Romans 1:18

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ¹  who suppress the truth by their ²  unrighteousness, ³ 

Romans 1:21

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ⁴  were darkened.

Romans 1:23

1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁵  or birds or four-footed animals ⁶  or reptiles.

Romans 1:25

1:25 They ⁷  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ⁸  and worshiped and served the creation ⁹  rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

[1:18]  ¹ tn The genitive ἀνθρώπων could be taken as an attributed genitive, in which case the phase should be translated “against all ungodly and unrighteous people” (cf. “the truth of God” in v. 25 which is also probably an attributed genitive). C. E. B. Cranfield takes the section 1:18-32 to refer to all people (not just Gentiles), while 2:1-3:20 points out that the Jew is no exception (Romans [ICC], 1:104-6; 1:137-38).

[1:18]  ² tn “Their” is implied in the Greek, but is supplied because of English style.

[1:18]  ³ tn Or “by means of unrighteousness.” Grk “in (by) unrighteousness.”

[1:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ⁸ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:25]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ¹² tn Or “creature, created things.”