THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS
Salutation
1*Paul, a servanta of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and designateda2 Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, 10asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.* 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I want you to know, brethren, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest* among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: 15so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Power of the Gospel
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”b
God’s Wrath against Man’s Wickedness
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; 21for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. 29They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.
The Righteous Judgment of God
2Therefore you have no excuse, O man,whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. 3Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6For he will render to every man according to his works: 7to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11For God shows no partiality.
12All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them 16on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
The Jews and the Law
17But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God 18and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, 19and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—21you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.
3Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God. 3What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4By no means! Let God be true though every man be false, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.”
5But if our wickedness serves to show the justice of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
None Is Righteous
9What then? Are we Jews any better off?c No, not at all; for Id have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11no one understands, no one seeks for God.
12All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong;
no one does good, not even one.”
13“Their throat is an open grave,
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16in their paths are ruin and misery,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Righteousness through Faith
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; 26it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
27Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith.* 28For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith. 31Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
The Example of the Faith of Abraham
4What then shall we say aboute Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. 5And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. 6So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:
7“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.”
9Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. 10How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
God’s Promise Realized through Faith
13The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Results of Justification
5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, wef have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have obtained accessg to this grace in which we stand, and weh rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3More than that, weh rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 8But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.
Adam and Christ
12Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned*13sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.* 16And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dying and Rising with Christ
6What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried* therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our former man was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For he who has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves of Sin or of Righteousness
15What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!* 16Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.
20When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Analogy with Marriage
7Do you not know, brethren—for I amspeaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? 2Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
The Law and Sin
7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; 10the very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
The Interior Conflictbetween Good and Evil
13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?* By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Life in the Spirit
8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,i he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—13for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The Glory to Be Revealed
18I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;* 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning with labor pains together until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. 27And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, becausej the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28We know that in everything God works for goodk with those who love him,l who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. 30And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s Love in Christ Jesus
31What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; 34who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?m 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s Election of Israel
9I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever.n Amen.
6But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7sup>and not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants. 9For this is what the promise said, “About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son.” 10And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, 12she was told, “The elder will serve the younger.” 13As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So it depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.
God’s Wrath and Mercy
19*You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”20But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?” 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, 23in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
25As indeed he says in Hose'a,
“Those who were not my people
I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved
I will call ‘my beloved.' "
26“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
they will be called ‘sons of the living God.' "
27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved; 28for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the earth with rigor and dispatch.” 29And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us children,
we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomor'rah.”
Israel’s Lack of Faith
30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble,
a rock that will make them fall;
and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
10Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.* 2I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.
Salvation Is for Believers in Christ
5Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. 6But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); 9because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. 11The Scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. 13For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? 15And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” 16But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”
19Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”
20Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Israel’s Rejection Is Not Final
11I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Eli'jah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al.” 5So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear,
down to this very day.”
9And David says,
“Let their feast become a snare and a trap,
a pitfall and a retribution for them;
10let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs for ever.”
The Salvation of the Gentiles
11So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole batch; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richnesso of the olive tree, 18do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. 19You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Israel Will Be Saved
25Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, 26and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also mayp receive mercy. 32For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
33O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
The New Life in Christ
12I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this worldq but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.r
3For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. 4For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; 8he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Marks of the True Christian
9Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;s never be conceited. 17Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave itt to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Being Subject to Authorities
13Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Love for One Another
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
An Urgent Appeal
11Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; 12the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Do Not Judge One Another
14*As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. 2One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. 3Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.
5One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praiseu to God.”
12So each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Do Not Hinder a Brother
13Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean.* 15If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16So do not let what is good to you be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; 18he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; 21it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble.v 22The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. 23But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.w
Please Others, Not Yourselves
15We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; 2let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. 3For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike
7Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name”;
10and again it is said,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;
11and again,
“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him”;
12and further Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse shall come,
he who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him shall the Gentiles hope.”
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Paul’s Reason for Writing So Boldly
14I myself am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.* 17In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyr'icum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, 20thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man’s foundation, 21“They shall see who have never been told of him,and they shall understand who have never heard of him.”
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
22This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little. 25At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. 26For Macedonia and Acha'ia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem; 27they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been raised,x I shall go on by way of you to Spain; 29and I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fulness of the blessingy of Christ.
30I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Personal Greetings
16I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cen'chre-ae, 2that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well.
3Greet Prisca and Aqui'la, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I but also all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks; 5greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epae'netus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. 6Greet Mary, who has worked hard among you. 7Greet Andron'icus and Ju'nias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners; they are men of note among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8Greet Amplia'tus, my beloved in the Lord. 9Greet Urba'nus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10Greet Apel'les, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristob'ulus. 11Greet my kinsman Hero'dion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcis'sus. 12Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphae'na and Trypho'sa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, eminent in the Lord, also his mother and mine. 14Greet Asyn'critus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patro'bas, Hermas, and the brethren who are with them. 15Greet Philol'ogus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.*
Final Instructions
17I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,z and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. 19For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil; 20then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.a
21Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosip'ater, my kinsmen.
22I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23Ga'ius, who is host to me and to the whole Church, greets you. Eras'tus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.b
Final Doxology
25Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed and through the prophetic writings is made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.