Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
Parallel translations
- WEB who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
- KJV Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
- NKJV who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
- NASB and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
- NLT They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
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
Though they know God's just decree that such things deserve death, they not only do them but applaud others who do. Approving evil compounds guilt.
Overview
Paul concludes chapter 1's indictment: people know God's righteous standard, that these sins merit death, yet they persist and even endorse others in sin. This shows sin is committed against conscience and knowledge. The added guilt of approving evil prepares for chapter 2, where Paul turns to those who judge others while doing the same.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rom 2:1–5You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- Rom 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Rom 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Ps 50:18When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
- 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.
- Luke 11:48So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.
- Rom 2:21–23you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
- Acts 22:20And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
- Mark 14:10–11Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.
- Hos 7:3They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
- Acts 8:1And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
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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 1:32 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.