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\v 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
\v 2 which he promised beforehand by his prophets in the holy scriptures,
\v 3 concerning his Son, who was born from the descendants of David according to the flesh.

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\v 4 He was declared to be the Son of God by the power of the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
\v 5 Through him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations, for the sake of his name.
\v 6 Among these nations, you also have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

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\v 7 To all who are in Rome, the beloved of God, and who are called to be saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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\v 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
\v 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, of how continually I make mention of you,
\v 10 always in my prayers requesting that by any means at last I may be successful now by the will of God in coming to you.

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\v 11 For I desire to see you, that I may give you some spiritual gift, in order to establish you—
\v 12 that is, to be mutually encouraged among you, through each other's faith, yours' and mine.

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\v 13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that often I intended to come to you—and was hindered until now—that I might have some fruit among you just as there was among the rest of the Gentiles.
\v 14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
\v 15 So, as for me, I am ready to proclaim the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

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\v 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek.
\v 17 For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, as it has been written, "The righteous will live by faith."

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\v 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people, who through unrighteousness hold back the truth,
\v 19 because that which is known about God is visible to them. For God has enlightened them.

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\v 20 For the unseen things about him have been clearly visible since the creation of the world, being understood through the created things—that is, his everlasting power and divine nature, so that they are without excuse.
\v 21 Because, although knowing about God, they did not glorify him as God, nor give thanks, but became foolish in their thoughts, and their senseless heart was darkened.

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\v 22 Claiming themselves to be wise, they became foolish.
\v 23 They exchanged the glory of the imperishable God for the likeness of an image of perishable man, of birds, of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things.

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\v 24 Therefore God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts for uncleanness, for their bodies to be dishonored among themselves—
\v 25 they who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creation instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

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\v 26 Because of this, God gave them over to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged their natural functions for that which is against nature.
\v 27 Likewise, the males also left their natural function with women and burned in their lust for one another, males doing with males what is inappropriate, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was due their perversion.

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\v 28 As they did not approve of having God in their awareness, he gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper.

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\v 29 They have been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, and malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and evil intentions.
\v 30 They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient to parents.
\v 31 They have no understanding; they are  untrustworthy, without natural affections, and unmerciful.

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\v 32 They understand the requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, but they not only do these things, but they also approve of those who practice them.



