1  God will severely punish non-Jewish people who habitually do evil things, because he has clearly revealed that he is angry with them. So, when God judges people, he will not excuse any one of you Jews to whom I am writing. You (sg) say that God should punish non-Jews for doing evil things. But when any one of you says that, it is you yourself whom you are saying that God should punish, because you (sg) do some of the same evil things that the non-Jews do. 2  We know very well that God will judge and punish fairly non-Jewish people who do such evil things. 3  So, you who say God should punish others for doing evil things yet you do evil things yourself, ◄you should certainly not think that you yourself will be able to escape from being punished by God!/do you think that you yourself will be able to escape from being punished by God?► [RHQ] 4  And you should not say, “God is acting very tolerantly and patiently toward me, so I do not need to stop sinning [DOU].” ◄You should realize that God is acting in a kind manner toward you in order to encourage you (sg) to turn away from your sinful behavior!/Do you not realize that God is acting in a kind manner toward you in order to encourage you (sg) to turn away from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ] 5  But instead, by your stubbornly refusing to turn away from your sinful behavior [DOU], you are causing [MET] God to punish you even more severely. He will do that at the time when he shows that he is angry and judges people fairly.

6  God will pay back everyone according to what they deserve for what they have done. 7  Specifically, some people, by continuing to doing good things, strive to be highly honored by God [DOU] and to receive a life that will not end. God will reward them by enabling them to live forever. 8  But some people act in a selfish way and refuse to believe that what God says is true, and they do the things that God says are wrong. God will punish them very severely [DOU, MTY]. 9  He will cause everyone who habitually does evil deeds to suffer greatly, with the result that they will become severely distressed [DOU]. This certainly will happen to the Jews who refuse to accept God’s message, because God gave them the privilege to be his special people, but it will also happen to the non-Jews. 10  But God will greatly reward spiritually [MET, DOU] every person who habitually does good deeds. He will certainly do this for the Jews because God chose them as his special people, but he will also do it for the non-Jews. 11  God will do this fairly, because people’s status does not influence him.

12  Although non-Jews do not have the laws that God gave to Moses, all non-Jews who sin will be eternally separated from God. He will not consider whether or not they knew the laws that he gave to Moses. And all the Jews who have sinned in spite of knowing the laws that God gave to Moses will also be punished { God will also punish them}. They will be punished for disobeying God’s laws. 13  It is right for them to be punished { God to punish them} because it is not those who merely know God’s laws whom he considers to be righteous. On the contrary, it is only those who continually have obeyed all ◄of God’s laws/of the laws that God gave to Moses► ◄whom God will consider righteous/whose record of sins God will erase►. 14  Whenever the non-Jews, who do not have the laws God gave to Moses, naturally obey those laws, they prove that they have a law within their own minds, even though they do not have the laws God gave to Moses. 15  They show that they know in their own minds what God commands in his laws [MET], as each person in his very own conscience either accuses or excuses/defends himself concerning his own behavior. 16  God will punish people at the time when he will judge them according to what they have thought and done. He will judge them even for the things that they have done secretly. He will judge people by authorizing Christ Jesus to judge them. This is what I tell people when I preach the gospel to them.

17  Now I have something to say to any one of you Jews to whom I am writing: You (sg) boast about yourself saying, “I am a Jew.” You (sg) trust that God will save you because you possess the laws that he gave to Moses. You boast that you belong to God. 18  You know what God desires. Because you have been taught { people have taught you} God’s laws, you are able to know which things are right and to choose to do them. 19  You are certain that you are able to show God’s truth to non-Jews, as guides show the road to those who are blind [MET]. You are certain that by what you say you can show God’s way to the non-Jews who do not understand it, as a light shows the way to those who walk in the darkness [MET, DOU]. 20  You are certain that you can instruct/correct non-Jews, whom you consider foolish because of their not understanding God’s message. Because you have in God’s laws a written expression of true knowledge [HEN], you are certain that you can teach people who, being like children, do not know God’s truth [MET]. 21  Since you claim that you have all these advantages because you are a Jew, ◄it is disgusting that you who teach other people that they should obey the laws God gave Moses do not obey the laws that you yourself teach!/why is it that you who teach other people that they should obey the laws God gave Moses do not obey the laws that you yourself teach?► [RHQ] You who preach that people should not steal things, it is disgusting that you yourself steal things! [RHQ] 22  You who command people not to have sexual relations with someone to whom they are not married, it is disgusting that you commit adultery yourself! [RHQ] You who detest idols, it is disgusting that you rob temples where people worship idols! [RHQ] 23  You who boast saying, “ I have God’s laws,” it is disgusting that you disobey those same laws! [RHQ] As a result you are insulting God! 24  You must not be like our ancestors, about whom were written these words in the Scriptures: “The non-Jews speak evil about God because of the evil actions of many of you Jews.” The non-Jews say God must be a hypocrite if he condones the behavior of people like you.

25  Any one of you who is circumcised to show that he belongs to God can benefit from that if he obeys the laws God gave to Moses. But if you (sg), a circumcised person, disobey God’s laws, God will consider that you who are circumcised are no better in God’s sight than someone who is not circumcised. 26  This means that God will certainly consider that even non-Jews who are not circumcised can become his people if they obey the things that he commanded in his laws. [RHQ] 27  If any one of you disobeys God’s laws, even though you(sg) have the Scriptures and even though someone has circumcised you {you are circumcised} God will punish you. And those people who are not circumcised, but who obey God’s laws, will declare that God is right when he says that he will punish you. 28  It is not those who perform rituals to show they are God’s people who are true Jews, and it is not being circumcised in their bodies that causes God to accept them [MTY]. 29  On the contrary, we whom God has changed inwardly are true Jews [MTY]. And God has accepted us because we have allowed God’s Spirit to change our hearts, not because we perform rituals. Even if other people will not praise us for that change, God will praise us.