ROMANS

CHAPTER ONE

1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, set apart to the gospel of God,
1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a seed of David according to the flesh,
1:4 who was appointed as Son of God in-power according to the Holy Spirit out from the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship
to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name,
1:6 in whom you also you were called of Jesus Christ,
1:7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
1:10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.
1:11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened,
1:12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged while among you by one another’s faith, both yours and mine.
1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and was prevented until now) in order that I might have some fruit also among you just as also among the rest of the Gentiles.
1:14 I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
1:15 Thus I am eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1:17 For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But he who is righteous by faith shall live.”
1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
1:19 because what can be known of God is manifest in them; for God has made it manifest to them.
1:20 For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes —his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood through the things he has made so that they are without excuse.
1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not to glorify him or give thanks but they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish heart were darkened,
1:22 asserting to be wise, they became fools,
1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal (incorruptible) God for an image resembling mortal (corruptible) man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to dishonor their bodies among them.
1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
1:26 For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for that which is against nature,
1:27 and in the same way also men having abandoned the natural sexual relations with women burned in their lust toward one another, men with men, while committing shameless acts and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
1:28 And just as they did not approve [after examination] to have [an understanding of] God with full knowledge, God gave them over to an unapproved mind to do those things that are not proper.
1:29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, mean-spirited; gossips,
1:30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
1:31 without understanding, faithless, without natural love, ruthless,
1:32 although fully knowing the ordinance of God
that those who practice such things are worthy of death,
they not only keep on doing these very same things but also approve of those who practice them.

CHAPTER TWO

2:1 Therefore, you are without excuse O man, everyone of you who is judging. For in whatever you judge one another, you judge yourselves, because you who judge practice the same things.
2:2 Now we know that the judgment of God is in according to truth upon those who practice such things.
2:3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same things, that you will escape the judgment of God?
2:4 Or do you despise the abundance of his kindness, tolerance and patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
2:5 But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
2:6 “who will render each according to his works:”
2:7 to those who by perseverance in good work seek glory and honor and immortality, he will render eternal life;
2:8 but to those who out of selfish ambition disobey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, he will render wrath and anger.
2:9 tribulation and distress for every living [lit. breathing] person who does evil, of the Jew first and also the Greek.
2:10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, of the Jew first and also to the Greek.
2:11 For there is no partiality with God.
2:12 For all 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;
2:13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
2:14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do by nature the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
2:15 who show the work of the moral law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or even defending them,
2:16 on the day when God will judge the secrets of men according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.
2:17 But if you bear the name Jew and rely on the Mosaic law and boast in God
2:18 and you know his will and approve those things that are superior, being instructed from the law,
2:19 and are convinced that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
2:20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants [immature], because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
2:21 therefore while teaching others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
2:22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law!
2:24 “For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
2:25 For circumcision is of value if you practice the Mosaic Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
2:26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be thought of as circumcision?
2:27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, who keeps the law, will he not judge you who despite having the letter of the law and circumcision transgress the law?
2:28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
2:29 But a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men but from God.

CHAPTER THREE

3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision?
3:2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?
3:4 Absolutely not! Rather, let God be found,true, though —every man be found a liar, just as it is written,
“so that you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you judge.”
3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms).
3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?
3:7 [Someone might argue] But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also being judged as a sinner?
3:8 And why not say—as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may come’? Their condemnation of us is just.
Rom. 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
3:10 just it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; “There is no one righteous, not even one;
3:11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God
3:12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
3:13 “Their throat is an opened grave,
with their tongues, they keep deceiving,
the poison of asps is under their lips.”
3:14 “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
3:16 destruction and misery are in their paths,
3:17 and the path of peace, they have not known.”
3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the law comes the full knowledge of sin.
3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
3:24 but all are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood [death] appropriated through faith for a demonstration His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
3:26 in the forbearance of God, for a demonstration of his righteousness in the present time so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ.
3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!
3:28 For we consider that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
3:30 indeed, God is one, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
3:31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.

CHAPTER FOUR

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh [as our natural ancestor], has found?
4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4:4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited according to grace but according to what is due.
4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes upon the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
4:6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
4:7 “Blessed are they whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
whose sins have been covered.
4:8 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord
will never count against him.”
4:9 Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”
4:10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;
4:11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith while he was still uncircumcised,
so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,
4:12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but also keep following the footsteps in the uncircumcised faith of our father Abraham.
4:13 For it was not through law the promise to Abraham or his descendants came, that is that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
4:14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
4:15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no transgression.
4:16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
4:17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations,” in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist
4:18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “so shall your descendent be.”
4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as already dead, since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
4:20 yet concerning the promise of God, he did not waver in faith but grew strong in faith giving to God glory,
4:21 and he was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also about to do.
4:22 Therefore, “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4:23 But not for him only was it written that it was credited to him,
4:24 but also for us, to whom it will be credited, to those who believe upon the raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
4:25 who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.

