For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Parallel translations
- WEB For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
- BSB God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
- NKJV For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
- NASB For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
- NLT God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.
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
Paul calls God as witness that he serves Him wholeheartedly in the gospel and constantly prays for the Romans. His ministry is sincere and his prayer life persistent.
Overview
Paul appeals to God as witness to the sincerity of his concern. He 'serves in his spirit' in the gospel of God's Son, indicating wholehearted, inward devotion rather than mere outward duty. His unceasing mention of the Romans in prayer models faithful intercession for fellow believers he has not yet met.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 33
- Eph 6:18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
- 2 Tim 1:3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;
- Eph 1:16–19Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
- Rom 9:1I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
- 2 Cor 1:23Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
- 1 Th 5:17Pray without ceasing.
- Eph 3:14–21For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
- 1 Cor 14:14–15For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
- Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
- 1 Th 1:2We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
- 2 Cor 11:10–11As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
- 1 Th 3:10Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
- Phil 1:4Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
- John 4:23–24But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
- Acts 19:21After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
- Acts 24:14But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
- 1 Jn 5:9–12If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
- Col 1:28–29Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
- Phil 2:22But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
- 2 Cor 11:31The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
- Acts 3:26Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
- Acts 12:5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
- Job 16:19Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.
- Gal 1:20Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
- Phil 1:8–11For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Tim 2:7Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
- Luke 18:1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
- 1 Th 2:5–10For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:
- Col 1:9–13For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
- 1 Sam 12:23Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
- Phlm 1:4I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
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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 1:9 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
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