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They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
Romans 1:25 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
  • KJV Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
  • NKJV who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
  • NASB For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
  • NLT They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshiped creation rather than the Creator, who is forever blessed. Idolatry is fundamentally a lie about reality.

Overview

Paul restates the core exchange: the truth of God for a lie, and worship of the creature instead of the Creator. He breaks into doxology — 'who is blessed forever. Amen' — affirming God's worthiness even while exposing human rebellion. This contrast highlights the absurdity and gravity of idolatry against the praiseworthy Creator.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Hab 2:18What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
  • Jer 13:25This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
  • 1 Jn 2:15–16Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  • Isa 44:20He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
  • Amos 2:4This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.
  • 2 Cor 11:31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.
  • Rom 9:5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.
  • Jer 10:14–15Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
  • 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
  • Rom 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
  • 2 Tim 3:4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
  • Rom 1:18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
  • Matt 6:24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
  • 1 Th 1:9For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
  • Ps 145:1–2A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.
  • Jer 16:19O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
  • 1 Tim 1:11that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
  • Matt 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
  • Eph 3:21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
  • 1 Tim 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
  • Ps 72:19And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.
  • John 2:8“Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 1:25YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 1:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.