CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Romans 1 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/romans/1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/romans/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Romans 1</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/28.htm" title="Acts 28">◄</a> Romans 1 <a href="../romans/2.htm" title="Romans 2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_1"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.1" class="v45_1_1">1</span>From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_1">God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news </span><span class="v45_1_2"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.2" class="v45_1_2">2</span>that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. </span><span class="v45_1_3"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.3-Rom.1.4" class="v45_1_3">3-4</span>This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.3-Rom.1.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God,<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.3-Rom.1.4!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> because he was raised from death.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_5"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.5" class="v45_1_5">5</span>Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle,<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. </span><span class="v45_1_6"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.6" class="v45_1_6">6</span>You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_7"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.7" class="v45_1_7">7</span>This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_7">I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!</span></p><h3 class="s1">A Prayer of Thanks</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_8"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.8" class="v45_1_8">8</span>First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. </span><span class="v45_1_9"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.9" class="v45_1_9">9</span>God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_10"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.10" class="v45_1_10">10</span>In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. </span><span class="v45_1_11"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.11" class="v45_1_11">11</span>I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith. </span><span class="v45_1_12"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.12" class="v45_1_12">12</span>What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_13"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.13" class="v45_1_13">13</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.13!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places. </span><span class="v45_1_14"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.14-Rom.1.15" class="v45_1_14">14-15</span>It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Power of the Good News</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_16"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.16" class="v45_1_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. </span><span class="v45_1_17"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.17" class="v45_1_17">17</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.17!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith.<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.17!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.17!f.3" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><h3 class="s1">Everyone Is Guilty</h3><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_18"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.18" class="v45_1_18">18</span>From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. </span><span class="v45_1_19"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.19" class="v45_1_19">19</span>They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. </span><span class="v45_1_20"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.20" class="v45_1_20">20</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.20!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. </span><span class="v45_1_21"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.21" class="v45_1_21">21</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.21!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. </span><span class="v45_1_22"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.22" class="v45_1_22">22</span>They claim to be wise, but they are fools. </span><span class="v45_1_23"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.23" class="v45_1_23">23</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.23!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_24"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.24" class="v45_1_24">24</span>So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. </span><span class="v45_1_25"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.25" class="v45_1_25">25</span>They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_26"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.26" class="v45_1_26">26</span>God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. </span><span class="v45_1_27"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.27" class="v45_1_27">27</span>Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_28"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.28" class="v45_1_28">28</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Rom.1.28!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. </span><span class="v45_1_29"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.29" class="v45_1_29">29</span>They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, </span><span class="v45_1_30"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.30" class="v45_1_30">30</span>say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v45_1_30">These people don't respect their parents. </span><span class="v45_1_31"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.31" class="v45_1_31">31</span>They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. </span><span class="v45_1_32"><span class="reftext" id="Rom.1.32" class="v45_1_32">32</span>They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">1.3-4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the Holy Spirit: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “his own spirit of holiness.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">1.3-4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “proved in a powerful way that Jesus is the Son of God.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">1.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Jesus was kind to us and chose us to be his apostles.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">1.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">but only those who have faith: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “and faith is all that matters.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">1.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">The people God accepts because of their faith will live: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “The people God accepts will live because of their faith.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. Discover .BIBLE resources for your ministry at <a href="http://www.get.bible/cev">www.get.bible/cev</a></span></p><br /><br /><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /><br /><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../acts/28.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Acts 28"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Acts 28" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../romans/2.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Romans 2"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Romans 2" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/romans/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>