1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.
God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news 2 that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. 3-4 This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death.
5 Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. 6 You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ.
7 This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.
I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
A Prayer of Thanks
8 First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.
10 In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. 11 I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith. 12 What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.
13 My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places. 14-15 It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.
The Power of the Good News
16 I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 17 The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”
Everyone Is Guilty
18 From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. 19 They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. 20 God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. 21 They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. 22 They claim to be wise, but they are fools. 23 They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. 25 They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.
26 God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. 27 Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.
28 Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. 29 They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, 30 say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.
These people don't respect their parents. 31 They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. 32 They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.
1 Paulub, Xristub* Jesub di ǃoaba-aob, apostelse* ǂgaihe tsî Elob di ǃGâiǂhôas ǃaroma ge ǁhûiǂuiheba xu.
2 Nē ǃGâiǂhôas ge ǀnai Elob xa kēbo-aogu ǃnâ-u ge mîmâihe hâ i, ǃAnu Xoadi ǃnâ i hâ khami. 3 Nē ǃGâiǂhôas ge ǁîb Ôab, khoeb ase ge Davidi suriba ǃnaeb xa hâ. 4 ǁÎb di khâis ai ǃgaoǃgaohe hâseb ge ǃanusib di Gagab ǃnâ-u kai ǀgaib ǀkha, Elob di Ôab tsî sada ǃKhūb Jesub Xristub ase ge ǁgaumâihe. 5 ǁÎb ǃnâ-u ta ge ǀkhommi tsî apostelsisa ge ǃkhōǃoa, ǂgoms di ǁnâuǀnamxasiba ta ǁîb di ǀons ǃaroma hoa Jodeǁî taman* ǃnâ nî aoǁnâse. 6 Sadu tsîn ge Jesub Xristub dise ǂgaihe hâse nēs ǃnâ ǃkhōǂgāsa.
7 Romes ǃnâ hân hoan, Elob xa ǀnamhe tsî ǁîb khoese ǂgaihe hân ǃoa:
Ab Elob sada Îb tsî ǃKhūb Jesub Xristuba ǀkhommi tsî ǂkhîba mā du.
Paulub ra Eloba gangan
8 ǂGurosa ta ge Jesub Xristub ǃnâ-u sadu hoadu ǃaroma ti Eloba ra gangan, sadu ǂgoms hoaraga ǃhūbaib ǃnâ ra ǂhôahe xui-ao. 9 Elob, ti gagas hoas ǀkha ta ra ǁîb Ôab di ǃGâiǂhôasa aoǁnâs ǃnâ-u ǃoabab ge a ti ǃkhō-amao, mâti ta ǀgore ta ga ǃnās hoasa ǀûs ose sadu xa ra ǂâi ǃkhaisa. 10 Tsî ta ge Elob ǃoa ra ǀgore ǀams aib sado tawa ta nî sī ǃkhaisa nî īǁkhā kaisa. 11 Gagasi mā-e ta nî sadu ǀgaiǀgaiǃnâs ǃaroma sadu ǀkha ǀgoragu ǁkhāse ta ge mû du ta nî ǃkhaisa ra ǁkhore. 12 Tita ra ǂâibasens ge sada ǁîǃnābe nî ǂgaoǂgaoǃnâgu ǃkhaisa, sado ti ǂgoms xa tsî tita sadu dis xa.
13 ǃGâsado, ǂan du nî ǃkhaisa ta ge ra ǂgao, ǂgui ǃnāde ta sadu tawa sīsa gere dītsâ, ti sîsenni nî nau Jodeǁî taman tawas ǁkhās khami ǃgâiǃgâxase, xawe ta ge nēsis kōse go ǂhanihe hâ i. 14 Tita ge Grikeǁîn tsî ǃhaokhoen, gā-ain tsî ǁkhāǁkhāsa taman tsîn hoana surude hâ. 15 ǁNā-amaga ta ge ǁkhāti sadu Romes ǃnâ hâdo ǃGâiǂhôasa aoǁnâbasa ǁnātikōse a turaxaba.
ǃGâiǂhôas di ǀgaib
16 ǃGâiǂhôas xa ta ge tao tama hâ. Elob ores di ǀgaib ge ǂgom ra-i hoa-i di ǃgâiǃōsib ǃaroma hâ, ǂgurosa Jodeǁîn tsî ǁkhāti Grikeǁîn tsîn ǃaroma. 17 ǃGâiǂhôas ge ra ǂhaiǂhai mâtib Eloba khoena ǁîb ǀkha ra ǂhanu-ai kai ǃkhaisa; nēs ge ǂgoms ǃnâ-usa, tsoatsoasa xu ǀunis kōse. Xoas ra mî khami: “Elob ǀkha ǂgoms ǃnâ-u ǂhanu-ai kaihe hâ khoe-i ǀgui-i ge nî ûi.”
