- Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called 
      to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God 
      --
 
    - the gospel he promised beforehand through 
      his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
 
    - regarding his Son, who as to his human 
      nature was a descendant of David,
 
    - and who through the Spirit of holiness 
      was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the 
      dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
    - Through him and for his name's sake, we 
      received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles 
      to the obedience that comes from faith.
 
    - And you also are among those who are called 
      to belong to Jesus Christ.
 
    - To all in Rome who are loved by God and 
      called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from 
      the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
    - First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ 
      for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
 
    - God, whom I serve with my whole heart in 
      preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember 
      you
 
    - in my prayers at all times; and I pray 
      that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
 
    - I long to see you so that I may impart 
      to you some spiritual gift to make you strong --
 
    - that is, that you and I may be mutually 
      encouraged by each other's faith.
 
    - I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, 
      that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing 
      so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I 
      have had among the other Gentiles.
 
    - I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, 
      both to the wise and the foolish.
 
    - That is why I am so eager to preach the 
      gospel also to you who are at Rome.
 
    - I am not ashamed of the gospel, because 
      it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first 
      for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
 
    - For in the gospel a righteousness from 
      God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just 
      as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
 
    - The wrath of God is being revealed from 
      heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the 
      truth by their wickedness,
 
    - since what may be known about God is plain 
      to them, because God has made it plain to them.
 
    - For since the creation of the world God's 
      invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly 
      seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without 
      excuse.
 
    - For although they knew God, they neither 
      glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile 
      and their foolish hearts were darkened.
 
    - Although they claimed to be wise, they 
      became fools
 
    - and exchanged the glory of the immortal 
      God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
 
    - Therefore God gave them over in the sinful 
      desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies 
      with one another.
 
    - They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, 
      and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator 
      -- who is forever praised. Amen.
 
    - Because of this, God gave them over to 
      shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural 
      ones.
 
    - In the same way the men also abandoned 
      natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. 
      Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the 
      due penalty for their perversion.
 
    - Furthermore, since they did not think it 
      worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved 
      mind, to do what ought not to be done.
 
    - They have become filled with every kind 
      of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, 
      strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
 
    - slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant 
      and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
 
    - they are senseless, faithless, heartless, 
      ruthless.
 
    - Although they know God's righteous decree 
      that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do 
      these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
        
  
 
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