forms, they had committed to writing.