1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.
God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news 2 that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. 3-4 This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death.
5 Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. 6 You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ.
7 This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.
I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
A Prayer of Thanks
8 First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.
10 In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. 11 I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith. 12 What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.
13 My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places. 14-15 It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.
The Power of the Good News
16 I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 17 The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”
Everyone Is Guilty
18 From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. 19 They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. 20 God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. 21 They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. 22 They claim to be wise, but they are fools. 23 They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. 25 They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.
26 God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. 27 Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.
28 Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. 29 They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, 30 say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.
These people don't respect their parents. 31 They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. 32 They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.
1 Pāvils, Kristus Jēzus kalps, aicināts apustulis, izredzēts sludināt Dieva evaņģēliju, 2 ko Viņš jau iepriekš apsolījis caur Saviem praviešiem svētajos rakstos 3 par Savu Dēlu, kas pēc miesas cēlies no Dāvida, 4 mūsu Kungu Jēzu Kristu, kas ar Savu augšāmcelšanos no mirušiem Svētajā Garā atklājies kā Dieva Dēls spēkā. 5 Caur Viņu mēs esam saņēmuši žēlastību un apustuļa amatu, lai Viņa Vārdā ticībai pakļautos visas tautas, 6 pie kurām piederat arī jūs, Jēzus Kristus aicinātie. 7 Visiem Dieva mīļotiem, aicinātiem svētajiem Romā: žēlastība jums un miers no Dieva, mūsu Tēva, un Kunga Jēzus Kristus! 8 Visupirms es pateicos savam Dievam caur Jēzu Kristu par jums visiem, jo jūsu ticība tiek daudzināta visā pasaulē. 9 Dievs, kuram es kalpoju ar savu garu, sludinādams Viņa Dēla evaņģēliju, ir mans liecinieks, ka es jūs nemitīgi pieminu 10 savās lūgšanās, vienumēr lūgdams, lai reiz pēc Dieva gribas man pašķirtos ceļš pie jums. 11 Jo es ilgojos jūs redzēt, lai varētu nest kādu garīgu velti jums par stiprinājumu. 12 Proti, ka es līdz ar jums gūtu iepriecu kopīgajā ticībā, es jūsējā, jūs manējā. 13 Es negribu jūs atstāt neziņā, brāļi, ka es jau daudzreiz biju apņēmies pie jums nākt, lai gūtu kādu augli arī starp jums, tāpat kā starp citām tautām, bet līdz šim tiku aizkavēts. 14 Jo es esmu parādnieks grieķiem un barbariem, gudriem un nezinošiem. 15 Tādēļ arī es esmu gatavs sludināt evaņģēliju jums Romā, 16 jo es nekaunos Kristus evaņģēlija dēļ: tas ir Dieva spēks par pestīšanu ikvienam, kas tic, jūdam visupirms un arī grieķim. 17 Jo tajā atklājas Dieva taisnība no ticības uz ticību, kā rakstīts: no ticības taisnais dzīvos. 18 Jo Dieva dusmība no debesīm parādās pār visu cilvēku bezdievību un netaisnību, kas savā netaisnībā apslāpē patiesību. 19 Jo, ko par Dievu var zināt, tas viņiem ir atklāts: Dievs pats viņiem to atklājis. 20 Kopš pasaules radīšanas Viņa neredzamās īpašības, gan Viņa mūžīgais spēks, gan Viņa dievišķība, ir skaidri saredzamas Viņa darbos, tāpēc viņiem nav ar ko aizbildināties. 21 Jo, zinādami Dievu, viņi to nav turējuši godā kā Dievu un Viņam nav pateikušies, bet savos spriedumos krituši nīcības gūstā un savā sirds neprātā iegrimuši tumsā. 22 Saukdami sevi par gudriem, tie kļuvuši ģeķi 23 un apmainījuši neiznīcīgā Dieva godību pret iznīcīgam cilvēkam un putniem, lopiem un rāpuļiem līdzīgiem tēliem. 24 Tāpēc Dievs viņus viņu sirds kārībās nodevis izvirtībai, kurā viņi paši sākuši sagandēt savas miesas, 25 tāpēc ka viņi dievišķo patiesību apmainījuši pret meliem un sākuši dievināt un pielūgt radību, atstājot novārtā Radītāju, kas ir augsti teicams mūžīgi, āmen. 26 Tāpēc Dievs viņus nodevis apkaunojošās kaislībās: sievietes apmainījušas dabisko dzimumu kopdzīvi ar pretdabisko. 27 Tāpat arī vīrieši, atmezdami dabisko kopdzīvi ar sievieti, cits pret citu iekaisuši savā iekārē, piekopdami netiklību, vīrietis ar vīrieti, paši saņemdami sodu par savu maldīšanos. 28 Tad nu tāpat, kā viņi nav turējuši cieņā viņiem doto Dieva atziņu, Dievs sagandējis viņu prātu, ka viņi dara to, kas neklājas. 29 Tie piepildījuši savu dzīvi ar visādiem netikumiem: netaisnību, samaitātību, iekāri, ļaunumu, skaudību, slepkavību, ķildām, krāpšanu, ļaunprātību, mēlnesību, 30 kļuvuši par neslavas cēlājiem, Dieva nicinātājiem, nekauņām, augstprāšiem, lielībniekiem, ļauna izdomātājiem, vecākiem nepaklausīgiem, 31 bezprātīgiem, neuzticamiem, cietsirdīgiem, nežēlīgiem. 32 Pazīdami Dieva taisnību, ka tie, kas tādas lietas dara, ir pelnījuši nāvi, viņi tomēr ne vien paši tā dara, bet vēl priecājas par tiem, kas tā dzīvo.
