Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

To all in Rome who are beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last find the way to come to you.

that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have some harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth,

for what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done.

But by your hardness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life;

but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

on that day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, and not by the written code. His praise is not from men but from God.

Certainly not! Let God be true, though every man a liar. As it is written: "That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged."

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Therefore no flesh will be justified in his sight by works of the law, for through the law comes knowledge of sin.

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand;

and it was to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

since there is one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through their faith.

Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be reckoned to them.

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

For if those who are of the law are to be the heirs, faith has no value and the promise is void,

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all his descendantsnot only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all

In hope, he believed against hope, so that he became the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

but for us also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.

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

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

For if, by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.)

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of her husband.

So then, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and though she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.

While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

But now, by dying to what once held us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

But sin, finding opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetous desire. For apart from the law sin lies dead.

The very commandment which was to bring life I found to be death to me.

For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But it was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.

Thanks be to Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weakened through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin: he condemned sin in the flesh,

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

and if children, then heirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;

because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but, "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named."

And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac,

For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."

"And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

as it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, and a rock that will make them fall; and he who believes in him will not be put to shame."

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

For Christ is the end of the law, that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them."

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."

For, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; by a foolish nation I will make you angry."

But Isaiah is very bold and says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me."

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

And if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever."

For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."

That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only by faith. So do not be proud, but stand in awe.

Therefore consider the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

And they also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and were grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree!

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.