Romans 1:1-17

Romans 1

Greeting

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised in advance through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. ³ This gospel is about his Son—who in the flesh ^[1] was born a descendant of David, ⁴ who in the spirit ^[2] of holiness was declared to be God’s powerful Son by his resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ, our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and the call to be an apostle on behalf of his name, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, ⁶ including you, who were called by Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Desire to Come to Rome

⁸ First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. ⁹ To be sure, God, whom I serve with my spirit by proclaiming the gospel of his Son, is my witness to how constantly I make mention of you. In all my prayers, ¹⁰ I always ask if perhaps at last a way might be opened, if God wills, for me to come to you. ¹¹ I certainly long to see you, in order that I may deliver some spiritual gift to you, so that you are strengthened— ¹² that is, when I am with you, that we will be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, yours and also mine.

¹³ I do not want you to be unaware of the fact, brothers, ^[3] that I have often planned to come to you but have been prevented from doing so until now. I wanted to have some fruit among you in the same way as I did among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ I have an obligation both to Greeks and non-Greeks, ^[4] to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am eager to proclaim the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

The Power of the Gospel

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, ^[5] just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.” ^[6]