1  I, Paul, who serve Christ Jesus, am writing this letter. God chose me to be an apostle, and I was appointed by him {he appointed me} in order that I should proclaim ◄the good message/the gospel► that comes from him. 2 Long before Jesus came to earth, God promised that he would reveal this good message by means of what his prophets wrote in the sacred Scriptures. 3 This good message is about the one whom we know as his Son. As to his Son's physical/human nature, he was born a descendant of King David. 4 As to his divine nature, it was shown {God showed} powerfully that he is ◄God's own Son/God who became human►. God showed this by his Holy Spirit causing him to become alive again after he died. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 He is the one who appointed meto be an apostle, which I did not deserve. He did that in order that many among the non-Jews would honor him and would obey him as a result of their believing my message about him. 6 You believers who are living in Rome city are also among those whom God has chosen to belong to Jesus Christ. 7  I am writing this letter to all of you whom God loves and whom he has chosen to become his people. I pray that God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord will continue to act kindly toward you and will continue to cause you to have inner peace.

8 As I begin this letter, I thank my God for all you believers in Rome. It is because of what Jesus Christ has done for us that I am able to do that. I thank him because your trusting in Jesus Christ is something that people all over the Roman Empire [HYP] are talking about. 9 God, whom I devotedly serve as I proclaim to people the good message concerning his Son, knows that I tell the truth when I say that I always mention you whenever [DOU] I pray to God [HYP]. 10 I especially ask God that if he desires me to visit you, somehow at last I shall be able to do so. 11  I pray this because I long to visit you to help you spiritually in order that you will become stronger spiritually. 12 I long to visit you in order that you and I might encourage each other by means of our sharing with each other how each of us trusts in Jesus. 13 My fellow believers, many times I planned to visit you. I certainly want you to know [LIT] that. But I have not been able to come to you because I have been hindered {things have always prevented me} until the present time. I have wanted to come in order that I might help you to mature spiritually [IDM], as I have helped people to mature spiritually in many other non-Jewish groups [HYP]. 14 I feel obliged to proclaim the good message to all non-Jewish people, specifically to people who know the Greek language and culture and to those who do not know it, to people who are educated and to those who are uneducated. 15 As a result, what I have eagerly desired is that I might proclaim this good message to you who are living in Rome also.

16  That leads me to say that I very confidently proclaim [LIT] the good message about what Christ has done, because this good message is the powerful means that God uses to save from the guilt of their sins all people who trust in what Christ has done for them. Specifically, God first saves the Jews who believe the good message, and then he saves non-Jews. 17 By means of this good message God reveals how he erases the record of people's sins (OR, declares people no longer guilty for having sinned); and his doing this is entirely because [IDM] they trust in Christ. This is confirmed by what a prophet long ago wrote that God said, “Those ◄whose record of sin I have erased/whom I have declared no longer guilty for sin► because they trust in me will live forever.”

18 From where God rules in heaven he is making it clear to all non-Jewish people who show no respect for God and who do wicked things, that he is angry with them and that they deserve to be punished {that he would punish them} [MTY]. By means of their behaving wickedly, they keep other people from believing what they know to be true about God.

19  Everyone can clearly know what God is like, because God himself has revealed to everyone what he is like. 20  People cannot see what God is like. But ever since he created the world, by means of what he created he has clearly revealed what he is like. He has made clear to everyone that he has always been able to do very powerful deeds. Therefore, we should recognize that he is God, completely different from all that he created. So no one has a basis for saying, “We never knew about God.” 21 Although the non-Jews knew what God is like, they did not honor him as God, nor did they thank him for what he had done. But instead, they began to think foolish things about him, and they became unable to understand [MET] what he wanted them to know. 22 Although they claimed that they were wise, they became foolish, 23 and they refused to admit that God is glorious and will never die. Instead, they made and worshipped idols that resembled people who will some day die, and then they made other idols that resembled birds and four-footed animals, and finally they made idols that resembled reptiles.

24 So God allowed the non-Jews do immoral sexual things that they [SYN] strongly desired, things that their desires were compelling them to do. As a result, they began to dishonor each other's bodies by their sexual actions. 25 Also, they chose to worship false gods instead ◄of admitting/of choosing to believe► what is true about God. They worshipped and served things that God created instead of worshipping and serving God, the one who created everything. They did this even though hedeserves that those he created would forever praise him. Amen!/May it be so!

26 So, God allowed the non-Jews to do shameful sexual things that they strongly desired. As a result, many women did not have natural sexual relations with their husbands [EUP]. Instead, they were doing sexual actions with other women [EUP]. 27 Similarly, many men stopped having/did not have natural sexual relations with women [EUP]. Instead, they strongly desired to have sexual relations with other men. They committed homosexual acts with other men, acts that were shameful. As a result, God has punished them by sicknesses in their bodies, which is what they deserve because they thought wrongly that God would not punish them for doing that.

28 Furthermore, because they decided that it was not worthwhile to know God, he allowed their own worthless thoughts to completely control them. As a result, they began doing evil things that God says that people should not do. 29 They strongly desire to do all kinds of unrighteous deeds. They strongly desire to do all kinds of evil things to others. They strongly desire to possess things that belong to others. They strongly desire to harm others in various ways. Many non-Jews are constantly envying other people. Many constantly desire to murder people. Many constantly desire to cause strife between people. Many constantly desire to deceive others. Many constantly desire to speak hatefully about others (OR, to speak harmful things about others, things that are not true). Many gossip about others. 30  Many slander others. Many act especially hatefully toward God. Many speak or act in an insulting way toward others. Many treat others contemptuously. Many boast about themselves to others. Many invent new ways to do evil deeds. Many non-Jewish children disobey their parents. 31  Many non-Jews act in other morally foolish ways. Many do not do what they promised others that they would do. Many do not even love their own family members. And many do not act mercifully toward other people. 32 Although they know that God has declared that those who do such things deserve to be killed, they not only habitually do these kinds of evil things, but they also approve of others who habitually do them.