New Century Version NCV
New International Version NIV
15 That is why I want so much to preach the Good News to you in Rome.
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That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
16 I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes -- to save the Jews first, and also to save those who are not Jews.
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself -- that it begins and ends with faith. As the Scripture says, "But those who are right with God will live by trusting in him."
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For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
18 God's anger is shown from heaven against all the evil and wrong things people do. By their own evil lives they hide the truth.
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The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 God shows his anger because some knowledge of him has been made clear to them. Yes, God has shown himself to them.
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since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 There are things about him that people cannot see -- his eternal power and all the things that make him God. But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand by what God has made. So people have no excuse for the bad things they do.
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 They knew God, but they did not give glory to God or thank him. Their thinking became useless. Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.
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For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 They said they were wise, but they became fools.
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Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 They traded the glory of God who lives forever for the worship of idols made to look like earthly people, birds, animals, and snakes.
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and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Because they did these things, God left them and let them go their sinful way, wanting only to do evil. As a result, they became full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other.
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Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served what had been created instead of the God who created those things, who should be praised forever. Amen.
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They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.