Roma 1:20

1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ¹  are without excuse.

Roma 2:1-3

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ² Therefore ³  you are without excuse, ⁴  whoever you are, ⁵  when you judge someone else. ⁶  For on whatever grounds ⁷  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ⁸  against those who practice such things. 2:3 And do you think, ⁹  whoever you are, when you judge ¹⁰  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ¹¹  that you will escape God’s judgment?

Roma 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹²  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ¹³ 

Roma 2:11-12

2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹⁴  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Roma 2:16

2:16 on the day when God will judge ¹⁵  the secrets of human hearts, ¹⁶  according to my gospel ¹⁷  through Christ Jesus.

Roma 2:27

2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man ¹⁸  who keeps the law judge you who, despite ¹⁹  the written code ²⁰  and circumcision, transgress the law?

Roma 3:4

3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being ²¹  shown up as a liar, ²²  just as it is written: “so that you will be justified ²³  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” ²⁴ 

Roma 3:6-7

3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ²⁵  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?

Roma 3:19

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ²⁶  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Roma 3:26

3:26 This was ²⁷  also to demonstrate ²⁸  his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just ²⁹  and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. ³⁰ 

Roma 5:16

5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. ³¹  For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, ³²  led to condemnation, but ³³  the gracious gift from the many failures ³⁴  led to justification.

Roma 8:34

8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ ³⁵  is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us.

Roma 9:28

9:28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” ³⁶ 

Roma 12:19

12:19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, ³⁷  for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ³⁸  says the Lord.

Roma 14:3-4

14:3 The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord ³⁹  is able to make him stand.

Roma 14:10

14:10 But you who eat vegetables only – why do you judge your brother or sister? ⁴⁰  And you who eat everything – why do you despise your brother or sister? ⁴¹  For we will all stand before the judgment seat ⁴²  of God.

Roma 14:13

Exhortation for the Strong not to Destroy the Weak

14:13 Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. ⁴³ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:1]  ² sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ³ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Or “based on truth.”

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b.

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.”

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause.

[2:5]  ¹² tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[2:12]  ¹⁴ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.

[2:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ¹⁷ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.

[2:27]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the uncircumcision by nature.” The word “man” is supplied here to make clear that male circumcision (or uncircumcision) is in view.

[2:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “through,” but here the preposition seems to mean “(along) with,” “though provided with,” as BDAG 224 s.v. διά A.3.c indicates.

[2:27]  ²⁰ tn Grk “letter.”

[3:4]  ²¹ tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.

[3:4]  ²² tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

[3:4]  ²³ tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.

[3:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.

[3:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “abounded unto.”

[3:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[3:26]  ²⁷ tn The words “This was” have been repeated from the previous verse to clarify that this is a continuation of that thought. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:26]  ²⁸ tn Grk “toward a demonstration,” repeating and expanding the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a.

[3:26]  ²⁹ tn Or “righteous.”

[3:26]  ³⁰ tn Or “of the one who has faith in Jesus.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 22 for the rationale behind the translation “Jesus’ faithfulness.”

[5:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”

[5:16]  ³² tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[5:16]  ³³ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[5:16]  ³⁴ tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.

[8:34]  ³⁵ tc ‡ A number of significant and early witnesses, along with several others (Ì^46vid א A C F G L Ψ 6 33 81 104 365 1505 al lat bo), read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after Χριστός (Cristos, “Christ”) in v. 34. But the shorter reading is not unrepresented (B D 0289 1739 1881 Ï sa). Once ᾿Ιησοῦς got into the text, what scribe would omit it? Although the external evidence is on the side of the longer reading, internally such an expansion seems suspect. The shorter reading is thus preferred. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:34]  tn Grk “who also.”

[9:28]  ³⁶ tc In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian mss (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine mss (א² D F G Ψ 33 Ï lat). The longer reading follows Isa 10:22-23 (LXX) verbatim, while Paul in the previous verse quoted the LXX loosely. This suggests the addition was made by a copyist trying to make sense out of a difficult passage rather than by the author himself.

[9:28]  tn There is a wordplay in Greek (in both the LXX and here) on the phrase translated “completely and quickly” (συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων, suntelwn kai suntemnwn). These participles are translated as adverbs for smoothness; a more literal (and more cumbersome) rendering would be: “The Lord will act by closing the account [or completing the sentence], and by cutting short the time.” The interpretation of this text is notoriously difficult. Cf. BDAG 975 s.v. συντέμνω.

[9:28]  sn A modified quotation from Isa 10:22-23. Since it is not exact, it has been printed as italics only.

[12:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as the remainder of the verse shows.

[12:19]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[14:4]  ³⁹ tc Most mss, especially Western and Byzantine (D F G 048 33 1739 1881 Ï latt), read θεός (qeos, “God”) in place of κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) here. However, κύριος is found in many of the most important mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ pc co), and θεός looks to be an assimilation to θεός in v. 3.

[14:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “But why do you judge your brother?” The introductory phrase has been supplied in the translation to clarify whom Paul is addressing, i.e., the “weak” Christian who eats only vegetables (see vv. 2-3). The author uses the singular pronoun here to rhetorically address one person, but the plural has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:10]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Or again, why do you despise your brother?” The introductory phrase has been supplied in the translation to clarify whom Paul is addressing, i.e., the “strong” Christian who eats everything (see vv. 2-3). The author uses the singular pronoun here to rhetorically address one person, but the plural has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:10]  ⁴² sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.

[14:13]  ⁴³ tn Grk “brother.”