Read the Bible

Greeting

¹ Paul, ^(a)a servant^[a] of Christ Jesus, ^(b)called to be an apostle, ^(c)set apart for the gospel of God, ² which ^(d)he promised beforehand ^(e)through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, ^(f)who was descended from David^{[b] (g)}according to the flesh ⁴ and ^(h)was declared to be the Son of God ⁽ⁱ⁾in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom ^(j)we have received grace and ^(k)apostleship ^(l)to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name ^(m)among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are ⁽ⁿ⁾called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

^(o)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, ^(p)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^(q)because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ^9 (r)For God is my witness, ^(s)whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^(t)that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^(u)by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(v)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 encouraged ^(w)by each other's faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[c] that ^(x)I have often intended to come to you (but ^(y)thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^(z)harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (aa)I am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(ab)barbarians,^[d] both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(ac)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(ad)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(ae)first and also to ^(af)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(ag)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(ah)from faith for faith,^{[e] (ai)}as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."^[f]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(aj)the wrath of God ^(ak)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(al)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, ^(am)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[g] 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 they ^(an)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (ao)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(ap)exchanged the glory of ^(aq)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(ar)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(as)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(at)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(au)who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(av)God gave them up to ^(aw)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, ^(ax)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, ^(ay)God gave them up to ^(az)a debased mind to do ^(ba)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 know ^(bb)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(bc)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(bd)give approval to those who practice them.