Romans 1:8-32

English Standard Version

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, ^(A)I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^(B)because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ^9 (C)For God is my witness, ^(D)whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^(E)that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^(F)by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For ^(G)I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged ^(H)by each other's faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that ^(I)I have often intended to come to you (but ^(J)thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^(K)harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ^14 (L)I am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^(M)barbarians,^[b] both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For ^(N)I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^(O)the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^(P)first and also to ^(Q)the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it ^(R)the righteousness of God is revealed ^(S)from faith for faith,^{[c] (T)}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”^[d]

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(U)the wrath of God ^(V)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(W)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(X)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[e] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(Y)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (Z)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(AA)exchanged the glory of ^(AB)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(AC)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(AD)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(AE)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(AF)who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason ^(AG)God gave them up to ^(AH)dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ^(AI)men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^(AJ)God gave them up to ^(AK)a debased mind to do ^(AL)what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know ^(AM)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things ^(AN)deserve to die, they not only do them but ^(AO)give approval to those who practice them.