World English Bible · Under Rome
Romans 7
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Or don't you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know ), that has over a man for as long as he lives? For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from of the husband. So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an . But if the husband dies, she is free from , so that she is no , though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brothers, you also were made to through the , that you would be joined to another, to him who was , that we might produce fruit to . For when we were in , the passions which were through worked in our members to bring out fruit to . But now we have been discharged from , having to that in which we were held; so that we in newness of , and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is ? May it never be! However, I wouldn't have known except through . For I wouldn't have known coveting unless had said, "You shall not ." But , finding occasion through the , produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from , is . I was alive apart from once, but when the came, revived and I . The which was for life, this I found to be for ; for , finding occasion through the , deceived me, and through it killed me. Therefore indeed is , and the , , and good. Did then that which is good become to me? May it never be! But , that it might be shown to be , was producing in me through that which is good; that through the might become exceedingly . For we know that is spiritual, but I am , sold under . For I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't practice what I to do; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I don't , that I do, I consent to that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my , dwells no good thing. For is present with me, but I don't find it doing that which is good. For the good which I , I don't do; but the evil which I don't , that I practice. But if what I don't , that I do, it is no more I that do it, but which dwells in me. I find then that, while I to do good, evil is present. For I delight in after the inward person, but I see a different law in my members, warring against of my , and bringing me into of which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will me out of the body of this ? I thank through , our ! So then with , I myself , but with , law.
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The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.