CHAPTER FIVE

5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into (the realm of) this grace in which we stand, and we exult in the (confident) hope of the (future) glory of God (sharing in Christlikeness).
5:3 And not only this, but we also exult in our sufferings, knowing that sufferings produces perseverance;
5:4 perseverance, character; and character, hope;
5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
5:7 For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person,
though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him.
5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?
5:11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, [demonstrated] because all sinned—
5:13 for before the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who had not sinned in the same way of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come.
5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the
gift of the grace of one man, Jesus Christ abound to many.
5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgement from one led to condemnation but the gracious gift from many transgressions led to justification.
5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
5:18 So then as one transgression led to condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there was justification leading to life for all men.
5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
5:20 Now the Law came in so that the transgression may increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
5:21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

CHAPTER SIX

6:1 What shall we say then? Should we keep remaining in sin so that grace may increase?
6:2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
6:3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so that we too might walk in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection,
6:6 knowing that our old man was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be rendered ineffective so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
6:7 for he who has died has been freed from sin.
6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
6:9 knowing that Christ, has been raised from the dead,
is never to die again; death no longer ruling over him.
6:10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
6:11 So you also consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body
so that you obey its lusts,
6:13 and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
6:14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because
you are not under law but under grace.
6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law but under grace? Absolutely not!
6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that type of teaching to which you were committed,
6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
6:21 Therefore, what benefit did you have then from those things which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit resulting in sanctification and the end is eternal life.
6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

CHAPTER SEVEN

7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has authority over a person as long as he lives?
7:2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
7:3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, she is not and adulteress, though she is joined to another man
7:4 Likewise, my brethren, you also were put to death regarding the law through the body of Christ, so that you might become joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
7:5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the Law, were working in our members of our body to bear fruit for death.
7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were confined, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the Law; for I would not have known what coveting was, if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the Law, sin is dead.
7:9 I was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive
7:10 and I died. So the commandment that was to bring life brought death to me;
7:11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
7:12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
7:13 Therefore, did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
7:14 For we know that the Law is spiritual but I am fleshly, having been sold under sin.
7:15 For what I am doing, I do not know. For I do not do what I want but what I hate, this I do.
7:16 But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law that it is good.
7:17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
7:18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the right thing is not.
7:19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I do the very evil I do not want.
7:20 Now if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
7:21 So, I find then the law (principle) that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.
7:22 For I delight in the law of God in the inner man                                                                                       7:23 but I see a different law in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin which is in my members.
7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
7:25 But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then with my mind, I am serving the Law of God but with the flesh the law of sin.

CHAPTER EIGHT

8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
8:3 For what the Law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit.
8:5 For those who are [live] according to the flesh think the things of the flesh but those who are [live] according to the Spirit think the things of the Spirit.
8:6 For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mind set of the Spirit is life and peace,
8:7 because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so,
8:8 and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.
8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.
8:10 If Christ is in you [and he is], though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through His Spirit who lives in you.
8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
8:13 for if you live according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit, you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again to fear but you have received a Spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
8:17 and if children, heirs also—that is, heirs of God and heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him.
8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
8:19 For the eager expectation of creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God.
8:20 For creation was subjected to futility, not willingly
but because of him (God) who subjected it, in hope
8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.
8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting eagerly adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
8:24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he sees?
8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, [that means] we eagerly await for it [hope} with perseverance.
8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us with our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for but the Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.
8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose,
8:29 because whom he foreknew, these he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brethren;
8:30 and those whom he predestined, he also called, and whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, he also glorified.
8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
8:32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, with him, freely give us all things?
8:33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
8:34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ [Jesus] is He who died, and more than that, he was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also is interceding for us.
8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
8:36 Just as it is written,
“For your sake we are killed all day long; we were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
8:37 But, in all these things we have total victory through him who loved us!
8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor angelic rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

