Romans 1:18-32

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  1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, ⁴  because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ⁵  are without excuse. 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 ⁶  were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ⁷  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁸  or birds or four-footed animals ⁹  or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ¹⁰  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ¹¹  their bodies among themselves. ¹²  1:25 They ¹³  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ¹⁴  and worshiped and served the creation ¹⁵  rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, ¹⁶  1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women ¹⁷  and were inflamed in their passions ¹⁸  for one another. Men ¹⁹  committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ²⁰  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ²¹  1:29 They are filled ²²  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ²³  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ²⁴  heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know ²⁵  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ²⁶  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ²⁷ 

Romans 4:11

4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ²⁸  so that he would become ²⁹  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ³⁰  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

Romans 10:20

10:20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.” ³¹ 

Isaiah 65:1-2

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ³² 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ³³ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ³⁴  my name.

65:2 I spread out my hands all day long

to my rebellious people,

who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,

and who did what they desired. ³⁵ 

Isaiah 65:1

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ³⁶ 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ³⁷ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ³⁸  my name.

Colossians 1:9-11

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴⁰  to fill ⁴¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁴²  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁴³  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ⁴⁴  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Ephesians 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁴⁵  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁴⁶  having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 4:17-19

Live in Holiness

4:17 So I say this, and insist ⁴⁷  in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility ⁴⁸  of their thinking. ⁴⁹  4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, ⁵⁰  being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 4:19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ⁵¹ 

Ephesians 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ⁵²  urge you to live ⁵³  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ⁵⁴ 

Ephesians 4:3

4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

[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.”

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “is manifest to/in them.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:22]  ⁷ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:24]  ¹⁰ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 81:12.

[1:24]  ¹¹ tn The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ ἀτιμάζεσθαι (tou atimazesqai, “to dishonor”) has been taken as (1) an infinitive of purpose; (2) an infinitive of result; or (3) an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive, expanding the previous clause.

[1:24]  ¹² tn Grk “among them.”

[1:25]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “creature, created things.”

[1:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is contrary to nature.” The term χρῆσις (crhsi") has the force of “sexual relations” here (L&N 23.65).

[1:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “likewise so also the males abandoning the natural function of the female.”

[1:27]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “burned with intense desire” (L&N 25.16).

[1:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “another, men committing…and receiving,” continuing the description of their deeds. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ²¹ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[1:29]  ²² tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ²³ tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “promise-breakers.”

[1:32]  ²⁵ tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:32]  ²⁶ tn Grk “are worthy of death.”

[1:32]  ²⁷ sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.

[4:11]  ²⁸ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

[4:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

[4:11]  ³⁰ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”

[10:20]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.

[65:1]  ³² tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ³³ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”

[65:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”

[65:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”

[1:9]  ³⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ⁴² tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:11]  ⁴⁴ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[2:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[4:17]  ⁴⁷ tn On the translation of μαρτύρομαι (marturomai) as “insist” see BDAG 619 s.v. 2.

[4:17]  ⁴⁸ tn On the translation of ματαιότης (mataioth") as “futility” see BDAG 621 s.v.

[4:17]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “thoughts,” “mind.”

[4:18]  ⁵⁰ tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.

[4:19]  ⁵¹ sn Greediness refers to an increasing desire for more and more. The point is that sinful passions and desires are never satisfied.

[4:1]  ⁵² tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ⁵³ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ⁵⁴ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.