Romans 2

1 Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defence, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things.

Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things.

2 And we know that God’s judgment falls unerringly on those who do them.

And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things.

3 You who judge those that do such things and yet are yourself guilty of them – do you suppose that you of all people will escape God’s judgment?

And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

4 Or do you think lightly of his abundant kindness, patience, and forbearance, not realising that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5 Hard-hearted and impenitent as you are, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath, when God’s justice as a judge will be revealed;

but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

6 for he will give to everyone what their actions deserve.

who will render to every man according to his works:

7 To those who, by perseverance in doing good, aim at glory, honour, and all that is imperishable, he will give immortal life; (aiōnios g166)

to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life: (aiōnios g166)

8 while as to those who are factious, and disobedient to truth but obedient to evil, wrath and anger, distress and despair,

but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [shall be] wrath and indignation,

9 will fall on every human being who persists in wrongdoing – on the Jew first, but also on the Greek.

tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;

10 But there will be glory, honour, and peace for everyone who does right – for the Jew first, but also for the Greek,

but glory and honour and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:

11 since God shows no partiality.

for there is no respect of persons with God.

12 All who, when they sin, are without Law will also perish without Law; while all who, when they sin, are under Law, will be judged as being under Law.

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned under law shall be judged by law;

13 It is not those who hear the words of a Law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous.

for not the hearers of a law are just before God, but the doers of a law shall be justified:

14 When Gentiles, who have no Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they, though they have no Law, are a Law to themselves;

for when Gentiles which have no law do by nature the things of the law, these, having no law, are a law unto themselves;

15 for they show the demands of the Law written on their hearts; their consciences corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or, it may be, in self-defence –

in that they shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing [them];

16 on the day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost lives, as the good news that I tell declares that he will do through Christ Jesus.

in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

17 But, perhaps, you bear the name of “Jew,” and are relying on Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,

But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God,

18 and, having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions.

and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

19 Perhaps you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent,

and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness,

20 and a teacher of the childish, because in the Law you possess the outline of all knowledge and truth.

a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth;

21 Why, then, you teacher of others, don’t you teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing, and yet steal?

thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

22 Do you forbid adultery, and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols, and yet plunder temples?

thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?

23 Boasting, as you do, of your Law, do you dishonour God by breaking the Law?

thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonourest thou God?

24 For, as scripture says – “The Gentiles insult God’s name because of you”!

For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written.

25 Circumcision has its value, if you are obeying the Law. But, if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision.

For circumcision indeed profiteth, if thou be a doer of the law: but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision.

26 If, then, an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the Law, won’t he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were?

If therefore the uncircumcision keep the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision?

27 Indeed, the person who, owing to his birth, remains uncircumcised, and yet scrupulously obeys the Law, will condemn you, who, for all your written Law and your circumcision, are yet a breaker of the Law.

and shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who with the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law?

28 For a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew; nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the person who is a Jew in soul;

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

29 and the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a person wins praise from God, though not from people.

but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.