CHAPTER NINE

9:1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit,
9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
9:4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple worship and the promises,
9:5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
9:7 Neither are the seed of Abraham all children, but “in Isaac your seed will be called.”
9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as seed.
9:9 For this is the word of promise, “ At this time, I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
9:10 And not only this, but also Rebekah, when she conceived twins by one act of sex with our forefather Isaac;
9:11 though the children not yet born or having done anything good or bad (in order that the purpose of God according to election might continue
9:12 not from works but from him who calls), it was said to him “The older shall serve the younger.”
9:13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!
9:15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
9:16 So then, it is not he who wills or he who strives but of God who shows mercy.
9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “ For this very purpose I raised you up that I might show in you my power
and my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
9:18 So then, he (God) has mercy on whom he wishes and he hardens whom he wishes.
9:19 Then you will say to me, “Why does he still find fault?
For who can resist his will?”
9:20 But who indeed are you, O (hu)man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this”?
9:21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay one vessel for honor and the other for dishonor?
9:22 But what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
9:23 and to make know the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
9:24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
9:25 As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who are not my people, ‘my people’, and that who was not beloved, beloved,”
9:26 and “it shall be in the place, where it was said to them, ‘you are not my people’, there they shall be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”
9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand by the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved.
9:28 For the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly.”
9:29 And just as Isaiah foretold,
“Unless the LORD of armies had left to us a seed,
we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.”                                               9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained righteousness, a righteousness which is by faith,
9:31 but Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain to a law of righteousness.
9:32 Why not? Because they did not pursue out of faith but as if from works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
9:33 Just as it is written,
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
and he who believes on him will not be
put to shame.”

CHAPTER TEN

10:1 Brethren, the desire of my heart and prayer to God on behalf of them is for their salvation.
10:2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
10:3 For not knowing about the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.
10:4 For Christ is the end of the Law resulting in righteousness to all who believe.
10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the Law: “The man who practices such things shall live by them.”
10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’’”
(that is, to bring Christ down),
10:7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” (that is, the word of faith which we preach),
10:9 because if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10:10 for with the heart one believes for righteousness [justification], with the mouth one confesses for salvation.
10:11 For the Scripture says, “ Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call upon him.
10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
10:14 How then can they call on one they have not believed in? And how do they believe in one they have not heard of? And how can they hear without a preacher?
10:15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
10:16 But not all obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard [the message] through the spoken word of Christ.
10:18 But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have:
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
10:19 But again, I ask,”Did not Israel understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation, by a senseless nation, I will anger you.”
10:20 And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who do not seek me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for me.”
10:21 But concerning Israel he says, “ All day long, I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

11:1 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Absolutely not ! For I too am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
11:2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.
Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel.
11:3 “Lord, they have killed the prophets of yours, they have demolished your altars, I alone am left and they are seeking my life.”
11:4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men [people], who have not bent the knee to Baal.”
11:5 So in the same way at the present time, a remnant according to an election of grace has come about.
11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
11:7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it did not obtain, but the elect obtained it and the rest were hardened.
11:8 just as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes so that they could not see
and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day.”
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:10 let their eyes be darkened to not see, and bend their backs forever.”
11:11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to completely fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them [Israel] jealous.
11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness be?
11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
11:14 if somehow I could make my people jealous and save some of them.
11:15 For if their rejection by God is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
11:16 If the firstfruits of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and shared of the rich root of the olive tree,
11:18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
11:19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
11:20 Rightly so. They were broken off for their unbelief but you stand by your faith. Do not think yourself superior to them but fear.
11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
11:22 Behold therefore the kindness and severity of God;
to those who fell, severity, but to you God’s kindness, if you should remain in his kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off.
11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant of this mystery so that you may not be wise in your own eyes: a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
11:26 and in this way all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
11:27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
11:28 According to the gospel, they [Jews] are enemies for your sake [Gentiles], but according to election, they [Jews] are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
11:30 For just as you [Gentiles) were at one time disobedient to God, but now you have been shown mercy because of their [Jews] disobedience,
11:31 so these [Jews] now also have become disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you [Gentiles], that they [Jews] now may also be shown mercy.
11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to all.
11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
11:34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has became his counselor?”
11:35 Or who has first given to him that he should repay him?
11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

