Rom 1 | ESV | STEP | Paul , a servant of Christ Jesus , called to be an apostle , set apart for the gospel of God ,

‏ Romans 1

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aa servant ^{▼▼Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} of Christ Jesus, ^ccalled to be an apostle, ^dset apart for the gospel of God, 2 which ^ehe promised beforehand ^fthrough his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, ^gwho was descended from David ^{▼▼Or who came from the offspring of David} ⁱaccording to the flesh 4 and ^jwas declared to be the Son of God ^kin power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom ^lwe have received grace and ^mapostleship ⁿto bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name ^oamong all the nations, 6 including you who are ^pcalled to belong to Jesus Christ,

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

^qGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, ^rI thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^sbecause your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 ^tFor God is my witness, ^uwhom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^vthat without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^wby God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For ^xI 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 ^yby each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church} that ^aaI have often intended to come to you (but ^abthus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^acharvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 ^adI am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^aebarbarians, ^{▼▼That is, non-Greeks} 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 ^agI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^ahthe power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^aifirst and also to ^ajthe Greek. 17 For in it ^akthe righteousness of God is revealed ^alfrom faith for faith, ^{▼▼Or beginning and ending in faith} ^anas it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” ^{▼▼Or The one who by faith is righteous shall live}

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For ^apthe wrath of God ^aqis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be ^arknown 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, ^ashave been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, ^{▼▼Or clearly perceived from the creation of the world} 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 ^aubecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 ^avClaiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and ^awexchanged the glory of ^axthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore ^ayGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^azthe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for ^baa lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^bbwho is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason ^bcGod gave them up to ^bddishonorable 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, ^bemen 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, ^bfGod gave them up to ^bga debased mind to do ^bhwhat 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 ^biGod’s righteous decree that those who practice such things ^bjdeserve to die, they not only do them but ^bkgive approval to those who practice them.