Romans 1

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, having been separated unto the gospel of God,

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart to proclaim God's Good News,

2 which He proclaimed beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures,

which God had already promised through His Prophets in Holy Writ, concerning His Son,

3 concerning his Son, having been born of the seed of David according to the flesh;

who, as regards His human descent, belonged to the posterity of David,

4 having been ordained the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, from the resurrection of the dead, of Jesus Christ our Lord:

but as regards the holiness of His Spirit was decisively proved by His Resurrection to be the Son of God--I mean concerning Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, in behalf of his name:

through whom we have received grace and Apostleship in His service in order to win men to obedience to the faith, among all Gentile peoples,

6 among whom ye are also called of Jesus Christ:

among whom you also, called, as you have been, to belong to Jesus Christ, are numbered:

7 to all the beloved of God who are in Rome, saints having been called. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To all God's loved ones who are in Rome, called to be saints. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 In the first place, indeed, I praise my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for what He has done for all of you; for the report of your faith is spreading through the whole world.

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how I unceasingly make mention of you always in my prayer;

I call God to witness--to whom I render priestly and spiritual service by telling the Good News about His Son-- how unceasingly I make mention of you in His presence,

10 praying, if by any means I shall be prospered in the will of God to come to you.

always in my prayers entreating that now, at length, if such be His will, the way may by some means be made clear for me to come to you.

11 For I long to see you, in order that I may impart unto you a certain spiritual grace, that you may be established;

For I am longing to see you, in order to convey to you some spiritual help, so that you may be strengthened;

12 but this is the consolation among you through faith in one another, both of you and me.

in other words that while I am among you we may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith, yours and mine.

13 But I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that frequently I purposed to come to you, and was hindered hitherto, in order that I may have some fruit among you, as well as also among other Gentiles.

And I desire you to know, brethren, that I have many a time intended to come to you--though until now I have been disappointed--in order that among you also I might gather some fruit from my labours, as I have already done among the rest of the Gentile nations.

14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and the unwise:

I am already under obligations alike to Greek-speaking races and to others, to cultured and to uncultured people:

15 so to my utmost ability, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

so that for my part I am willing and eager to proclaim the Good News to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes--the Jew first, and then the Gentile.

17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in him from faith to faith: as has been written, But the just shall live by faith.

For in the Good News a righteousness which comes from God is being revealed, depending on faith and tending to produce faith; as the Scripture has it, "The righteous man shall live by faith."

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry:

19 because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God has revealed it to them:

because what may be known about Him is plain to their inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them.

20 for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are seen, being known by the things which are made, even His eternal power and divinity; so that they are without excuse: (aïdios g126)

For, from the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections--namely His eternal power and divine nature--have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by His works, so that these men are without excuse. (aïdios g126)

21 because, knowing God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were they thankful; but they became vain in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened.

For when they had come to know God, they did not give Him glory as God nor render Him thanks, but they became absorbed in useless discussions, and their senseless minds were darkened.

22 Saying that they were wise, they became fools,

While boasting of their wisdom they became utter fools,

23 and changed the glory of the invisible God into the similitude of the likeness of corruptible man, and of birds, and of quadrupeds, and of creeping things.

and, instead of worshipping the imperishable God, they worshipped images resembling perishable man or resembling birds or beasts or reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them up, in the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves:

For this reason, in accordance with their own depraved cravings, God gave them up to uncleanness, allowing them to dishonour their bodies among themselves with impurity.

25 who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore: amen. (aiōn g165)

For they had bartered the reality of God for what is unreal, and had offered divine honours and religious service to created things, rather than to the Creator--He who is for ever blessed. Amen. (aiōn g165)

26 On account of this God gave them up to the lusts of dishonor: for indeed their women changed the natural use to that which is against nature:

This then is the reason why God gave them up to vile passions. For not only did the women among them exchange the natural use of their bodies for one which is contrary to nature, but the men also,

27 likewise also the men, having left the natural use of the woman, burned in their desire towards one another; men with men working out disgrace, and receiving the reward of their error among themselves which it behooved.

in just the same way--neglecting that for which nature intends women--burned with passion towards one another, men practising shameful vice with men, and receiving in their own selves the reward which necessarily followed their misconduct.

28 And as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are inappropriate;

And just as they had refused to continue to have a full knowledge of God, so it was to utterly worthless minds that God gave them up, for them to do things which should not be done.

29 being filled with all injustice, wickedness, vice, covetousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceitfulness, evil affection;

Their hearts overflowed with all sorts of dishonesty, mischief, greed, malice. They were full of envy and murder, and were quarrelsome, crafty, and spiteful.

30 whisperers, calumniators, haters of God, insulters, proud, arrogant, practitioners of evils, disobedient to parents,

They were secret backbiters, open slanderers; hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful; inventors of new forms of sin, disobedient to parents, destitute of common sense,

31 covenant-breakers, incontinent, without natural affections, unmerciful,

faithless to their promises, without natural affection, without human pity.

32 who, knowing the rightfulness of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but they even delight in those who are doing them.

In short, though knowing full well the sentence which God pronounces against actions such as theirs, as things which deserve death, they not only practise them, but even encourage and applaud others who do them.