CHAPTER TWELVE

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God–which is your reasonable [spiritual] service [worship].
12:2 And do not be conformed to this present world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may approve by testing what the will of God is, that which is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought but to think with sound judgment as God has allotted to each of you a measure of faith.
12:4 For just as in one body we have many members, and all members do not have the same function,
12:5 so we, who are many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.
12:6 Since we have different gifts according to grace, if prophecy, let him use it according to the proportion of his faith.
12:7 if service, in his service, or if teaching, in his teaching,
12:8 if exhortation, in his exhorting; he who contributes, with integrity, he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Rom. 12:9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
Rom. 12:10 In brotherly love, be devoted to one another;
take the lead in honoring another,
Rom. 12:11 not lacking in enthusiasm, fervent in the Spirit, serving the Lord;
Rom. 12:12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation,
devoted in prayer,
Rom. 12:13 sharing with the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Rom. 12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.
Rom. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Rom. 12:16 Think the same [things] toward one another; not thinking too highly of yourself but accommodating the lowly. Do not be wise in your own thinking.
Rom. 12:17 Never paying back evil for evil. Be thoughtful about what is right before all men.
Rom. 12:18 If possible as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Rom. 12:19 Do not take your own revenge, beloved, but
give place for God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Rom. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.”
Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

13:1 Let every person be in subjection to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are instituted by God.
13:2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
13:3 For the rulers are not a cause of fear for good conduct but for bad. Do you not want to fear authority? Then do good and you will receive approval from the same authority,
13:4 for it is God’s servant to you for good. For if you do what is wrong, fear; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is God’s servant, a punisher for wrath on the wrongdoer.
13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.
13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for these authorities are servants of God, devoted to this very thing of governing.
13:7 Pay everyone what is owed, to whom tax is due, tax;
to whom revenue is due, revenue; to whom respect is due, respect; to whom honor is due, honor.
Rom. 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves the other person has fulfilled the law.
Rom. 13:9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Rom. 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Rom. 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep; for nearer is our salvation than when we believed.
Rom. 13:12 The night is almost over and the day is near.
So we must put away the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light.
Rom. 13:13 Let us live properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
Rom. 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and give no forethought for the flesh to arouse its desires.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.
14:2 One person believes he can eat anything, but the weaker eats vegetables only.
14:3 The one who eats anything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
14:4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls; for the Lord is able to make him stand.
14:5 One person regards one day above another, another regards all days alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
14:6 He who observes the day observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, does not eat for the Lord and gives thanks to God.
14:7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
14:8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
14:11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.”
14:12 Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
14:13 Therefore we must not pass judgment on another anymore, but rather determine this — not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block before a brother.
14:14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; except to him who thinks it is unclean, to him it is unclean.
14:15 For if on account of food, your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food someone for whom Christ died.
14:16 Therefore, do not let what is good for you be spoken against as bad.
14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
14:18 For he who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
14:19 So then, let us pursue things which make of peace and things which make of building up one another.
14:20 Do not tear down for the sake of food the work of God. Though all things are clean, it is wrong for the man who through eating gives offense.
14:21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
14:22 The faith that you have, keep it to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.
15:3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
15:5 Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement give to you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
15:6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
15:8 For I say that Christ has become a servant of circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,
15:9 and that the Gentiles on behalf of his mercy glorify God, —just as it is written,
“Therefore, I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and will sing to your name.”
15:10 Again, he says,
“Rejoice, Gentiles with his people.”
15:11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; Let all the peoples praise him.”
15:12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse shall come,
and he who rises to rule the nations;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.”
15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
15:14 Now I myself am convinced my brethren, about you, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and are able to admonish one another.
15:15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,
15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles,
serving as a priest the gospel of God so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
15:17 Therefore, I boast in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God.
15:18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
15:20 And in this way, I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ has been named so as not to build on another man’s foundation;
15:21 but as it is written, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
15:22 For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you;
15:23 but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and having a desire for many years to come to you,
15:24 whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing and be helped by you on my journey, after I have enjoyed your company for awhile.
15:25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
15:26 For Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
15:27 For they are well-pleased to do so and indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them in material things.
15:28 Therefore, when I shall have confirmed to them this fruit, I will set out to Spain by way of you.
15:29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
15:30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,
15:31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my ministry in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
15:32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and be refreshed in your company.
15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;
16:2 that you receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself.
16:3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus.
16:4 who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;
16:5 Also greet the church in their house. Greet Epenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruit from Asia in Christ.
16:6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
16:8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
16:9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
16:10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.
16:11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
16:12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord.
16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother and mine.
16:14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them.
16:15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
16:18 For such men are not slaves of our Lord Christ but to their own appetites and by their smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
16:19 For [the news of] your obedience has reached to all; therefore I rejoice over you and want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
16:21 Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
16:22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
16:23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.
16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
16:26 but now has been revealed, and through the prophetic scriptures according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith having been made known to all the nations
16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.