For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith.

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Affliction and distress [shall be] on every soul of man that does evil, both the Jew first and the Greek;

and glory and honor and peace to every one that does good, both the Jew first and the Greek.

because God does not show partiality.

For merely hearing the law read does not make men upright with God, but men who practice the law will be recognized as upright.

well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal [in ways that are discrete, but just as sinful]?

Circumcision does indeed profit, if you are obedient to the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision is become uncircumcision.

What special privilege, then, has a Jew? Or, what benefit does circumcision confer?

What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?

Now if our wrongdoing serves to emphasize more clearly that God does what is right, what should we say about that? Is God being unjust for sending [His] wrath [on the world]? (I am raising a human objection).

What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin.

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

They all have turned aside, all have become corrupt; No one does good, not even one!

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is shut out. On what principle? What a man does? No, but whether a man has faith.

Does God belong to the Jews alone? Does he not belong to the heathen too? Of course he belongs to the heathen too;

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?]

For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham put his faith in God, and it was credited to him as right standing with God."

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

but the man who does no work, but simply puts his faith in Him who brings the ungodly into right standing with Himself, has his faith credited to him as right standing.

So David, too, describes the happiness of the man to whom God credits right standing with Himself, without the things he does having anything to do with it:

Happy the man whose sin the Lord does not charge against him!"

Now does this happiness come to the Jews alone, or to the heathen peoples too? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as right standing."

as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." The promise is guaranteed in the very sight of God in whom he had faith, who can bring the dead to life and call into being what does not exist.

Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

For rarely does one die for the righteous. Yet perhaps for a good person someone might dare to die.

the type of him that was to come: but yet the damage of the fall does not exactly correspond to the advantages of the divine favour: for tho' through the fall of one, mankind became mortal, yet this is greatly over-ballanced by the favour and bounty of God, in the benevolence of one man, Jesus Christ, to all mankind.

We know that Christ was raised from the dead, never to die again, because death does not have control over Him any longer.

What, then, does this mean? Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not!

and now it is no longer I that do these things, but the sin which has its home within me does them.

For I know that good does not live in me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing [of] the good [is] not.

But if I do that which I desire not to do, it can no longer be said that it is I who do it, but the sin which has its home within me does it.

Because one's thinking the things suggested by the lower nature means enmity to God, for it does not subject itself to God's law, nor indeed can it.

But you are not living on the plane of the lower nature, but on the spiritual plane, if the Spirit of God has His home within you. Unless a man has the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

For we are saved by hope; but a hope that is seen is not a hope; for why does one hope for what he sees?

but if we hope for what is yet to come, our patience does necessarily intervene.

Who [i.e., what] can separate us from Christ's love [for us]? [i.e., what unfortunate circumstance of life might suggest that Christ does not love us?] Would [it be] trouble? Or distress? Or persecution? Or inadequate food? Or inadequate clothing? Or danger? Or [even] death?

No, [suffering any one of these things is not proof that Christ does not love us], for in spite of all these things we have a decisive victory [over life's difficulties] through [the care shown us by] Christ who loved us.

It is not, of course, as if God's word had failed! Far from it! 'Israel' does not mean everyone who belongs to Israel;

and though the children were still unborn and had done nothing either good or bad (to confirm the divine purpose in election which depends upon the call of God, not on anything man does),

So one's destiny does not depend on his own willing or strenuous actions but on God's having mercy on him.

So you will ask me, "Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?"

But who indeed are you -- a mere human being -- to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn't he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump of clay.

To what conclusion does this bring us? Why, that the Gentiles, who were not in pursuit of righteousness, have overtaken it--a righteousness, however, which arises from faith;

For Moses describes the righteousness of the law, that the man that does these things shall live by them.

"And [do not ask yourself], 'Who will go down into the deep hole?'" (in order to bring Christ up from the dead). [Note: This "deep hole" probably refers to the unseen place of departed spirits, or possibly the grave. Being made right with God does not require something as difficult as bringing Christ down from heaven or up from the dead (which God had already done), but is within easy reach of everyone].

But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach.

Again I ask, "Did Israel not understand?" Moses was the first to say, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that doesn't understand."

But what does the divine response say to him? "I have left for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal."

What, then, does this mean? It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, but the selected group obtained it while the rest were hardened.

for God does not change his mind about those to whom he gives his blessings or sends his call.

or of one who encourages others, in the field of encouragement; or one who gives his money, with liberality; or one who leads others, with earnestness; or one who does deeds of charity, with cheerfulness.

For civil authorities are not a terror to the man who does right, but they are to the man who does wrong. Do you want to have no dread of the civil authorities? Then practice doing right and you will be commended for it.

for [the power] is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, fear; for it bears not the sword in vain; for it is God's minister of justice for punishment to him that does evil.

But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for it is not without reason that they bear the sword. Indeed, they are God's servants to administer punishment to anyone who does wrong. Therefore, it is necessary for you to be acquiescent to the authorities, not only for the sake of God's punishment, but also for the sake of your own conscience.

Love never does a wrong to one's neighbor; so love is the perfect satisfaction of the law.

The man who eats anything must not look down on the man who does not do so, nor must the man who does not do so condemn the man who does, for God has fully accepted him.

The man who keeps a certain day keeps it for the Lord. The man who eats anything does it for the Lord too, for he gives God thanks. The man who refuses to eat anything does it for the Lord too, and gives God thanks.

But why doest thou then judge thy brother? Other why dost thou despise thy brother? We shall all be brought before the judgment seat of Christ.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in what we eat and drink, but in doing right, in peace and joy through the Holy Spirit;

Do not undo God's work for the sake of what you eat. Though everything is 'clean,' yet, if a man eats so as to put a stumbling- block in the way of others, he does wrong.

The faith that you have, have with respect to yourself before God. Blessed [is] the one who does not pass judgment on himself by what he approves.

But the man who has misgivings about eating, if he then eats, has already condemned himself by so doing, because he did not follow his faith, and any action that does not follow one's faith is a sin.

Gaius, my host, and host of the whole church here, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does our brother Quartus.