That is to say - there may be a mutual encouragement among you, each by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

For in the good news God's Way of man's right standing with Him is uncovered, the Way of faith that leads to greater faith, just as the Scripture says, "The upright man must live by faith."

So that his invisible things, that is to say, his eternal power and godhead, are understood and seen by the works from the creation of the world. So that they are without excuse,

That, I say, is why God abandoned them to degrading passions. Even the women among them perverted the natural use of their bodies to the unnatural;

Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defense, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things.

Now we [Jews] know that God's judgment against people who practice such things [i.e., the Gentiles] is according to truth. [Note: Some use "You say," at the beginning of the sentence, making it an assertion of the Jews which Paul sets about to answer].

that is to say: praise, honour, and immortality, to them which continue in good doing, and seek eternal life.

In the day when God will be a judge of the secrets of men, as it says in the good news of which I am a preacher, through Jesus Christ.

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, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples?

For, as the Scripture says, the name of God is abused among the heathen because of you.

but it is the Jew, who is so inwardly, and it is the circumcision of the heart, according to the spiritual, not the literal sense, which have the approbation, I do not say of men, but of God.

Not at all. Let God prove true, though every man be false! As the Scripture says, "That you may prove yourself upright in words you speak, and win your case when you go into court."

But, if, our unrighteousness, commendeth, God's righteousness, what shall we say? Surely, not unrighteous, is God who visiteth with his anger? After the manner of men, I am speaking, -

"but, say you, if the veracity of God hath appeared more illustrious thro' my unfaithfulness, why then am I condemned as a sinner?

And why not, according as we are injuriously charged, and according as some affirm that we say, Let us do the bad things, that the good ones may come? whose sentence is, just.

What say we then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise. For we have already proved how that both Jews and gentiles are all under sin,

as the Scriptures say: "Not a single human creature is upright,

[Psa. 5:9 says], "Their throats are like open graves [i.e., they are foul-mouthed]. They have spoken deceitfully." [Psa. 90:3 says], "There is snake venom under their lips [i.e., their words are deadly]."

[Psa. 10:7 says], "Their speech is full of cursing and bitterness."

[Isa. 59:7ff says], "Their feet [take them where they] are quick to commit murder.

[Psa. 36:1 says], "They do not view God with reverence."

Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.

To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

What then shall we say - as touching Abraham our forefather?

For what doth the Scripture say? And Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.

As David says that there is a blessing on the man to whose account God puts righteousness without works, saying,

"Blessed," he says, "are those whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over.

This happiness, then, is it for the circumcision, or for the uncircumcision? for we say - His faith was reckoned unto Abraham as righteousness:

as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." That is, the promise is in force in the sight of God in whom he put his faith, the God who can bring the dead to life and can call to Himself the things that do not exist as though they did.

For if by the sin of one, death reigned by the means of one, much more shall they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by the means of one; that is to say, Jesus Christ.

What then shall we say? are we still to continue in sin that favour may abound?

What, then, shall we say? Is the law sin? Far be it! On the contrary, I had not discovered, sin, save through law, for even, of coveting, I had not been aware if, the law, had not kept on saying - Thou shall not covet;

was it then good that brought death upon me? no, but it was sin, that sin might show it self by being able to bring death upon me by means of that which is good; that sin, I say, by the commandment might appear to be exceedingly destructive.

For I know that in me, that is to say, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with me: but I find no means to perform that which is good.

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.

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;

What, then, shall we say to a these things? If God is for us, who shall be against us?

Who will say anything against the saints of God? It is God who makes us clear from evil;

As the Scripture says: "For your sake we are being put to death the livelong day; we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered."

Truth, say I, in Christ, I utter no falsehood, - my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, -

when I say that I am greatly pained and my heart is constantly distressed,

Neither are all [Jewish] people children [of God], [simply] because they are Abraham's descendants. But [Gen. 21:12 says], "It is through Isaac that you [i.e., Abraham] will have descendants."

that is to say; They which are the children of the flesh, are not the children of God. But the children of promise are counted the seed.

As the Scripture says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."

What, then, shall we say? Is there injustice with God? Far be it!

For to Moses he says, "I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion."

For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very [reason] I have raised you up, so that I may demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Thou wilt say to me, then - Why longer findeth he fault? For, his purpose, who hath withstood?

O man! Who, nevertheless, art, thou, that art answering again unto God? Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it - Why didst thou make me thus?

that is to say, us which he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the gentiles.

