Romans 2:7

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;

King James Version (1611)
To them, who by patient continuance in well doing, seeke for glorie, and honour, and immortalitie, eternall life:

King James Version
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

English Standard Version
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

New American Standard Bible
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;

New Century Version
Some people, by always continuing to do good, live for God's glory, for honor, and for life that has no end. God will give them life forever.

Amplified Bible
to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

Legacy Standard Bible
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

Berean Standard Bible
To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.

Contemporary English Version
He will give eternal life to everyone who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that lasts forever.

Complete Jewish Bible
To those who seek glory, honor and immortality by perseverance in doing good, he will pay back eternal life.

Darby Translation
to them who, in patient continuance of good works, seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility, life eternal.

Easy-to-Read Version
Some people live for God's glory, for honor, and for life that cannot be destroyed. They live for those things by always continuing to do good. God will give eternal life to them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
That is, to them which through patience in well doing, seeke glorie, and honour, and immortalitie, euerlasting life:

George Lamsa Translation
To those who continue patiently in good works seeking glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

Good News Translation
Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life.

Lexham English Bible
to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life,

Literal Translation
everlasting life truly to those who with patience in good work seeking glory and honor and incorruptibility;

American Standard Version
to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:

Bible in Basic English
To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life:

Hebrew Names Version
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruptibility, eternal life;

International Standard Version
eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good;

Etheridge Translation
To them who seek, in perseverance of good works, glory and honour and incorruption, he giveth eternal life;

Murdock Translation
to them who, by perseverance in good works, seek for glory and honor and immortality, to them he will give life eternal;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
To them, whiche by continuyng in well doyng seke for glorie, and honour, and immortalitie, eternall lyfe.

English Revised Version
to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life:

World English Bible
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruptibility, eternal life;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
and honour, and immortality, eternal life.

Weymouth's New Testament
to those on the one hand who, by lives of persistent right-doing, are striving for glory, honour and immortality, the Life of the Ages;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
sotheli to hem that ben bi pacience of good werk, glorie, and onour, and vncorrupcioun, to hem that seken euerlastynge lijf;

Update Bible Version
to those that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:

Webster's Bible Translation
To them who by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality; eternal life:

New English Translation
eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,

New King James Version
eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;

New Living Translation
He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.

New Life Bible
Those who keep on doing good and are looking for His greatness and honor will receive life that lasts forever.

New Revised Standard
to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Unto them, on the one hand, who, by way of endurance in good work, are seeking, glory, honour and incorruption, life age-abiding,

Douay-Rheims Bible
To them indeed who, according to patience in good work, seek glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life:

Revised Standard Version
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
that is to saye prayse honoure and immortalite to them which cotinue in good doynge and seke eternall lyfe.

Young's Literal Translation
to those, indeed, who in continuance of a good work, do seek glory, and honour, and incorruptibility -- life age-during;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
namely, prayse & honoure, and vncorrupcion, vnto them that with pacience in doinge good, seke euerlastinge life:

Mace New Testament (1729)
who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality;

Simplified Cowboy Version
If you've been strivin' to bring glory and honor to God, he will give you glory and honor.

Contextual Overview

¹Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done. ³You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change. ⁵You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it's going to blaze hot and high, God's fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what's coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God's side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire! ⁹If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind. ¹²If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely. Merely hearing God's law is a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God. ¹⁴When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

patient: Romans 8:24, Romans 8:25, Job 17:9, Psalms 27:14, Psalms 37:3, Psalms 37:34, Lamentations 3:25, Lamentations 3:26, Matthew 24:12, Matthew 24:13, Luke 8:15, John 6:66-69, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Galatians 6:9, 2 Timothy 4:7, 2 Timothy 4:8, Hebrews 6:12, Hebrews 6:15, Hebrews 10:35, Hebrews 10:36, James 5:7, James 5:8, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 2:11

glory: Romans 8:18, Romans 9:23, John 5:44, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Colossians 1:27, 1 Peter 1:7, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Peter 4:13, 1 Peter 4:14

immortality: 1 Corinthians 15:53, 1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Timothy 1:10

