Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark.

And by them the glory of the eternal God was changed and made into the image of man who is not eternal, and of birds and beasts and things which go on the earth.

Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.

And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right;

Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother,

Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy:

Who, though they have knowledge of the law of God, that the fate of those who do these things is death, not only go on doing these things themselves, but give approval to those who do them.

But you who are judging another for doing what you do yourself, are you hoping that God's decision will not take effect against you?

Or is it nothing to you that God had pity on you, waiting and putting up with you for so long, not seeing that in his pity God's desire is to give you a change of heart?

But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath,

For one man is not different from another before God.

For it is not the hearers of the law who will be judged as having righteousness before God, but only the doers:

You who give teaching to others, do you give it to yourself? you who say that a man may not take what is not his, do you take what is not yours?

You who say that a man may not be untrue to his wife, are you true to yours? you who are a hater of images, do you do wrong to the house of God?

It is true that circumcision is of use if you keep the law, but if you go against the law it is as if you had it not.

If those who have not circumcision keep the rules of the law, will it not be credited to them as circumcision?

The true Jew is not one who is only so publicly, and circumcision is not that which may be seen in the flesh:

But he is a Jew who is a secret one, whose circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment.

As it is said in the holy Writings, There is not one who does righteousness;

Not one who has the knowledge of what is right, not one who is a searcher after God;

They have all gone out of the way, there is no profit in any of them; there is not one who does good, not so much as one:

Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips:

That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,

Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not in the same way the God of Gentiles? Yes, of Gentiles:

If God is one; and he will give righteousness because of faith to those who have circumcision, and through faith to those who have not circumcision.

For if Abraham got righteousness by works, he has reason for pride; but not before God.

Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt.

Is this blessing, then, for the circumcision only, or in the same way for those who have not circumcision? for we say that the faith of Abraham was put to his account as righteousness.

How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who keep to the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he underwent circumcision.

For God's word, that the earth would be his heritage, was given to Abraham, not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

For the outcome of the law is wrath; but where there is no law it will not be broken.

For this reason it is of faith, so that it may be through grace; and so that the word of God may be certain to all the seed; not only to that which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

And not being feeble in faith though his body seemed to him little better than dead (he being about a hundred years old) and Sarah was no longer able to have children:

Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,

Now, it was not because of him only that this was said,

And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;

And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

And not only so, but we have joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we are now at peace with God.

Because, till the law came, sin was in existence, but sin is not put to the account of anyone when there is no law to be broken.

But still death had power from Adam till Moses, even over those who had not done wrong like Adam, who is a picture of him who was to come.

But the free giving of God is not like the wrongdoing of man. For if, by the wrongdoing of one man death came to numbers of men, much more did the grace of God, and the free giving by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, come to men.

And the free giving has not the same effect as the sin of one: for the effect of one man's sin was punishment by the decision of God, but the free giving had power to give righteousness to wrongdoers in great number.

For this cause do not let sin be ruling in your body which is under the power of death, so that you give way to its desires;

And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin may not have rule over you: because you are not under law, but under grace.

What then? are we to go on in sin because we are not under law but under grace? Let it not be so.

Are you not conscious that you are the servants of him to whom you give yourselves to do his desire? if to sin, the end being death, or if to do the desire of God, the end being righteousness.

Is it not clear, my brothers (I am using an argument to those who have knowledge of the law), that the law has power over a man as long as he is living?

So if, while the husband is living, she is joined to another man, she will get the name of one who is untrue to her husband: but if the husband is dead, she is free from the law, so that she is not untrue, even if she takes another man.

But now we are free from the law, having been made dead to that which had power over us; so that we are servants in the new way of the spirit, not in the old way of the letter.

What then is to be said? is the law sin? in no way. But I would not have had knowledge of sin but for the law: for I would not have been conscious of desire if the law had not said, You may not have a desire for what is another's.

And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do.

For I am conscious that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is nothing good: I have the mind but not the power to do what is right.

For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do.

For this cause those who are in Christ Jesus will not be judged as sinners.

For what the law was not able to do because it was feeble through the flesh, God, sending his Son in the image of the evil flesh, and as an offering for sin, gave his decision against sin in the flesh:

So that what was ordered by the law might be done in us, who are living, not in the way of the flesh, but in the way of the Spirit.

Because the mind of the flesh is opposite to God; it is not under the law of God, and is not able to be:

So that those who are in the flesh are not able to give pleasure to God.

You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is not one of his.

So then, my brothers, we are in debt, not to the flesh to be living in the way of the flesh:

For you did not get the spirit of servants again to put you in fear, but the spirit of sons was given to you, by which we say, Abba, Father.

For every living thing was put under the power of change, not by its desire, but by him who made it so, in hope

And not only so, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we have sorrow in our minds, waiting for the time when we will take our place as sons, that is, the salvation of our bodies.

For our salvation is by hope: but hope which is seen is not hope: for who is hoping for what he sees?

But if we have hope for that which we see not, then we will be able to go on waiting for it.

And in the same way the Spirit is a help to our feeble hearts: for we are not able to make prayer to God in the right way; but the Spirit puts our desires into words which are not in our power to say;

He who did not keep back his only Son, but gave him up for us all, will he not with him freely give us all things?

Who will give a decision against us? It is Christ Jesus who not only was put to death, but came again from the dead, who is now at the right hand of God, taking our part.

Who will come between us and the love of Christ? Will trouble, or pain, or cruel acts, or the need of food or of clothing, or danger, or the sword?

For I am certain that not death, or life, or angels, or rulers, or things present, or things to come, or powers,

I say what is true in Christ, and not what is false, my mind giving witness with me in the Holy Spirit,

But it is not as if the word of God was without effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel:

And they are not all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, In Isaac will your seed be named.

That is, it is not the children of the flesh, but the children of God's undertaking, who are named as the seed.

And not only so, but Rebecca being about to have a child by our father Isaac--

Before the children had come into existence, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and his selection might be effected, not by works, but by him whose purpose it is,

What may we say then? is God not upright? let it not be said.

So then, it is not by the desire or by the attempt of man, but by the mercy of God.

Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame?

Even us, who were marked out by him, not only from the Jews, but from the Gentiles?

As he says in Hosea, They will be named my people who were not my people, and she will be loved who was not loved.

And in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, there they will be named the sons of the living God.

And, as Isaiah had said before, If the Lord of armies had not given us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.

What then may we say? That the nations who did not go after righteousness have got righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith:

But Israel, going after a law of righteousness, did not get it.

Why? Because they were not searching for it by faith, but by works. They came up against the stone which was in the way;

As it is said, See, I am putting in Zion a stone causing a fall, and a rock in the way: but he who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

For I give witness of them that they have a strong desire for God, but not with knowledge.

Because, not having knowledge of God's righteousness, and desiring to give effect to their righteousness, they have not put themselves under the righteousness of God.

But the righteousness which is of faith says these words, Say not in your heart, Who will go up to heaven? (that is, to make Christ come down:)

Because it is said in the holy Writings, Whoever has faith in him will not be shamed.

And the Jew is not different from the Greek: for there is the same Lord of all, who is good to all who have hope in his name:

But how will they give worship to him in whom they have no faith? and how will they have faith in him of whom they have not had news? and how will they have news without a preacher?

And how will there be preachers if they are not sent? As it is said, How beautiful are the feet of those who give the glad news of good things.

But they have not all given ear to the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has had faith in our word?