As He also says in Hosea:

I will call Not My People, My People,
and she who is Unloved, Beloved.

[Hosea 1:10 says], "And it will happen that in the very place where people were told, 'You people do not belong to me [i.e., God],' they will be called children of the living God."

And Isaiah says about Israel, Even if the number of the children of Israel is as the sand of the sea, only a small part will get salvation:

Even as in an earlier passage, Isaiah says, Except the Lord of Sabbath had us some few descendants, we should have become like Sodom, and should have fared like Gomorrah.

What, then, shall we say? That, they of the nations, who were not in pursuit of righteousness, have laid hold of righteousness, - a righteousness, however, which is by faith;

as the Scripture says: "See, I put on Zion a stone for causing people to stumble, a rock to trip them on, but no one who puts his faith in it will ever be put to shame."

For Moses says of the law-way to right standing with God that whoever can perform the law will live by it.

Whereas, the righteousness by faith, thus speaketh - Do not say in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring, Christ, down,

On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:

Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation:

For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.

Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame,

For [Joel 2:32 says], "Every person who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [i.e., whoever appeals to God through obedient faith in Christ]

But how, say you, shall they call on him on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how can men preach unless they are sent to do so? As the Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of men who bring the glad news of His good things!"

But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?

But I say: Have they not heard? Yea indeed, - into all the earth, hath gone forth their sound, and, unto the ends of the inhabited world, their declarations.

But I say: Hath, Israel, not come to know? First, Moses, saith - I, will provoke you to jealousy on account of a no-nation, on account of an undiscerning nation, will I make you very angry.

And Isaiah says boldly:

I was found
by those who were not looking for Me;
I revealed Myself
to those who were not asking for Me.

But to Israel he says: All day long I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

I say, then - Hath God cast off his people? Far be it! For, I also, am an Israelite, - of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin:

God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?

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."

as the Scripture Says, "God has given them over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, down to this very day."

And David says:

Let their feasting become a snare and a trap,
a pitfall and a retribution to them.

I say then - Did they stumble in order that they might fall? Far be it! But, by their fall, salvation hath come unto the nations, to the end of provoking them to jealousy.

But I say to you, Gentiles, in so far as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I make much of my position:

Thou wilt say, then - Branches were broken out in order that, I, might he grafted in.

and so in that way all Israel will be saved, just as the Scripture says: "From Zion the Deliverer will come; He will remove ungodliness from Jacob;

[A summary of Jer. 31:31-34 says], "And I [i.e., God] will make this Agreement with them [i.e., Jewish and Gentile believers] when I take away their sins."

For I say, through the favour which hath been given me, unto every one who is among you, - not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but so to think as to think soberly - as, unto each one, God hath dealt a measure of faith.

Bless them that persecute you: bless them, I say, and do not curse them.

Do not give punishment for wrongs done to you, dear brothers, but give way to the wrath of God; for it is said in the holy Writings, Punishment is mine, I will give reward, says the Lord.

But [Prov. 25:21-25 says], "Feed your enemy if he is hungry; give him something to drink if he is thirsty. For when you do this, it will be [like] heaping burning coals on his head." [i.e., it can cause him burning shame that can lead to his repentance and ultimate forgiveness].

For the Law which says, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and whatever other commandment there be??s all summed up in this one saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

This I say, because you know the crisis that we have reached, for the time has already come for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; our Salvation is nearer now than when we accepted the Faith.

Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? It is for his own master to say whether he succeeds or fails; and he will succeed, for the Master can make him do so.

For it is said in the holy Writings, By my life, says the Lord, to me every knee will be bent, and every tongue will give worship to God.

Let it not be possible for men to say evil about your good:

Christ certainly did not please Himself; instead, as the Scripture says, "The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me."

Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision to give effect to the undertakings given by God to the fathers,

and for the heathen peoples to praise God for His mercy, as the Scripture says: "For this I will give thanks to you among the heathen, and will sing praises to your name."

And again he says, Take part, you Gentiles, in the joy of his people.

And again Isaiah says, There will be the root of Jesse, and he who comes to be the ruler over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles put their hope.

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,

but, as the Scripture says: "They will see who were never told of Him, and they will understand who have not heard."

but now, I'say , I go unto Jerusalem, ministering unto the saints.

they have thought fit, I say, and they owed them as much. for if the Gentiles have participated of their spirituals, they are bound on their side to minister to them in their temporals.

It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae: