Romans 7

1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law, ) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to people who know about law), that the law controls a person for as long as he lives?

2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to [her] husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of [her] husband.

For the married woman is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

3 So then if, while [her] husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

So then, while her husband is living, if she lives with another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so she is not an adulteress if she lives with another man.

4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Therefore, my brothers, you were also made dead to the law through the body of Christ. This is so that you could be joined to another, that is, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might produce fruit for God.

5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.

But now we have been released from the law. We have died to that by which we were held. This is so that we might serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

What will we say then? Is the law itself sin? May it never be. However, I would never have known sin, if it were not through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law said, “You must not covet.”

8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin [was] dead.

But sin took the opportunity through the commandment and brought about every lust in me. For without the law, sin is dead.

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

At one time I was alive without the law, but when the commandment came, sin regained life, and I died.

10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death.

The commandment that was to bring life turned out to be death for me.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me].

For sin took the opportunity through the commandment and deceived me. Through the commandment it killed me.

12 Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

So did what is good become death to me? May it never be. But sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin through what is good, brought about death in me. This was in order that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.

14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh. I have been sold under slavery to sin.

15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

For what I do, I do not really understand. For what I want to do, I do not do, and what I hate, I do.

16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good.

But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that the law is good.

17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

But now it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that lives in me.

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh, ) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.

For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, lives no good thing. For the desire for good is with me, but I cannot do it.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

For the good that I want I do not do, but the evil that I do not want, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Now if I do what I do not want to do, then it is no longer I who am acting, but rather sin that lives in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

I find, then, the principle in me that I want to do what is good, but that evil is actually present in me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

For I rejoice in the law of God with the inner man.

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

But I see a different principle in my body parts. It fights against that new principle in my mind. It takes me captive by the principle of sin that is in my body parts.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I am a miserable man! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind. However, with the flesh I serve the principle of sin.