¹Paul, a  ²slave of  ³Christ  ⁴Jesus, a  ⁵called  ⁶apostle,  ⁷separated  ⁸unto the  ⁹gospel of God,

 ¹Which He promised  ²beforehand through His prophets in the  ³holy Scriptures,

Concerning  ¹His Son, who  ²came  ³out of the  ⁴seed of David according to the  ⁵flesh,

Who was  ¹designated the  ²Son of God in  ³power according to the  ⁴Spirit of  ⁵holiness  ⁶out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord;

Through whom we have received  ¹grace and  ²apostleship unto the  ³obedience of  ⁴faith among all the Gentiles  ⁵on behalf of His name,

Among whom you also are the  ¹called ones of Jesus Christ;

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, the called  ¹saints:  ²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

For God is my witness, whom I  ¹serve in my  ²spirit in the gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,

Beseeching if by any means now at last I may be prospered in the will of God to come to you.

For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established;

That is, that I with you may be  ¹encouraged among you through the faith which is in one another, both yours and mine.

And I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that often I purposed to come to you (yet was hindered until the present), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am debtor both to Greeks and to  ¹barbarians, both to wise and to foolish;

So, for my part, I am ready to announce the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the  ¹power of God unto  ²salvation to everyone who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek.

For the  ¹righteousness of God is revealed in it  ²out of faith to faith, as it is written, “But the righteous shall  ³have life and live by  ⁴faith.”

But now those who are younger than I
Hold me in derision,
Those whose fathers I disdained
To put with the dogs of my flock.

Indeed, what good is the strength of their hands to me?
Their vigor has perished from them.

Withered up through want and hunger,
They gnaw at the dry ground,
A gloom of waste and desolation.

They pick the mallow upon the bushes,
And the roots of the broom shrub are their food.

They are driven from the company of men;
Men cry after them as after a thief;

So that they must dwell in the most dreadful ravines,
In caves of the earth and in the rocks.

Among the bushes they bray;
Under the nettles they huddle.

Sons of fools, indeed sons of nameless men,
They have been stricken from the land.

And now I have become their song,
And I am a byword to them.

They abhor me; they stand aloof from me;
And they do not withhold their spit from my face.

For He has loosened  ¹my cord and afflicted me;
Therefore they have cast off restraint in my presence.

At my right hand a brood rises up;
They send my feet running
And cast up against me their ways of destruction.

They break up my path;
They promote my calamity,
Though there is no profit to them.

As through a wide breach they come in;
Amid the ruin they roll on.

Terrors are turned upon me;
My honor is pursued as by a wind,
And my prosperity passes away like a cloud.

And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold of me.

The night rends my bones from me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.

With great force my garments are distorted;
It binds me like the collar of my coat.

He has cast me into the mire,
And I am like dust and ashes.

I cry unto You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You stare at me.

You have turned to become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You pursue me.

You lift me up into the wind; You make me ride on it;
And You dissolve me in the storm.

For I know that You will bring me into death,
And to the house appointed for all living.

Nevertheless does not a man put forth his hand when he falls,
Or because of his disaster therefore cry out?

Did I not weep for him who had hard days?
Was my soul not grieved for the needy?

When I expected good, evil came;
And when I waited for light, darkness came.

My inward parts are in turmoil and are not still;
Days of affliction have drawn near to me.

I go about in sunless mourning.
I rise up in the congregation; I cry for help.

I am a brother to jackals
And a companion to ostriches.

My skin is black and falling from me,
And my bones burn with heat.

My lyre has become mourning,
And my pipe, the voice of those who weep.

I made a covenant with my eyes;
How then can I gaze upon a virgin?

What then is the portion from God above,
Or the inheritance of the Almighty on high?

Is it not calamity for the unjust
And misfortune for the workers of iniquity?

Does He not see my ways
And count all my steps?

If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot has hastened after deceit —

Let Him weigh me in a righteous balance,
And let God know my integrity —

If my step has turned from the way,
And my heart has gone after my own eyes,
And if any spot has stuck to my hands;

May I sow and another eat;
Indeed may my produce be rooted up.

If my heart has been enticed into following after a woman,
Or I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;

May my wife grind for another,
And may others kneel over her.

For that would have been a heinous act,
And it would be wickedness, to be punished by the judges.

For it is a fire that devours to  ¹Abaddon
And would root up all my increase.

If I have despised the cause of my servant or my maid
When they contended with me,

What then will I do when God rises up?
And when He visits me, what will I answer Him?

Did not He who made me in the womb make him?
And was it not One who fashioned us in the womb?

If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
Or have let the eyes of the widow fail,

Or have eaten my morsel alone
Without the orphan eating of it —

Rather, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from my mother's womb I guided  ¹the widow —

If I have seen someone perishing from lack of clothing
Or that the needy had no covering;

If his loins have not blessed me,
And he has not been made warm with the fleece of my sheep;

If I have raised my hand against the orphan
Because I saw that I had support among those in the gate;

May my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder,
And may my arm be broken at the elbow.

For calamity from God is dreadful to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

If I have made gold my hope,
And have called fine gold my confidence;

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great
And because my hand had acquired much;

If I have looked at the sun when it shone
Or the moon going on in splendor,

And my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;

It too would be wickedness, to be punished by the judges,
For I would have denied God above.

If I have rejoiced at the misfortune of him who hated me,
Or have exulted when evil found him —

Rather, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life with a curse —

If the men of my tent have not said,
Who can find one who has not been filled with  ¹our master's meat? —

The sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the highway —

If I have covered my transgressions  ¹as Adam did
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

Because I so dreaded the great multitude,
And the contempt of the families so frightened me,
That I was silent and did not go out my door —

Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me.
And let my accuser write up the charge.

Surely I would carry  ¹it on my shoulder;
I would bind it onto me like a crown;

I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him!

If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;

If I have eaten its strength without money,
And have caused its owners to lose their life;

May thorns come forth instead of wheat,
And pungent weeds instead of barley.
The words of Job are  ¹ended.

Then these three men ceased answering Job, for he was righteous in his own eyes.