Romans 1-2 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Romans 1-2

The Gospel Exalted

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, ¹^acalled as an apostle, having been ^bset apart for ^cthe gospel of God, 2 which He ^apromised beforehand through His ^bprophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born ^aof the seed of David ^baccording to the flesh, 4 who was designated as ^athe Son of God in power, according to the ¹Spirit of holiness, ²by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and ^aapostleship for the ^bobedience of faith among ^call the Gentiles for the sake of His name, 6 among whom you also are the ^acalled of Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are ^abeloved of God in Rome, called as ¹^bsaints: ^cGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, ^aI thank my God through Jesus Christ ¹for you all, because ^byour faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For ^aGod, whom I ^bserve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how without ceasing ^cI make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers earnestly asking, if perhaps now at last by ^athe will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For ^aI long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened; 12 that is, to be mutually encouraged, while among you, by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 ^aI do not want you to be unaware, ^bbrothers, that often I ^chave planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may have some ^dfruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 ^aI am ¹under obligation both to Greeks and to ^bbarbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 In this way, for my part, I am eager to ^aproclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ^aashamed of the gospel, for ^bit is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the ^cJew first and also to ^dthe Greek. 17 For in it ^athe righteousness of God is revealed ¹from faith to faith; as it is written, “²^bBut the righteous will live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For ^athe wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who ^bsuppress the truth ¹in unrighteousness, 19 because ^athat which is known about God is evident ¹within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For ^asince the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, ^bbeing understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became ^afutile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 ^aProfessing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and ^aexchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore ^aGod gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be ^bdishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for ¹a ^alie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^bwho is blessed ²forever. Amen.
26 For this reason ^aGod gave them over to ^bdishonorable passions; for their ^cfemales exchanged the natural function for that which is ¹unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the ^amales abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, ^bmales with males committing ¹indecent acts and receiving in ²their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit ¹to acknowledge God, ^aGod gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are ^agossips, 30 slanderers, ¹^ahaters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, ^bdisobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, ^aunloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of ^adeath, they not only do the same, but also ^bgive hearty approval to those who practice them.

God’s Righteous Judgment

Therefore you are ^awithout excuse, ^bO man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which ^cyou judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God ¹rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, ^aO man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of ^athe riches of His ^bkindness and ^cforbearance and ^dpatience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But ¹because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^ayou are storing up wrath for yourself ^bin the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 ^awho will repay to each according to his works: 7 to those who by ^aperseverance in doing good seek for ^bglory and honor and ^cimmortality, ^deternal life; 8 but to those who are ^aselfishly ambitious and ^bdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be ^aaffliction and turmoil ¹for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew ^bfirst and also of the Greek, 10 but ^aglory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew ^bfirst and also to the Greek. 11 For ^athere is no partiality with God.
12 For all who have sinned ¹^awithout the Law will also perish ¹without the Law, and all who have sinned ²under the Law will be judged ³by the Law. 13 For it is ^anot the hearers ¹of the Law who are ²just before God, but the doers ¹of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have ¹the Law ^anaturally do the things of the Law, these, not having ¹the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate ^athe work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, ^aaccording to my gospel, ^bGod will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Judged by the Law

17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and ^arely ¹upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and ¹^aapprove the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a ¹corrector of the foolish, a teacher of ²the immature, having in the Law ^athe embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, ^awho teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who ¹preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you ^arob temples? 23 You who ^aboast ¹in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “^athe name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ^bbecause of you,” just as it is written.
25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^apractice ¹the Law, but if you are a transgressor ²of the Law, ^byour circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 ^aSo if ^bthe ¹uncircumcised man ^cobserves the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And ^ahe who is physically uncircumcised, if he ¹fulfills the Law, will he not ^bjudge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor ²of the Law? 28 For ^ahe is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But ^ahe is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^bcircumcision is that which is of the heart, by the ^cSpirit, not by the letter; ^dand his praise is not from men, but from God.