eternal: Romans 6:23, 1 John 2:25

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:7 - If thou doest well Leviticus 26:3 - General Numbers 29:25 - General Deuteronomy 5:33 - walk Deuteronomy 11:27 - General Deuteronomy 28:1 - will set 1 Samuel 12:14 - If ye will 2 Samuel 22:25 - recompensed Nehemiah 5:16 - I continued Job 23:11 - his way Psalms 106:3 - doeth Psalms 111:10 - his praise Proverbs 13:21 - righteous Proverbs 21:21 - findeth Ecclesiastes 7:8 - the patient Isaiah 33:15 - that walketh Ezekiel 3:20 - and his Ezekiel 18:5 - if Ezekiel 18:22 - in his Daniel 6:20 - servest Amos 5:14 - Seek Matthew 7:7 - seek Matthew 10:22 - but Matthew 13:21 - dureth Matthew 19:16 - eternal Matthew 25:46 - the righteous Mark 10:17 - eternal Mark 13:13 - but Luke 6:47 - doeth Luke 11:9 - seek Luke 21:19 - General John 8:31 - If John 12:43 - the praise of God Romans 2:10 - glory Romans 5:2 - the glory Romans 11:22 - if thou Romans 12:12 - patient 1 Corinthians 4:5 - praise 2 Corinthians 4:17 - far Philippians 2:12 - work Philippians 4:1 - so Colossians 1:11 - unto Colossians 1:23 - ye continue Colossians 3:24 - ye shall 1 Thessalonians 1:3 - and patience 1 Thessalonians 1:10 - wait 2 Thessalonians 1:4 - your patience 2 Thessalonians 1:8 - and that 2 Thessalonians 2:10 - they received 2 Thessalonians 3:4 - that 2 Thessalonians 3:13 - ye 1 Timothy 4:16 - continue 2 Timothy 2:10 - with Titus 1:2 - hope Hebrews 12:1 - with patience James 1:3 - patience James 1:12 - the crown James 1:25 - and 1 Peter 4:19 - in 2 Peter 1:6 - patience Revelation 1:9 - in the Revelation 2:3 - hast patience Revelation 2:26 - keepeth

Cross-References

Genesis 2:15
God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

Genesis 2:21
God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.

Genesis 3:23
So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.

Numbers 16:22
They threw themselves on their faces and said, "O God, God of everything living, when one man sins are you going to take it out on the whole community?"

Psalms 100:3
Know this: God is God, and God, God . He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep.

Proverbs 20:27
God is in charge of human life, watching and examining us inside and out.

Isaiah 2:22
Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans, so full of themselves, so full of hot air! Can't you see there's nothing to them?

Isaiah 64:8
Still, God , you are our Father. We're the clay and you're our potter: All of us are what you made us. Don't be too angry with us, O God . Don't keep a permanent account of wrongdoing. Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us. Your holy cities are all ghost towns: Zion's a ghost town, Jerusalem's a field of weeds. Our holy and beautiful Temple, which our ancestors filled with your praises, Was burned down by fire, all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins. In the face of all this, are you going to sit there unmoved, God ? Aren't you going to say something? Haven't you made us miserable long enough?

Zechariah 12:1
War Bulletin: God 's Message concerning Israel, God 's Decree—the very God who threw the skies into space, set earth on a firm foundation, and breathed his own life into men and women: "Watch for this: I'm about to turn Jerusalem into a cup of strong drink that will have the people who have set siege to Judah and Jerusalem staggering in a drunken stupor.

John 20:22
Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To them who by patient continuance in well doing,.... These words are descriptive of one sort of persons, to whom God will render according to their works; and must be understood not of the Gentiles, the best and most moralized among them; for they sought after worldly things, after human wisdom, and popular applause, and not after God, his honour and glory, nor after immortality, which is only brought to light by the Gospel; nor of the pharisaical Jews, who sought for righteousness by the works of the law, and honour and glory from men, and not from God; nor of any unregenerate persons, but only of such who have the true principles of grace implanted in them, whether Jews or Gentiles: now the things which these men seek after are

glory; not the glory of this world, nor any from the men of it; but the glory of God and Christ; to be glorious within and without, by the grace and righteousness of Christ here, and to enjoy eternal glory with him hereafter.

