18 God's anger is revealed from heaven
against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth
from being known.
19 God punishes them,
because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it
plain.
20 Ever
since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and
his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that
God has made. So those people have no excuse at all!
21 They
know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they
thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their
empty minds are filled with darkness.
22 They say they are wise, but they are fools;
23 instead
of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or
birds or animals or reptiles.
24 And so God has given those
people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful
things with each other.
25 They
exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has
created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen.
26 Because they do this, God has
given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of
their sex by unnatural acts.
27 In the
same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with
passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result
they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing.
28 Because those people refuse to
keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted
minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.
29 They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil,
greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and
malice. They gossip
30 and speak evil
of one another; they are hateful to God, insolent, proud,
and boastful; they think of more ways to do evil; they disobey their
parents;
31 they have no conscience;
they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or pity for
others.
32 They know that God's law
says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they
continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.
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