| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? | 1Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? |
| 2Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? | 2Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? |
| 3Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? | 3Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? |
| 4Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. | 4For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. |
| 5For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, | 5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. |
| 6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. | 6We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. |
| 7For he who has died has been freed from sin. | 7For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. |
| 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, | 8And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. |
| 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. | 9We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. |
| 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. | 10When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. |
| 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. | 11So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. |
| 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. | 12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. |
| 13And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. | 13Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. |
| 14For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. | 14Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. |
| 15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! | 15Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| 16Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? | 16Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. |
| 17But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. | 17Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. |
| 18And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. | 18Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. |
| 19I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. | 19Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. |
| 20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. | 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. |
| 21What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. | 21And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. |
| 22But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. | 22But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. |
| 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. | 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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