Honour; not that which Adam had in innocence, and did not abide in; but that which is, and abides with Christ, and which all the saints have, and shall have.

Immortality; not the immortality of the soul, which is common to all; but the incorruption of the body, or the glorious resurrection of it to everlasting life at the great day, or the incorruptible crown, and never fading inheritance of the saints in light. The manner in which these things are sought is, "by patient continuance in well doing"; by doing good works, and by doing these good works well, from a principle of faith and love, and with a view to the glory of God; and by patiently enduring reproaches and sufferings for well doing, and by persevering therein: not that these things are to be had, or are expected by the saints to be had for the sake of patience and well doing; yet they may be sought for, and looked unto, as an encouragement to well doing, and continuance therein; and though not "for", yet "in" well doing there is a reward. These words do not express that for the sake of which glory is had; but only describe the persons who seek, and the manner in which they seek for it, to whom God will render

eternal life, which he of his rich grace promised them before the world was, and of his free favour has put into the hands of Christ for them, and which, as a pure gift of grace, he bestows on them through him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To them - Whoever they may be.

Patient continuance - Who by perseverance in well doing, or in a good work. It means that they who so continue, or persevere, in good works as to evince that they are disposed to obey the Law of God. It does not mean those who perform one single act, but those who so live as to show that this is their character to obey God. It is the uniform doctrine of the Bible that none will be saved but those who persevere in a life of holiness, Revelation 2:10; Matthew 10:22; Hebrews 10:38-39. No other conduct gives evidence of piety but what continues in the ways of righteousness. Nor has God ever promised eternal life to people unless they so persevere in a life of holiness as to show that this is their character, their settled and firm rule of action. The words well doing here denote such conduct as shall be conformed to the Law of God; not merely external conduct, but that which proceeds from a heart attached to God and his cause.

Seek for - This word properly denotes the act of endeavoring to find any thing that is lost, Matthew 18:12; Luke 2:48-49. But it also denotes the act when one earnestly strives, or desires to obtain anything; when he puts forth his efforts to accomplish it. Thus, Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” etc. Act 16:10; 1 Corinthians 10:24; Luke 13:24. In this place it denotes an earnest and intense desire to obtain eternal life. It does not mean simply the desire of a sinner to be happy, or the efforts of those who are not willing to forsake their sins and yield to God, out the intense effort of those who are willing to forsake all their crimes, and submit to God and obey his laws.

Glory and honour and immortality - The three words used here, denote the happiness of the heavenly world. They vary somewhat in their meaning, and are each descriptive of something in heaven, that renders it an object of intense desire. The expressions are cumulative, or they are designed to express the happiness of heaven in the highest possible degree. The word “glory” δόξαν doxan denotes properly praise, celebrity, or anything distinguished for beauty, ornament, majesty, splendor, as of the sun, etc.; and then it is used to denote the highest happiness or felicity, as expressing everything that shall be splendid, rich, and grand. It denotes that there will be an absence of every thing mean, grovelling, obscure. The word “honor” (τιμὴν timēn) implies rather the idea of reward, or just retribution - the honor and reward which shall be conferred in heaven on the friends of God. It stands opposed to contempt, poverty, and want among people. Here they are despised by people; there, they shall be honored by God.

Immortality - That which is not corruptible or subject to decay. It is applied to heaven as a state where there shall be no decay or death, in strong contrast with our present condition, where all things are corruptible, and soon vanish away. These expressions are undoubtedly descriptive of a state of things beyond the grave. They are never applied in the Scriptures to any condition of things on the earth. This consideration proves, therefore, that the expressions in the next verse, indignation, etc. apply to the punishment of the wicked beyond the grave.

Eternal life - That is, God will “render” eternal life to those who seek it in this manner. This is a great principle; and this shows that the apostle means by “their deeds” Romans 2:6, not merely their external conduct, but their inward thoughts, and efforts evinced by their seeking for glory, etc. For the meaning of the expression “eternal life,” see the note at John 5:24.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 2:7. To them, &c.] In this manner will God, in the great day, dispense punishments and rewards:

1. He will give eternal life to them who, in all the trials and difficulties of the present state, have persevered in well doing-seeking for and expecting glory, honour, and immortality.