1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve Christ Jesus. I have been appointed to be an apostle. God set me apart to tell others his good news. ² He promised the good news long ago. He announced it through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. ³ The good news is about God’s Son. He was born into the family line of King David. ⁴ By the Holy Spirit, he was appointed to be the mighty Son of God. God did this by raising him from the dead. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ We received grace because of what Jesus did. He made us apostles to the Gentiles. We must invite all of them to obey God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him. ⁶ You also are among those Gentiles who are appointed to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷ I am sending this letter to all of you in Rome. You are loved by God and appointed to be his holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Longs to Visit Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. People all over the world are talking about your faith. ⁹ I serve God with my whole heart. I preach the good news about his Son. God knows that I always remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers. I pray that now at last it may be God’s plan to open the way for me to visit you.

¹¹ I long to see you. I want to make you strong by giving you a gift from the Holy Spirit. ¹² I want us to encourage one another in the faith we share. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to visit you. But until now I have been kept from coming. My work has produced results among the other Gentiles. In the same way, I want to see results among you.

¹⁴ I have a duty both to Greeks and to non-Greeks. I have a duty both to wise people and to foolish people. ¹⁵ So I really want to preach the good news also to you who live in Rome.

¹⁶ I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes. It is meant first for the Jews. It is meant also for the Gentiles. ¹⁷ The good news shows God’s power to make people right with himself. God’s power to be made right with him is given to the person who has faith. It happens by faith from beginning to end. It is written, “The one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

God’s Anger Against Sinners

¹⁸ God shows his anger from heaven. It is against all the godless and evil things people do. They are so evil that they say no to the truth. ¹⁹ The truth about God is plain to them. God has made it plain. ²⁰ Ever since the world was created it has been possible to see the qualities of God that are not seen. I’m talking about his eternal power and about the fact that he is God. Those things can be seen in what he has made. So people have no excuse for what they do.

²¹ They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. ²² They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. ²³ They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.

²⁴ So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They made one another’s bodies impure by what they did. ²⁵ They chose a lie instead of the truth about God. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶ So God let them continue to have their shameful desires. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. ²⁷ In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual desire for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the wrong things they did.

²⁸ They didn’t think it was important to know God. So God let them continue to have evil thoughts. They did things they shouldn’t do. ²⁹ They are full of every kind of sin, evil and ungodliness. They want more than they need. They commit murder. They want what belongs to other people. They fight and cheat. They hate others. They say mean things about other people. ³⁰ They tell lies about them. They hate God. They are rude and proud. They brag. They think of new ways to do evil. They don’t obey their parents. ³¹ They do not understand. They can’t be trusted. They are not loving and kind. ³² They know that God’s commands are right. They know that those who do evil things should die. But they continue to do those very things. They also approve of others who do them.