Khoesib di ǀhapixasib
18 Elob di ǁaib ge ǀhomma xu hoa eloxoresa tsî ǂhanuoǃnâ khoen hîa ǁîb di amaba ǂhanuoǃnâsib ǀkha ra ǂhanin ǃoagu ra ǂhaiǂhaihe. 19 Elob xan a ǂan ǁkhā xūn hoan ge ǁîna a ǂhaisaba, Elob ǂûb ge ǁîna nē xūna ǂgaogu ân ǃnâ ǂhaiǂhaiba xui-ao. 20 ǃHūbaib di kuruhesa xub ge ǁîb di mûheǁoasa ǂūsiba a ǂhaisa. ǁÎb di ǀamo ǀgaib tsî elosib tsîn ge ǁîb ge kuru xūn ǃnâ ǃgāsase a mûhesa. ǁNā-amaga i ge khoen ǃaroma ǀhapiokaisen-e a ǀkhai. 21 Eloban ge ǂan i, xawen ge ǁîba anub hâ ǃgôasib tamas ka io gangansa ge mā tama hâ i. ǁÎn di ǂâiǀgaugu ge ge harebeoǃnâ tsî ǁîn di ǁnâuǃāoǃnâ ǂgaogu ge ge ǃkhae, 22 gā-aisen ra dīsen xawen ge ge gâre. 23 Tsîn ge ǁō ǁoa Elob di ǂkhaisib ǃās ǃnân ge ǁō ra khoen, anin, ǀgurun tsî ǂhanaben di īga ra ǀgoreǀî.
24 ǁNā-amagab ge Eloba ǁîna ǁîn ǂgaogu di turagu ǃnâ ǃanuoǃnâsib ǃoa ge māǁnâ, sorodi ânan ǀaib ǀkha ǁîǃnābe nî ǃgôaoǃnâ kaise. 25 ǁÎn ge Elob di amaba ǂhumib ǃnâ ǀkharaǀkhara tsî Kuru-aob, ǀamose nî ǀgoreǀîheb ǃās ǃnâ kurusa xūna ǀgoreǀî tsî gere ǃoaba. Amen.*
26 ǁNā-amagab ge Eloba ǁîna taotaosa turagu ǃnâ ge māǁnâ. Tarekhoedi ge khoesi ǂūsi ǁgoe-ūgusa khoesi ǂūsib ǃoagu hâs ǃnâ gere ǀkharaǀkhara. 27 ǁNās ǁkhās xase gu ge ǁkhāti aorekhoega khoesi ǂūsi sîsenūs tarekhoes disa ǁnāxū tsî ǁîgu di tura-aigu ǃnâ māǁnâsen tsî ǁîǃnābe ǁgoe-ūgus ǀkha taotaosa xūna gere dī tsî gu ge anu i a khami ǁîgu dīsādi di ǁkharaba ǁîgu ǂûgu ǂama ge ǃkhōǃoa.
28 ǁÎn ge Eloba mûǂan tama ge i, ǁnā-amagab ge ǁîba ǁîna ǁgaoǁgaosa ǂâidi ǃnâ ge māǁnâ, ǁgauoǃnâ ûib ǀkhan nî aiǃgûse. 29 ǁÎn ge ǂguiǃnâgu ǂkhabasigu, ǂkhabab, xūǃgunuxasib, ǂūǁoasib, tauxasib, ǃgams, ǂnoagus, gāxaǃnâsib, ǂkhabaxasib tsî ǀhoegub xa ge ǀoa. 30 ǁÎn ge mîǁgaiǁgai-aon, eloǁkhanaon, ǃkhāǃkhā-aon, ǀgapiǂâixan, ǂamaxan, ǂkhabana ra ǂâiǂuin, ǁgûna ǁnâuǀnam taman, 31 ǁnâuǃāoǃnân, ǂgomoǃnân, ǀnamoǃnân tsî ǀkhomoǃnân tsîna. 32 ǁÎn a ǂan Elob di ǂhanu-ai ǂgaoǀkhāde, ǁnāti ī xūna ra dī khoen ǁōba anu hâ ǃkhaisa, ǁîn ge nē xūna dīs ǀguisa hî tama, xawe nēsa ra dīn tsîna ǁkhāti ra ǂkhâǃnâ.
