[This letter is from] Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, [who was] called to be an apostle, [and] set apart for [preaching] the Gospel of God.

It was about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born as a physical descendant of King David.

It was through Jesus, and for His name's sake, that we [i.e., I] received God's favor to become an apostle, in order to bring about obedience based on faith from among people of all nations.

All of you there in Rome [i.e., the church there] are also among such obedient believers. You are called Jesus Christ's [people], loved by God and called to be His holy people. May you have unearned favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all, I want to thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being told about throughout the whole world.

I am not ashamed of the good news [i.e., the Gospel], because it is God's power for [bringing] salvation to every person who believes [in Jesus]; first to Jews and then to Greeks [i.e., unconverted Gentiles].

For the Gospel reveals how a person can be made right with God. It is through faith [in Jesus], from beginning to end, just as it is written [Hab. 2:4], "The righteous person will [obtain] life by [his] faith [in God]."

This will be done on the day when God judges the secrets of men's [hearts] through Christ Jesus, according to [the teaching of] my Gospel.

Being considered right with God is [obtained] through faith in Jesus Christ by every person who believes [in Him], for there is no favoritism [with God],

But people are made right with Him as a free gift by His unearned favor, through being bought back [from Satan] by Christ Jesus.

God presented Jesus as the atoning sacrifice [for our sins] through [our] faith in His blood [i.e., His death on the cross]. This was in order to demonstrate His justice when, by using forbearance, He passed over people's sins in previous generations.

[In doing this] God [also] demonstrated His justice [to people] of this present time, that He Himself is just and the One who makes the people right with Him who have faith in Jesus.

but they were written for our sake also, who will be considered righteous by God for believing in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

[This] Jesus was delivered up [to die] for our sins and was raised [from the dead] to make us right with God.

So, since we are made right with God by [our] faith, we have peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus we have also gained access by [our] faith to this unearned favor [of God]. We stand firm in it, and are glad that we have the hope of being honored by God.

And not only is this true, but we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have been restored to fellowship with God.

Yet [physical] death ruled [over mankind] from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those people who had not sinned the way Adam did. [Now] Adam prefigured the coming of Jesus.

But the free gift [of salvation through Christ] is not [exactly] like the sin [of Adam]. For if many people died [physically] because of the sin of the one man [i.e., Adam], how much more did God's favor abound by [providing] His gracious gift [of salvation] to many people because of the one man, Jesus Christ.

For if [physical] death ruled [over mankind] because of the sin of the one man [i.e., Adam], how much more will those who receive the abundance of God's unearned favor, and the gift of being right with Him, rule in [never ending] life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

This was so that just as sin ruled [over mankind], causing [physical] death, even so God's unearned favor would rule [over mankind], providing [them with] righteousness, and leading to never ending life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Or, do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into His death?

For the wages for sinning is [spiritual] death, but God's free gift is never ending life in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thank God [that I can be rescued] through [the power of] Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I personally [try to] serve God's law with my mind, but [all too often] I serve the law of sin with my flesh [i.e., submitting in weakness to my human desires].

Therefore, none of those who are in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus will be condemned.

For the Holy Spirit's law which provides [never ending] life for those in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus has freed me from the law that requires [spiritual] death for sinning.

But if the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in your hearts, [then] that One [i.e., God] who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead, will restore life to your mortal bodies also, through [the power of] God's Spirit who lives in your hearts.

God did not withhold His own Son [from dying], but offered Him up for all of us. [Since He did that], will He not, along with Jesus, freely give us everything [else] also?

Who condemns [us]? Certainly not Jesus, for He is the One who died [i.e., to save us], and what is more, He was raised from the dead and is [now] at the right side of God. He also goes [to God] on our behalf [i.e., as we pray].

nor [things] above, nor [things] below, nor any [other] created thing will be able to separate us from God's love [for us], revealed through Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: The idea of this passage is "Regardless of what happens to us, God still loves us"].

So, if you profess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

I say then, did the Jews trip [over Jesus] just so they could fall [away from God]? Certainly not! [There was another reason]: Instead, it was by means of their sin that salvation was made available to the Gentiles, so that the Jews might become jealous of them [i.e., causing them to want what the Gentiles now had].

But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make any plans for satisfying the strong desires of your flesh [i.e., your appetites for sinful pleasures].

As one who is in [fellowship with] the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that nothing in itself is [ceremonially] unclean. But to the person who considers something [ceremonially] unclean, it then becomes unclean to him.

May God [who is the source] of steadfastness and encouragement, give you [a sense of] like-mindedness among yourselves, in harmony with [the example of] Christ Jesus,

so that in [genuine] unity and with one voice, you people may honor the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

in appointing me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I am serving like a priest in preaching God's good news, so that the Gentiles might be like an acceptable sacrifice [to God], dedicated by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, as I have fellowship with Christ Jesus, I am proud of my service to God.

Now I urge you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ [See 12:1], and through the Holy Spirit's love [in us], that you people join me in fervently praying to God for me

I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow-workers in [the service of] Christ Jesus.

And the God, who brings peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet [i.e., bring an end to the divisive work of the false teachers there]. May the unearned favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Now may there be glory for ever, through Jesus Christ, to the only wise God, who is able to make you stand firm [in the faith], according to the good news and proclamation of Jesus Christ. This message is the secret which was [eventually] revealed, after having been kept quiet about for long ages.