Romans 1

¹Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, set apart for the good news of God, ²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy writings ³concerning his Son, who was descended from the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴who was appointed Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵Through him we received grace and the office of apostle to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations for the sake of his name, ⁶among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.

⁷To all those in Rome who are loved by God, called holy ones: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed in the whole world. ⁹For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the good news of his Son, how constantly I make mention of you, ¹⁰always asking in my prayers if somehow, now at last, I might be cleared by the will of God to come to you. ¹¹For I long to see you, so that I may share some spiritual gift with you to make you strong— ¹²that is, that we may be mutually encouraged among you by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often intended to come to you—though I was prevented until now—so that I might have some harvest among you just as I have had among the rest of the nations. ¹⁴I am in debt both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵So, for my part, I am eager to tell the good news also to you who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is the power of God resulting in salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in it the justice of God is revealed from faithfulness to faith, just as it is written: “The just person will live by faith.”

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and injustice of people who suppress the truth by their injustice, ¹⁹because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes—both his eternal power and his divine nature—are clearly seen, being understood through the things he has made. As a result, they are without excuse. ²¹For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless hearts were darkened. ²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible humans, and birds, and four-footed animals, and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore, God handed them over in the cravings of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among themselves. ²⁵They are those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and they worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed into the ages. Amen.

²⁶Because of this, God handed them over to dishonorable passions. For their females exchanged the natural function for that which is against nature, ²⁷and likewise the males, leaving aside the natural function of the female, were consumed by their intense craving for one another, males committing shameful acts with males and receiving back in themselves the essential recompense for their wandering. ²⁸And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to a disqualified mind, to do things that are not proper. ²⁹They are filled with every kind of injustice, wickedness, greed, and malice; they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and craftiness. They are gossipers, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹senseless, faithless, heartless, and merciless. ³²Although they know the just decree of God—that those who practice such things are worthy of death—they not only do them but also give their approval to those who practice them.