because what should be known of God they are acquainted with; for God hath manifested it unto them.

Forever since the creation of the world, His invisible characteristics -- His eternal power and divine nature -- have been made intelligible and clearly visible by His works. So they are without excuse,

because, although they once knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give Him thanks, but became silly in their senseless speculations, and so their insensible hearts have been shrouded in darkness.

Though claiming to be wise, they made fools of themselves,

and for the splendor of the immortal God they have substituted images in the form of mortal man, birds, animals, and reptiles.

So God has given them up to sexual impurity, in the evil trend of their heart's desires, so that they degrade their own bodies with one another,

for they had utterly transformed the reality of God into what was unreal, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

and the men likewise, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust to one another, men with men committing shame, and receiving in themselves the recompence of their error which they deserved.

And so, as they did not approve of fully recognizing God any longer, God gave them up to minds that He did not approve, to practices that were improper;

because they overflow with every sort of evil-doing, wickedness, greed, and malice; they are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, ill-will;

they are secret backbiters, open slanderers, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful; inventors of new forms of evil, undutiful to parents,

They were without sense, without faith, without natural affection, without mercy.

Although they know full well God's sentence that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only practice them but even applaud others who do them.

To them truly by perseverance of the good work they seek glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

All who, when they sin, are without Law will also perish without Law; while all who, when they sin, are under Law, will be judged as being under Law.

For before God they are not righteous which hear the law: but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Indeed, when heathen people who have no law instinctively do what the law demands, although they have no law, they are a law to themselves,

for they show that the deeds the law demands are written on their hearts, because their consciences will testify for them, and their inner thoughts will either accuse or defend them,

on that day when, as my gospel proclaims, God will judge the secrets [all the hidden thoughts and concealed sins] of men through Christ Jesus.

You say that a person should not commit adultery [i.e., sexual unfaithfulness to their mate], [but] do you commit adultery? You [claim to] hate idols, [but] do you rob [their] temples? [Note: It is difficult to determine how the Jews were doing this. Perhaps they were guilty of the "spirit" of idolatry by devoting their efforts and affections to material things instead of to God].

So if people who are uncircumcised observe the requirements of the Law, will they not be treated as though they were circumcised?

And they, by their keeping of the law without circumcision, will be judges of you, by whom the law is broken though you have the letter of the law and circumcision.

They are great from every point of view. In the first place, the Jews are entrusted with the utterances of God.

Or can we say as some people slander us by claiming that we say "Let's do evil that good may result"? They deserve to be condemned!

What is our conclusion then? Is it that we Jews are better than they? Not at all! For we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under the sway of sin,

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

Their throats are just like open graves, with their tongues they have spoken treachery; the poison of asps is under their lips.

They run swiftly to shed blood.

They do not know the way of peace.

They don't fear God.

By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus,

Well then, there is one God, a God who will justify the circumcised as they believe and the uncircumcised on the score of faith.

Just as David himself describes the bliss of the man who has righteousness counted to him by God apart from what he does ??7 Blessed are they whose breaches of the Law are forgiven, whose sins are covered!

"Happy are they whose transgressions have been forgiven, whose sins were covered up;

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as God's seal of his right standing with Him on condition of faith which he had before he was circumcised, that he might be the forefather of all who have faith while still uncircumcised, that they might have their faith credited to them as right standing with God;

And that he might be the father of the circumcised: not because they are circumcised only: but because they walk also in the steps of that faith, that was in our father Abraham before the time of circumcision.

For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

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.

but for our sake also—to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead—

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Neither give ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: But give yourselves unto God, as they that are alive from death. And give your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

What benefit did you then derive from doing the things of which you are now ashamed? None, for they end in death.

For whilst we were under the thraldom of our earthly natures, sinful passions-- made sinful by the Law--were always being aroused to action in our bodily faculties that they might yield fruit to death.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For the interests of the flesh are hostile to God; they do not yield to the law of God (indeed they cannot).

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

in hope that they also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

As it stands written in the Scripture, "For Thy sake they are, all day long, trying to kill us. We have been looked upon as sheep destined for slaughter."

