Romans 2

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. 2We know that the judgment of God1 is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God,

6who “will repay everyone according to their works.” 2

7To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility, he will give eternal life; 8but to those who are self-seeking, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation, 9oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, on the Jew first, and also on the Greek.

10But glory and honour and peace to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 11For there is no partiality with God. 12For as many as have sinned without the Taurat3 will also perish without the Taurat. As many as have sinned under the Taurat will be judged by the Taurat. 13For it isn’t the hearers of the Taurat who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Taurat will be justified 14(for when non-Jews who do not have the Taurat do by nature the things in the Taurat, these people, not having the Taurat, are a Taurat to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Taurat written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) 16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Injil,4 by ‘ISA5 AL-MASIH6.

17Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the Taurat, and glory in God, 18and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the Taurat, 19and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the Taurat the embodiment of knowledge and truth. 21You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal? 22You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who glory in the Taurat, through your disobedience of the Taurat do you dishonour God?

24“For the Name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of you,” 7

…just as it is written. 25For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the Taurat, but if you are a transgressor of the Taurat, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the Taurat, will not his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision? 27Will not the uncircumcised man who fulfills the Taurat, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the Taurat? 28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision only outward and phsical; 29but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

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  1. 2:2 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
  2. 2:6 Citing the Zabur 62:12 which says: Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you repay every man according to his work.
    Also citing the Taurat, Proverbs 24:12 which says: If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this;” Does not he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does not he know it? Shall he not repay every man according to his work? ↩︎
  3. 2:12 Taurat, this Arabic word is derived from Torah (Hebrew) which literally means “instruction” or “teaching.” In the Injil, the Greek text says nomos (meaning, “law”). Depending on context, Taurat can refer to, 
    1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament. 
    2. The book of Prophet Musa with all its rules and regulations is also called the Law (of Moses), or the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
    3. Taurat can refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book. ↩︎
  4. 2:16 Injil, this Arabic word is derived from Euangel (Greek) and means “good news” or “Gospel” (old English for ‘good news’). Depending on context, Injil can refer to, 
    1. the whole Christian New Testament containing 27 books, 
    2. the first 4 books of the New Testament, that is, the Injil according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, or,
    3. the message or “good news” of forgiveness of sins through ‘ISA AL-MASIH. ↩︎
  5. 2:16 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
  6. 2:16 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH.  Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
  7. 2:24 See the Taurat, Shaya 52:5 which says: “Now therefore, what do I hear,” says YAHWEH, “seeing that my people is taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them howl,” says YAHWEH, “and my Name continually all the day is blasphemed.
    Also see the Taurat, Dhul-kifl 36:22 which says: Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord YAHWEH: “I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went. ↩︎