1 Ndimi Paulo, nlanda wa Kirisiti Jesu ndakadang'wa kube ntumwa ndikashaluligwa ndebo mbuya ye Ndzimu, 2 yawakagadzabgwe ntolo nge balebesambeli ne mu hwalo dzakayengemala, 3 ili ndebo mbuya ngekwe Nkololo wawo, wakazwagwa ali tjizekugwana tja Dafite. 4 Wakalakidziwa kuti nkololo we Ndzimu nge Meya yakayengemala ha emusiwa nge simba mu bafi, iye Jesu Kirisiti She wedu, 5 watakaamutjila ngoni ne butumwa ndiye, kuti ndizo Bezwitjaba bose baamutjile bugalimoyo ngekwe zina lile, 6 kudwiwa namwibo banodang'wa kuti mube ba Jesu Kirisiti.
7 Ndokwalila bose Ndzimu bawunoda mu nzi we Roma bakadang'wa kube bayengemali nditi:
Ngoni ne kunyalala kunodwa ku Ndzimu Tate bedu na She Jesu Kirisiti kube namwi.
Ntembezelo wa Paulo we kuboka
8 Tjekutanga ndoboka Ndzimu wangu nge zina la Jesu Kirisiti nge kwenyu mose, ngobe kugalamoyo kwenyu kolebgwa shango yose. 9 Ngobe Ndzimu wandinoshingila nge moyo wangu wose ndisumikila ndebo mbuya ye Nkololo wawo, ntendeki wangu unoziba sekwa ndinomukumbula 10 misi yose ha nditembezela, ndikumbila kuti nge imwe zila ngeda kwe Ndzimu nditubule kuzha kumuli. 11 Ngobe ndoyemula kumubona, kuti ndimukobele tjipo tje tjimeya kumusimisa, 12 kuti ndizo tikulumbidzane nge kugalamoyo kwedu, imi nge kwenyu, namwi nge kwangu.
13 Ndoshaka kuti muzibe etji zwikamu, ndikanjinji* nditi ndozha kumuli koga kuna zwinomanikanya kuti ndivune zwizwalo, mu muli ne muna bose Bezwitjaba. 14 Ndakasungika kusumikila ndebo mbuya, ku Bagiriki ne kubamwe basi Bagiriki, kuna bakatjenjela ne kuna basakatjenjela. 15 Ndizo, ndina nyota ye kusumikila ndebo mbuya kumulibo imwi baku Roma.
Ndebo mbuya ina simba
16 Anditobhatisiwa shoni nge ndebo mbuya, ngobe i simba le Ndzimu kutjidza mmwe ne mmwe unogalamoyo, ku Bajuta kutanga kunoti ne kuna Bezwitjaba. 17 Ngobe mu ndebo iyeyi ndulamo ye Ndzimu inozumbunugwa nge kugalamoyo, sekwa kwakakwagwa kuyi, “Iye wakalulwamisiwa nge kugalamoyo unowotjila.”
Bathu bose bana nlandu mu mesho e Ndzimu
18 Bushongola gwe Ndzimu gozumbunugwa gudwa kudzimu gudelukila bose babi nenge mbipo ye bathu banodzibila malebeswa nge mbipo yabo. 19 Ngobe tjingazibgwa ngekwe Ndzimu tjipatjena ku bali, ngoti Ndzimu wakabalakidza itjo. 20 Tjinga Ndzimu kwawakabumba shango, mbumbiko yawo isingaboneke ne simba lawo lisingapele ne budzimu gwawo zose izwezwi zwakatjeneseka zubuyanana mu zwithu zwakabumbiwa. Ndizo bathu abana tjabangabhatila patjili. 21 Ngoti nenguba bakabe beziba Ndzimu abazoukudza se Ndzimu kene kuli kuuboka, koga zose zwabanoalakana azwina nshingo, bakafa meya, mikumbulo yabo izhalima. 22 Nenguba bezwidwa beti bakatjenjela, koga bazwilengwe, 23 mu bumo gwekuti bakudze Ndzimu usingalobe, banokudza zwifano zwakathamiwa se nthu unoloba kene se nyuni kene se phuka kene zwitjili zwinosoba na pasi.
24 Ndizo Ndzimu wakaletja bathu ibabo kushinga zwithu zose zwe shambgwa zwinoyemugwa nge mimoyo yabo, ngono banothamana zwinobhatisa shoni nge mibili yabo. 25 Ngoti banotenganya malebeswa ngekwe Ndzimu nge manyepkhwa, bakanamata kakale bakashingila tjibumbiwa mu bumo gwe Mbumbi iye wakafanila kudziwa nge kusingapele! Ngakujalo.
26 Ngekwa ikoku, Ndzimu wakabaletjedzela mu njemulo dzabo dzinobhatisa shoni. Ne bakadzi babo bakashandulila yendiso yakawolobeleka ye kuwalilana kuna isakawolobeleka. 27 Ne balumebo bakaletja zila yakawolobeleka yekuwalilana ne bakadzi ngono bakawalilana tjekwabo. Balume banothama mishingo inobhatisa shoni ne bamwe balume. Ngekwa ikoku banoamutjila mbhayilo we shamu wakabafanila.
28 Ngono ngekuti abazowana kwakafanila kuti bazibe Ndzimu, wakabaletja bali mu mikumbulo yabo yakabola, kuti bashinge zwithu izwezo zwabasakafanila shinga. 29 Bazhele zila dzose dze bubi, ne kusalulwama ne bugovu ne bubi, bazhele fupa ne kubulaya ne kugwa ne kutjebela ne sudze. Bana bung'wa, 30 ngono banolebelana bubi, banobenga Ndzimu, bana masapa, banozwida, bezwikudza, banokumbula zila njinji dze kushinga bubi abatohwa bazwadzi babo. 31 Abana mikumbulo kakale abatogalikabgwe, abatolakidza buthu kene kuhwila bamwe zogwadza. 32 Nenguba beziba nlayo we Ndzimu, kuti banothama zwakajali bakafanigwa nge lufu, abatothama izo koga, koga banolumbidza bamwe kuzwishingabo.
1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.
God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news 2 that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. 3-4 This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death.
5 Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. 6 You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ.
7 This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.
I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
A Prayer of Thanks
8 First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.
10 In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. 11 I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith. 12 What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.
13 My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places. 14-15 It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.
The Power of the Good News
16 I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 17 The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”
Everyone Is Guilty
18 From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. 19 They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. 20 God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. 21 They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. 22 They claim to be wise, but they are fools. 23 They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. 25 They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.
26 God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. 27 Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.
28 Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. 29 They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, 30 say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.
These people don't respect their parents. 31 They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. 32 They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.