1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was born of David’s line according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations for the sake of his name. 6 Among them you too are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness that I remember you unceasingly, 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow, at last, by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may share some spiritual gift with you to strengthen you, 12 that is, so that we may be encouraged together by one another’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often planned to come to you (but have been prevented until now), so that I might have some fruit among you as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to non-Greeks, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you in Rome as well. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous person will live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what can be known of God is plain among them, for God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divinity, have been clearly seen, understood through what he has made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him. Instead, their reasoning became futile and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images resembling corruptible human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies were dishonored among them. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for those contrary to nature, 27 and likewise the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, untrustworthy, without natural affection, and merciless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.