Romans 1 — AAB

Paul Greets the Holy Ones in Rome

1Verse 1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—^{Verse 2}the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,^{Verse 3}regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,^{Verse 4}and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.^{Verse 5}Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.^{Verse 6}And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.^{Verse 7}To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be holy ones:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unashamed of the Gospel

^{Verse 8}First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world.^{Verse 9}God, whom I serve with my spirit⁺in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you^{Verse 10}in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you.^{Verse 11}For I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,^{Verse 12}that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.^{Verse 13}I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting⁺until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.^{Verse 14}I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks,⁺both to the wise and the foolish.^{Verse 15}That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.^{Verse 16}I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.^{Verse 17}For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish,⁺just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”⁺

God’s Wrath against Sin

^{Verse 18}The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.^{Verse 19}For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.^{Verse 20}For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.^{Verse 21}For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.^{Verse 22}Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,^{Verse 23}and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.^{Verse 24}Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.^{Verse 25}They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise!⁺Amen.^{Verse 26}For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.^{Verse 27}Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.^{Verse 28}Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.^{Verse 29}They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,^{Verse 30}slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.^{Verse 31}They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.^{Verse 32}Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.