Romans
Chapter 1
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, chosen to be an apostle, set apart for the good news of God,
2 He promised this before through his prophets in the holy writings.
3 About his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born from David’s descendants in the flesh;
4 Shown to be God’s Son with power, by being raised from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness.
5 Through him, we received kindness and the task to bring people from all countries to follow the faith, all for his honor.
6 You are also called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To everyone in Rome loved by God and called to be holy: May you have kindness and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank God through Jesus Christ for all of you because people around the world are talking about your faith.
9 God is my witness, whom I serve with my heart in telling the good news about his Son, that I always mention you in my prayers without stopping.
10 Asking if maybe now at last I could have a successful trip, if God is willing, to visit you.
11 I really want to see you, so I can give you a spiritual gift to help strengthen your faith.
12 I want us to be encouraged by the faith we share.
13 I don’t want you to be unaware, friends, that I have often planned to visit you, but was prevented until now, so that I could have some success with you, just as I have had with other non-Jews.
14 I owe something to both Greeks and non-Greeks, to the educated and the uneducated.
15 I am ready to share the good news with you in Rome, as much as I can.
16 I am not embarrassed about the good news of Christ because it is God’s power to save everyone who believes, first the Jew and also the Greek.
17 In it, God’s goodness is shown, starting with faith and leading to more faith: it’s said, people who are fair will have life through faith.
18 God’s anger comes from heaven against all the badness and wrongs of people who live against the truth.
19 What can be known about God is clear to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen since the world was created, understood through what has been made, including his eternal power and nature, leaving no one with an excuse.
21 Even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. Instead, they thought up useless ideas, and their senseless minds became dark.
22 Claiming to be smart, they turned into fools.
23 They turned the honor of the eternal God into pictures of humans, birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 So God let them follow their hearts’ desires, which led to impurity and dishonoring their own bodies with each other.
25 Who turned God’s truth into a lie, and worshiped and served what was created instead of the Creator, who is always blessed. Amen.
26 Because of this, God let them follow shameful desires. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27 Men also left natural relations with women and were consumed with desire for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and suffered in themselves the due penalty for their wrongs.
28 Since they did not think it worthwhile to keep God in their understanding, God let them follow their own thinking, which leads to wrong actions.
29 Filled with every kind of wrong, sexual sin, evil, greed, meanness; full of jealousy, killing, fighting, lying, ill-will; gossips,
30 People who talk badly about others, those who hate God, spiteful people, the proud, those who brag, creators of bad things, and those who do not obey their parents,
31 Lacking understanding, promise breakers, heartless, relentless, unkind:
32 People who know God’s judgment understand that those doing such things deserve to die. They not only do these things but also enjoy seeing others do them.