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¹ PAUL, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, called and sent; and separated unto the gospel of God,² (which he had before promised, by his prophets, in the holy scriptures,³ concerning his Son, (who was born in the flesh, of seed of the house of David,⁴ and was made known as the Son of God, by power, and by the Holy Spirit,) who arose from the dead, Jesus Messiah, our Lord,⁵ by whom we have received grace, and a mission among all the Gentiles, to the end that they may obey the faith in his name;⁶ among whom, ye also are called by Jesus Messiah;)⁷ to all those who are at Rome, beloved of God, called and sanctified: Peace and grace be with you, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Messiah.

⁸ In the first place, I give thanks to God by Jesus Messiah, on account of you all; because your faith is heard of in all the world.⁹ And God, whom in spirit I serve in the gospel of his Son, is my witness, that I unceasingly make mention of you, at all times, in my prayers.¹⁰ And I likewise supplicate, that hereafter a door may be opened to me, by the good pleasure of God, to come unto you.¹¹ For I long much to see you; and to impart to you the gift of the Spirit, whereby ye may be established;¹² and that we may have comfort together, in the faith of both yourselves and me.¹³ And I wish you to know, my brethren, that I have many times desired to come to you, (though prevented hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also; even as among other Gentiles,¹⁴ Greeks and barbarians, the wise and the unwise: for to every man am I a debtor, to preach [fn] . ¹⁵ And so I am eager to preach to you also who are at Rome.

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for it is the power of God unto life, to all who believe in it; whether first they are of the Jews, or whether they are of the Gentiles.¹⁷ For in it is revealed the righteousness of God, from faith to faith; as it is written, The righteous by faith, shall live.¹⁸ For the wrath of God from heaven is revealed against all the iniquity and wickedness of men, who hold the truth in iniquity.

¹⁹ Because a knowledge of God is manifest in them; for God hath manifested it in them.²⁰ For, from the foundations of the world, the occult things of God are seen, by the intellect, in the things he created, even his eternal power and divinity; so that they might be without excuse;²¹ because they knew God, and did not glorify him and give thanks to him as God, but became vain in their imaginings, and their unwise heart was darkened.²² And, while they thought within themselves that they were wise, they became fools.²³ And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into a likeness to the image of a corruptible man, and into the likeness of birds and quadrupeds and reptiles on the earth.²⁴ For this cause, God gave them up to the filthy lusts of their heart, to dishonor their bodies with them.²⁵ And they changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the created things, much more than the Creator of them, to whom belong glory and blessing, for ever and ever: Amen.²⁶ For this cause, God gave them up to vile passions: for their females changed the use of their natures, and employed that which is unnatural.²⁷ And so also their males forsook the use of females, which is natural, and burned with lust toward one another; and, male with male, they did what is shameful, and received in themselves the just recompense of their error.²⁸ And as they did not determine with themselves to know God, God gave them over to a vain mind; that they might do what they ought not,²⁹ being full of all iniquity, and lewdness, and bitterness, and malice, and covetousness, and envy, and slaughter, and strife, and guile, and evil machinations,³⁰ and backbiting, and slander; and being haters of God, scoffers, proud, vain-glorious, devisers of evil things, destitute of reason, disregardful of parents,³¹ and to whom a covenant is nothing, neither affection, nor peace, and in whom is no compassion.³² These, while they know the judgment of God, that he condemneth those to death who perpetrate such things, are not only doers of them, but the companions of such as do them.