Romans · Majority Standard Bible
Romans 2 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.
2 And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
2 We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3 So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
3 Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, revelation, and God’s righteous judgment.
5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God,
6 God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
7 To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.
7 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be anger and wrath.
8 but to those who are self-seeking and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation,
9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;
9 oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.
10 But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
11 For God does not show favoritism.
11 For there is no partiality with God.
12 All 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.
12 For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
13 For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified
14 Indeed, 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.
14 (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 So 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
15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)
16 on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by my gospel.
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
17 Behold, you call yourself a Jew. You rely on the law and boast in God.
17 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, rest on the law, glory in God,
18 And you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law.
18 know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
19 And you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness,
19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.
21 You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
21 You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?
22 You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
22 You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
23 You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26 If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
27 The 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.
27 Won’t those who are physically uncircumcised, but fulfill the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?
28 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
29 No, 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.
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 6:37; Romans 2:3; John 8:7–9; Romans 2:21–23; Matthew 7:1–5
- 2 Psalm 9:7–8; Zephaniah 3:5; Psalm 145:17; Jeremiah 12:1; Psalm 98:9
- 3 Proverbs 16:5; Luke 12:14; Romans 1:32–2:1; Matthew 23:33; Matthew 26:53
- 4 2 Peter 3:9; Isaiah 30:18; Exodus 34:6; Titus 3:4–6; Romans 9:22–23
- 5 Ecclesiastes 12:14; Romans 1:18; Romans 2:2–3; Hebrews 3:15; 2 Peter 3:7
- 6 Psalm 62:12; Jeremiah 32:19; Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Jeremiah 17:10
- 7 2 Timothy 4:7–8; Luke 8:15; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 2:10–11
- 8 1 Timothy 6:3–4; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; John 3:18–21; 1 Peter 4:17; Proverbs 13:10
- 9 1 Peter 4:17; Romans 3:29–30; Romans 1:16; Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 9:24
- 10 Isaiah 32:17; Isaiah 26:12; Numbers 6:26; 1 Peter 1:7; Romans 8:6
- 11 Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Galatians 2:6; Job 34:19
- 12 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 3:10; Romans 2:14–16; Galatians 2:16–19; Acts 17:30–31
- 13 James 1:22–25; 1 John 3:7; James 2:21–25; Romans 2:25; Luke 8:21
- 14 Romans 1:19–20; Romans 2:12; Romans 2:27; Acts 17:30; Acts 10:35
- 15 2 Corinthians 5:11; Romans 1:18–19; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Titus 1:15; 1 Timothy 4:2
- 16 Ecclesiastes 12:14; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Acts 17:31; Acts 10:42; Luke 8:17
- 17 Romans 2:23; Micah 3:11; Isaiah 48:1–2; Revelation 2:9; Romans 9:4–7
- 18 1 Thessalonians 5:21; James 4:17; Deuteronomy 4:8; Philippians 1:10; Hebrews 5:14
- 19 Revelation 3:17–18; Isaiah 5:21; Matthew 6:23; Proverbs 26:12; 1 Corinthians 8:1–2
- 20 2 Timothy 3:5; Titus 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:13; Romans 6:17; 1 Corinthians 3:1
- 21 1 Corinthians 9:27; Matthew 23:3–28; Luke 12:47; Micah 3:11; Titus 2:1–7
- 22 Malachi 3:8; Matthew 12:39; Jeremiah 9:2; Acts 19:37; Malachi 1:8
- 23 James 4:16–17; Romans 2:17; John 5:45; Romans 9:4; Romans 3:2
- 24 Ezekiel 36:20–23; Isaiah 52:5; 2 Peter 2:2; Lamentations 2:15–16; 2 Samuel 12:14
- 25 Galatians 5:3–6; Jeremiah 4:4; Galatians 6:15; Acts 7:51; Deuteronomy 30:6
- 26 Colossians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 7:18–19; Romans 8:4; Ephesians 2:11; Acts 11:3–18
- 27 Matthew 12:41–42; Romans 7:6–8; Romans 8:4; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Romans 2:29
- 28 Galatians 6:15; Matthew 3:9; Revelation 2:9; Romans 9:6–8; Romans 4:10–12
- 29 Deuteronomy 30:6; Philippians 3:3; Deuteronomy 10:16; Colossians 2:11–12; Jeremiah 4:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
After saying that the Gentile wanteth nothing appertaining to salvation if he be a doer of the Law, and after making that wonderful comparison, he goes on to set down the glories of the Jews, owing to which they thought scorn of the Gentiles: and first the very name itself, which was of great majesty, as the name Christian is …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11 (1889)
Those, on the other hand, who depart from Him, and despise His precepts, and by their deeds bring dishonour on Him who made them, and by their opinions blaspheme Him who nourishes them, heap up against themselves most righteous judgment. He therefore (i.e., the spiritual man) sifts and tries them all, but he himself is tried by no man: he …
And who is this but Thee, our God, the sweetness and well-spring of righteousness, who renderest "to every man according to his deeds," and despisest not "a broken and a contrite heart!"
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For as teaching without doing condemns the teacher (for "thou which teachest another," it is said, "teachest thou not thyself"?) so doing but not guiding others, lessens our reward.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity, and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)