Romans 1:16-28

¹⁶I'm certainly not ashamed about the good news, for it's God's power to save everyone who trusts in him—to the Jewish people first, and then to everyone else as well.

¹⁷For in the good news God is revealed as good and right, trustworthy from start to finish. As Scripture says, “Those who are right with God live by trusting him.”

¹⁸God's hostility is revealed from heaven against those who are godless and who are not morally right, those who suppress the truth through the evil that they do.

¹⁹What can be known about God is obvious, because he has made it very clear to them.

²⁰Ever since the creation of the world, the invisible aspects of God—his eternal power and divinity—are clearly visible in what he has made. Such people have no excuse,

²¹because even though they knew God, they did not praise him or thank him, but instead their thinking about God turned into complete foolishness, and darkness filled their empty minds.

²²Even though they claimed to be wise, they became foolish.

²³They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for idols, images of mortal human beings, birds, animals, and reptiles.

²⁴So God abandoned them to the evil desires of their depraved minds, and they did shameful, degrading things to each other.

²⁵They exchanged God's truth for a lie, worshiping and serving creatures instead of the Creator, who deserves praise forever. Amen.

²⁶That's why God abandoned them to their evil desires. Their women exchanged natural sex for that which is unnatural,

²⁷and in the same way the men gave up sex with women and burned with lust for each other. Men did indecent things to each other, and as a result they suffered the inevitable consequences of their perversions.

²⁸Since they didn't consider it worthwhile to get to know God, he abandoned them to their worthless, distrustful way of thinking, doing things that should never be done.