Romans 7

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Release from the Law

¹Ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε ἀδελφοί γινώσκουσιν γὰρ νόμον λαλῶ ὅτι ὁ νόμος κυριεύει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐφ’ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ

¹Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

²ἡ γὰρ ὕπανδρος γυνὴ τῷ ζῶντι ἀνδρὶ δέδεται νόμῳ ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνήρ κατήργηται ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός

²For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

³ἄρα οὖν ζῶντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μοιχαλὶς χρηματίσει ἐὰν γένηται ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνήρ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὴν μοιχαλίδα γενομένην ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ

³So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴Ὥστε ἀδελφοί μου καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς ἑτέρῳ τῷ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθέντι ἵνα καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

⁵ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν τῇ σαρκί τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ καρποφορῆσαι τῷ θανάτῳ

⁵For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.

⁶νυνὶ δὲ κατηργήθημεν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀποθανόντες ἐν ᾧ κατειχόμεθα ὥστε δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς ἐν καινότητι πνεύματος καὶ οὐ παλαιότητι γράμματος

⁶But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

God’s Law Is Holy

⁷Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν ὁ νόμος ἁμαρτία μὴ γένοιτο ἀλλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔγνων εἰ μὴ διὰ νόμου τήν τε γὰρ ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν Οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις

⁷What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”^a

⁸ἀφορμὴν δὲ λαβοῦσα ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς κατειργάσατο ἐν ἐμοὶ πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμίαν χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία νεκρά

⁸But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

⁹Ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον

⁹Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

¹⁰καὶ εὑρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν αὕτη εἰς θάνατον

¹⁰So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.

¹¹ἡ γὰρ ἁμαρτία ἀφορμὴν λαβοῦσα διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐξηπάτησέν με καὶ δι’ αὐτῆς ἀπέκτεινεν

¹¹For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.

¹²Ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή

¹²So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

Struggling with Sin

¹³Τὸ οὖν ἀγαθὸν ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος μὴ γένοιτο ἀλλὰ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἵνα φανῇ ἁμαρτία διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοι κατεργαζομένη θάνατον ἵνα γένηται καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν ἁμαρτωλὸς ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς

¹³Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

¹⁵ὃ γὰρ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω τοῦτο πράσσω ἀλλ’ ὃ μισῶ τοῦτο ποιῶ

¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

¹⁶εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω τοῦτο ποιῶ σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ ὅτι καλός

¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good.

¹⁷νυνὶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία

¹⁷In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

¹⁸Οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ἀγαθόν τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειταί μοι τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ

¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

¹⁹οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν ἀλλὰ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω

¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.

²⁰εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω ἐγὼ τοῦτο ποιῶ οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία

²⁰And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹Εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον τῷ θέλοντι ἐμοὶ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν ὅτι ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται

²¹So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

²²συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον

²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

²³βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου

²³But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.^a

²⁴Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου

²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

²⁵χάρις δὲ τῷ Θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἄρα οὖν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τῷ μὲν νοῒ δουλεύω νόμῳ Θεοῦ τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ νόμῳ ἁμαρτίας

²⁵Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.