Romans 2

³⁷Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

³So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

⁷When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”

⁸And again He bent down and wrote on the ground.

²¹you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

²²You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

¹“Do not judge, or you will be judged.

²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

¹⁹For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

⁷But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.

⁸He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.

⁵The Lord within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

¹⁷The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.

¹Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

⁹before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

¹³before the Lord, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

⁵Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the Lord; be assured that he will not go unpunished.

¹⁴But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?”

³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

³³You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

⁵³Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

¹⁵But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁸Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

⁶Then the Lord passed in front of Moses and called out: “The Lord, the Lord God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

⁵He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

²²What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

²³What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—

¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

²And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

³So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

¹⁵As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁶And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

¹²and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

¹⁹the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

¹⁰I, the Lord, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹⁵But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹⁰And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

³If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching,

⁴he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and disputes about words, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,

⁸in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁸Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

¹⁰Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.

¹⁹The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.

¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

²⁹Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³⁰since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

⁴Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

²⁴including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?

⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs,

⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”

¹⁷The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

¹²O Lord, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

²⁶may the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,

⁷⁹to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,

⁷And now, may the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

⁶But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—those leaders added nothing to me.

¹⁹who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

²¹To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.

¹⁰All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

¹⁴Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

¹⁵So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them

¹⁶know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not!

³⁰Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

³¹For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

⁷What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

⁸But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

²¹Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.

²⁵Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

²¹But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”

¹⁶know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁹For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

¹²All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

²⁷The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

³⁰Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

³⁵but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.

¹⁹He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.

²⁰He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!

¹¹Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

¹⁹For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

¹²For this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

³¹For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

⁴²And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

¹⁷For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.

²²Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

²³so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²³You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

¹“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—

²who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the Lord of Hosts is His name.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

⁴the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

⁵Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

²¹but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

⁸And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

¹⁰so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

¹⁰⁴I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

²The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

¹³Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.

¹Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.

¹³For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

³So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

⁴They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁴⁷That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

¹But as for you, speak the things that are consistent with sound doctrine.

²Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance.

¹⁶To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?

¹⁷For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.

³⁹Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

²If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.

³⁷For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.

⁸When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.

¹¹One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

¹⁶As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

¹⁷Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope.

⁴the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

²Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

²⁰And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to leave His land.’

²¹But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.

⁵And now what have I here? declares the Lord. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the Lord, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.

²Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

¹⁵All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

¹⁶All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord, the son born to you will surely die.”

⁸and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

³Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

⁴You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

¹⁵For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

⁵¹You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.

⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

²⁵“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—

²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

¹⁸Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.

¹⁹Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

⁴so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

¹¹Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

³and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events:

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,

³⁵but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

⁶But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

⁷What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

⁴so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁶And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

²⁹No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

¹⁵For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

⁶It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

⁷Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

¹⁰In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.

¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—

²who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the Lord of Hosts is His name.

⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

³For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

¹⁶Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

¹²And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

⁴Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.