For they are Israelites; to them belong the privileges of sonship, God's glorious presence, the special covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, the promises,

whose also are the fathers, and they of whom; as concerning the flesh; Christ came: which is God over all things, blessed forever. Amen.

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

nor are they all children of Abraham, because they are his descendants, but the promise was "In the line of Isaac your descendants will I be counted."

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

For even before the twin sons were born, and though they had done nothing either good or bad, that God's purpose in accordance with His choice might continue to stand, conditioned not on men's actions but on God's calling them,

And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed,

As he says in Hosea, They will be named my people who were not my people, and she will be loved who was not loved.

And in the place where it was said, 'You are no people of mine,' they shall be called sons of the living God."

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;

Why? Because they did not try through faith but through what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble,

Even as it is written [Ex. 28:16], "Look, I am placing a stone in the city of Zion that people will stumble over and a rock on which they will trip and fall. But the person who believes in Him will not be put to shame [i.e., he will never have unforgiven sin brought up against him]."

Brothers, my heart's good will goes out for them, and my prayer to God is that they may be saved.

For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but they are not intelligently so.

For they were ignorant of God's way of right standing and were trying to set up one of their own, and so would not surrender to God's way of right standing.

For in their hearts people exercise the faith that leads to right standing, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment which means salvation.

There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him.

But how can people call upon One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in One about whom they have not heard? And how can people hear without someone to preach to them?

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!"

However, they have not all given heed to the good news, for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has put faith in what we told?"

But may I ask, They had no chance to hear, did they? Yes, indeed: "All over the earth their voices have gone, to the ends of the world their words."

But again I ask, Israel did not understand, did they? For in the first place Moses says: "I will make you jealous of a nation that is no nation; I will provoke you to anger at a senseless nation."

"Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone have been left, and they are trying to kill me."

But if it is by His unmerited favor, it is not at all conditioned on what they have done. If that were so, His favor would not be favor at all.

What then? What Israel seeks, this it did not obtain, but the election obtained; and the rest were hardened,??8 as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear??o this day.

(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

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

I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall in utter ruin, did they? Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to heathen peoples, to make the Israelites jealous.

Now, if their fall is the wealth of the world, and their loss the wealth of the Gentiles, how much greater will be the glory when they are made full?

Very well, but it was for lack of faith that they were broken off, and it is through your faith that you now stand where you are. Stop your haughty thinking, rather continue to be reverent,

See then that God is good but his rules are fixed: to those who were put away he was hard, but to you he has been good, on the condition that you keep in his mercy; if not, you will be cut off as they were.

And they too, if they do not continue to live by their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is amply able to graft them in.

for if thou, out of the olive tree, wild by nature, wast cut out, and, contrary to nature, wast graffed into a good olive tree, how much rather shall they, who are according to nature, be graffed into their own olive tree?

And they shall see the fulfillment of my Covenant, when I have taken away their sins.'

As measured by the good news the Jews are God's enemies for your sakes, but as measured by God's choice they are His beloved because of their forefathers,

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].

For just as you once disobeyed God, but now have had mercy shown you because they disobeyed,

so they too are now disobedient because of the mercy shown you, that they too may now have mercy shown them.

Let, every soul, unto protecting authorities be in subjection; for there is no authority save by God, and, they that are in being, have by God been arranged, -

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

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 civil authorities are God's servants to do you good. But if you practice doing wrong, you should dread them, for they do not wield the sword for nothing. Indeed, they are God's servants to inflict punishment upon people who do wrong.

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.

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Give to all what is their right: taxes to him whose they are, payment to him whose right it is, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour is to be given.

For these commandments: Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not desire, and so forth: if there be any other commandment, they are all comprehended in this saying, "Love thine neighbor as thyself."

This man puts one day before another: to that man they are the same. Let every man be certain in his mind.

do not for such a thing as meat, pull down what God has been raising. all things indeed are pure; but they become evil to him who by eating giveth offence.

For even the Christ did not seek His own pleasure. His principle was, "The reproaches which they addressed to Thee have fallen on me."