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.

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.

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."

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:

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.

For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned whilst living under the Law, will be judged by the Law.

and know the supreme will, and can test things that differ--being a man who receives instruction from the Law--

But the true Jew is one inwardly, and true circumcision is heart-circumcision--not literal, but spiritual; and such people receive praise not from men, but from God.

What special privilege, then, has a Jew? Or what benefit is to be derived from circumcision?

The privilege is great from every point of view. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God's truth.

All have turned aside from the right path; they have every one of them become corrupt. There is no one who does what is right--no, not so much as one."

But it cannot be denied that all that the Law says is addressed to those who are living under the Law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may await sentence from God.

But now a righteousness coming from God has been brought to light apart from any Law, both Law and Prophets bearing witness to it--

a righteousness coming from God, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ and extends to all who believe. No distinction is made;

gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus.

For we maintain that it is as the result of faith that a man is held to be righteous, apart from actions done in obedience to Law.

whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

In this way David also tells of the blessedness of the man to whose credit God places righteousness, apart from his actions.

it was for our sakes too. Faith, before long, will be placed to the credit of us also who are believers in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,

If therefore we have now been pronounced free from guilt through His blood, much more shall we be delivered from God's anger through Him.

Yet Death reigned as king from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned, as Adam did, against Law. And in Adam we have a type of Him whose coming was still future.

Well, then, we by our baptism were buried with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Father's glorious power, we also should live an entirely new life.

for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin.

and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right.

You were set free from the tyranny of Sin, and became the bondservants of Righteousness--

At that time, then, what benefit did you get from conduct which you now regard with shame? Why, such things finally result in death.

But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result.

So, my brethren, to you also the Law died through the incarnation of Christ, that you might be wedded to Another, namely to Him who rose from the dead in order that we might yield fruit to God.

Sin took advantage of this, and by means of the Commandment stirred up within me every kind of coveting; for apart from Law sin would be dead.

Once, apart from Law, I was alive, but when the Commandment came, sin sprang into life, and I died;

(Unhappy man that I am! who will rescue me from this death-burdened body?

for the Spirit's Law-- telling of Life in Christ Jesus--has set me free from the Law that deals only with sin and death.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead will give Life also to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who dwells in you.

Yet there was always the hope that at last the Creation itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God.

and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.

Who shall impeach those whom God has chosen? God declares them free from guilt.

Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword?

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which rests upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For I could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.

To them the Patriarchs belong, and from them in respect of His human lineage came the Christ, who is exalted above all, God blessed throughout the Ages. Amen.

Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel,

And from this we learn that everything is dependent not on man's will or endeavour, but upon God who has mercy. For the Scripture said to Pharaoh,

even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?

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;

And why? Because they were pursuing a righteousness which should arise not from faith, but from what they regarded as merit. They stuck their foot against the stone which lay in their way;

"nor 'Who shall go down into the abyss?'" --that is, to bring Christ up again from the grave.

But, some will say, they have not all hearkened to the Good News. No, for Isaiah asks, "Lord, who has believed the Message they have heard from us?"

And this proves that faith comes from a Message heard, and that the Message comes through its having been spoken by Christ.

Moreover, if they turn from their unbelief, they too will be grafted in. For God is powerful enough to graft them in again;

and if you were cut from that which by nature is a wild olive and contrary to nature were grafted into the good olive tree, how much more certainly will these natural branches be grafted on their own olive tree?

and so all Israel will be saved. As is declared in Scripture, "From Mount Zion a Deliverer will come: He will remove all ungodliness from Jacob;

Carry out these injunctions because you know the critical period at which we are living, and that it is now high time, to rouse yourselves from sleep; for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first became believers.

Let not him who eats certain food look down upon him who abstains from it, nor him who abstains from it find fault with him who eats it; for God has received both of them.

He who regards the day as sacred, so regards it for the Master's sake; and he who eats certain food eats it for the Master's sake, for he gives thanks to God; and he who refrains from eating it refrains for the Master's sake, and he also gives thanks to God.

But as to you, brethren, I am convinced-- yes, I Paul am convinced--that, even apart from my teaching, you are already full of goodness of heart, and enriched with complete Christian knowledge, and are also competent to instruct one another.

and I know that when I come to you it will be with a vast amount of blessing from Christ.

asking that I may escape unhurt from those in Judaea who are disobedient, and that the service which I am going to Jerusalem to render may be well received by the Church there,