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Paul,

A slave of Jesus Christ,

By calling an Apostle,

Set apart to make known the Good News of God,
The Good News which he formerly announced
By means of his prophets in Holy Writ about
his Son,

About him who was born of David's race,
So far as flesh is concerned,

About him who was openly appointed God's
Son

When, by an act of power made possible

By a spirit of devotion,

He raised him from the dead;

About Jesus Christ our Lord, by means of whom

We received the favor of a commission

To promote among all nations for his name's

sake

The obedience which springs from faith: And you yourselves also are among these, And are by calling Jesus Christ's:

To all who are in Rome,

Loved by God, by calling devoted ones,
May favor be yours, and peace,

From God our Father, and the Lord Jesus

Christ.

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First, I keep thanking God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is being spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, he whom I am serving with my spirit in making known the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I am always making mention of you in my prayers, asking whether in any way I shall now at length be prospered by the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, for the purpose of strengthening you. That is, that I may be helped by my intercourse with you at the same time that you are helped by means of that mutual faith which acts and reacts on each of us,-both yours and mine.

Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that I often intended to visit you, but so far have been prevented. I intended to do this so that I might have some fruit among you also just as I have among the other nations. I have a duty to perform both to Greeks and the people of other

nations, both to wise and foolish.

So, so far as I

am able, I am eager to tell the Good News to you, also, who live in Rome.

ROM.

1: 16.

MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS.

141

For

For I am not ashamed of the Good News. it is the power of God which brings salvation for every believer, both Jew and Greek. For a goodness of God is revealed in it, originating in faith and culminating in faith, just as it is written:

But the good man will live because of his faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against every kind of irreverence and wickedness of men who keep wickedly suppressing the truth, because what is known by God is clear to them. For God made it clear to them. For ever since the world was made his unseen attributes, his eternal power and divinity, have been clearly seen by the mind in his works; so that they are without excuse. Because, when they knew God, they did not praise him as God, nor give him thanks, but, on the contrary, gave way to idle speculation until their unpracticed spiritual vision became dulled. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and changed the majesty of the immortal God to the likeness of an image of mortal man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

So, according to the desire of their hearts, God handed them over to the dominion of impurity to dishonor their bodies among themselves; those who changed the truth of God into a lie, and wor

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shipped and served the creature as well as the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God handed them over to the sway of degrading passions. For even their women changed their natural function to such as is beside nature, and the men, also, in the same way, neglecting the natural function of woman, burned in their lust for each other, men with men acting scandalously, and receiving in their own persons the wages due their moral wandering. So just as they considered the knowledge of God as worthless, God handed them over to the sway of a worthless mind, to do disgraceful things, filled with every kind of badness, wickedness, covetousness, malignity; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignant subtlety; mischiefmakers, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, ostentatious; inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, lost to the sense of truth and of honest dealing, devoid of natural affection and of pity: who, though they well know the decree of God that those who keep doing such things deserve to die, not only keep doing them but also applaud those who keep doing them.

So you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you may be, in setting yourself up as a judge. For in judging another, you are condemning yourself. For you, the judge, keep doing the same things. But

ROM.

2: 2.

NO RESPECT OF PERSONS.

143

we know that the sentence which God passes on those who keep doing such things is a true sentence. But you count on this, O man, you, who set yourself up as a judge of those who keep doing such things and are doing the same yourself, that you shall escape the sentence of God? Or, ignorant of the fact that the goodness of God is bringing you to a change of mind and purpose of heart, are you despising the wealth of his goodness and forbearance and patience? But in your hard and unchanged heart you are storing up for yourself wrath for the day of wrath and of the revelation of the good judgment of God, who will award to each one of us just what his conduct has deserved, to those who by a patient continuance in a generous course of life keep seeking for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but for those who are factious and are not true, but are bad, there are wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, on every man who keeps living a wicked life, the Jew first, and also the Greek; but glory and honor and peace for every one who keeps living a generous life, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law and as many as have sinned under law will be judged by law. For it is not those who hear a law who are good in God's sight but those who

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