Romans 2
1 Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defense, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things.
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoever thou art, that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost the same things.
2 And we know that God’s judgment falls unerringly on those who do them.
But we know that the judgement of God is according to truth against those that do such things.
3 You who judge those that do such things and yet are yourself guilty of them – do you suppose that you of all people will escape God’s judgment?
And thinkest thou, O man, who judgest those that do such things, and dost the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God?
4 Or do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realizing that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 Hard-hearted and impenitent as you are, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath, when God’s justice as a judge will be revealed;
But by thy hardness and impenitence of heart thou art treasuring up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgement of God,
6 for he will give to everyone what their actions deserve.
who will render to every one according to his works:
7 To those who, by perseverance in doing good, aim at glory, honor, and all that is imperishable, he will give immortal life; (aiōnios g166)
to them, who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortality, eternal life: (aiōnios g166)
8 while as to those who are factious, and disobedient to truth but obedient to evil, wrath and anger, distress and despair,
but to those who are contentious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.
9 will fall on every human being who persists in wrongdoing – on the Jew first, but also on the Greek.
Tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soul of man that worketh evil, both of the Jew, and of the Gentile:
10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does right – for the Jew first, but also for the Greek,
but glory, and honor, and peace to every one that worketh good, both to the Jew, and to the Greek:
11 since God shows no partiality.
for there is no respect of persons with God.
12 All who, when they sin, are without Law will also perish without Law; while all who, when they sin, are under Law, will be judged as being under Law.
For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;
13 It is not those who hear the words of a Law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous.
(for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified:
14 When Gentiles, who have no Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they, though they have no Law, are a Law to themselves;
for when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the duties of the law, these though they have not the law, are a law to themselves,
15 for they show the demands of the Law written on their hearts; their consciences corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or, it may be, in self-defense –
and shew the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience witnessing together with it, and their own thoughts either accusing, or excusing them, )
16 on the day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost lives, as the good news that I tell declares that he will do through Christ Jesus.
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
17 But, perhaps, you bear the name of ‘Jew,’ and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,
Behold thou art called a Jew, and restest on the law, and boastest in God,
18 and, having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions.
and knowest his will, and approvest things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
19 Perhaps you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent,
and art persuaded that thou art a guide of the blind,
20 and a teacher of the childish, because in the Law you possess the outline of all knowledge and truth.
a light to them that are in the darkness, an instructor of the simple, a teacher of babes, having the form of the knowledge and of the truth which is in the law.
21 Why, then, you teacher of others, don’t you teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing, and yet steal?
Thou then, who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou, that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Do you forbid adultery, and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols, and yet plunder temples?
Thou, that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou, that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Boasting, as you do, of your Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?
Thou, that boastest in the law, dost thou by transgression of the law dishonour God?
24 For, as scripture says – ‘The Gentiles insult God’s name because of you’!
for through you the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, as it is written.
25 Circumcision has its value, if you are obeying the Law. But, if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision.
For circumcision indeed is profitable, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision.
26 If, then, an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the Law, won’t he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were?
Therefore if the uncircumcised keep the righteous precepts of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be accounted to him for circumcision?
27 Indeed, the person who, owing to his birth, remains uncircumcised, and yet scrupulously obeys the Law, will condemn you, who, for all your written Law and your circumcision, are yet a breaker of the Law.
and shall not the uncircumcision that is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? for he is not a Jew, who is only so in appearance;
28 For a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew; nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the person who is a Jew in soul;
nor is that circumcision, which is only in appearance, in the flesh;
29 and the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a person wins praise from God, though not from people.
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter: whose praise is not from men, but from God.
