Romans 1:24-28

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ¹  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ²  their bodies among themselves. ³  1:25 They ⁴  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ⁵  and worshiped and served the creation ⁶  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, ⁷  1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women ⁸  and were inflamed in their passions ⁹  for one another. Men ¹⁰  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, ¹¹  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ¹² 

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

[1:24]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “among them.”

[1:25]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ⁶ tn Or “creature, created things.”

[1:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “likewise so also the males abandoning the natural function of the female.”

[1:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “burned with intense desire” (L&N 25.16).

[1:27]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ¹² tn Grk “the things that are improper.”