Romans

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

1This letter is from Paul. I belong to Jesus Christ as his servant. God called me to be an apostle and set me apart to carry his good news.

2(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

2God promised this good news long ago, through his prophets, in the holy writings.

3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

3It is about his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who as a human being was born into King David's family line.

4And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

4And who was shown to be the Son of God with great power, by the Spirit of holiness, when God raised him from the dead.

5By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

5Through him God gave me a gift I never earned and a job to do: to bring people of every nation to trust and obey him, for the honor of his name.

6Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

6You in Rome are among those people. Jesus Christ has called you too.

7To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

7I am writing to everyone in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his own. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you kindness and peace.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for every one of you, because people all over the world are talking about how much you trust him.

9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

9God knows I am telling the truth. I serve him with my whole heart by telling the good news about his Son, and I mention you every single time I pray.

10Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

10I keep asking that somehow, finally, God will let me have a smooth trip and come to see you.

11For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

11I really want to see you, so I can share some gift from the Spirit with you and leave you stronger.

12That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

12What I mean is that we would encourage each other. Your trust in God would help me, and mine would help you.

13Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

13Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I have planned to come to you many times, but until now I have been stopped. I wanted to see something good come from my work among you, the way it has among other people who are not Jewish.

NoteThe King James reads "but was let hitherto." In 1611, to let someone meant to hinder or prevent them, which is the exact opposite of what the word means today. Read with the modern sense, this verse says Paul was allowed to come, when he is saying he was blocked.

14I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

14I owe a debt to everyone: to Greeks and to foreigners, to the educated and to the uneducated.

15So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

15So I am eager to tell the good news to you in Rome as well.

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

16I am not ashamed of the good news about Christ. It is God's power to rescue everyone who trusts it, the Jew first and then everyone else.

Note"The Greek" here is a shorthand for everyone who is not Jewish, not for Greek people specifically.

17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

17In it God shows how he sets people right with himself, and it is by trust from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is right with God will live by trusting him."

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

18God's anger is shown from heaven against every godless and wrong thing people do, when they hold the truth down and refuse to let it up.

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

19They know better. What can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself made it plain.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

20Ever since the world was made, the invisible things about God, his lasting power and his divine nature, have been clear to see in the things he made. So nobody has an excuse.

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

21They knew God, but they would not honor him as God or thank him. Their thinking led nowhere, and their foolish hearts went dark.

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

22They called themselves wise and became fools.

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

23They traded the glory of the God who never dies for statues shaped like human beings, who do die, and like birds and animals and crawling things.

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

24So God let them go and have what their hearts were set on. They followed their desires into things that shamed their own bodies.

25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

25They swapped the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped and served the things God made instead of the God who made them, who deserves praise forever. Amen.

26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

26That is why God let them go. Their women exchanged natural relations for what is against nature.

27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

27The men did the same. They gave up natural relations with women and burned with desire for one another, men doing shameful things with men, and they brought on themselves the consequence their error deserved.

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

28Since they decided not to keep God in their thinking, God let them go to a mind that cannot judge anything rightly, so they did things that should never be done.

29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

29They were filled up with every kind of wrongdoing: sexual sin, evil, greed, and meanness. They were full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and spite. They whispered about people behind their backs.

Note"Debate" in the King James means quarrelling and strife, not discussion.

30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

30They tore other people down. They hated God. They were insulting, proud, and boastful. They thought up new ways to do harm. They disobeyed their parents.

31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

31They would not understand, would not keep their promises, had no natural affection, and would not be reconciled or show any mercy.

32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

32They know God's ruling, that people who do such things deserve death. They do them anyway, and they cheer on everyone else who does them too.