Ad Romanos 7

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 An ignoratis, fratres (scientibus enim legem loquor), quia lex in homine dominatur quanto tempore vivit ?	1 Are you unaware, brothers (for I am speaking to people who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over one as long as one lives?
2 Nam quæ sub viro est mulier, vivente viro, alligata est legi : si autem mortuus fuerit vir ejus, soluta est a lege viri.	2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law in respect to her husband.
3 Igitur, vivente viro, vocabitur adultera si fuerit cum alio viro : si autem mortuus fuerit vir ejus, liberata est a lege viri, ut non sit adultera si fuerit cum alio viro.	3 Consequently, while her husband is alive she will be called an adulteress if she consorts with another man. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and she is not an adulteress if she consorts with another man.
4 Itaque fratres mei, et vos mortificati estis legi per corpus Christi : ut sitis alterius, qui ex mortuis resurrexit, ut fructificemus Deo.	4 In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God.
5 Cum enim essemus in carne, passiones peccatorum, quæ per legem erant, operabantur in membris nostris, ut fructificarent morti.	5 For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, awakened by the law, worked in our members to bear fruit for death.
6 Nunc autem soluti sumus a lege mortis, in qua detinebamur, ita ut serviamus in novitate spiritus, et non in vetustate litteræ.	6 But now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the spirit and not under the obsolete letter.
7 Quid ergo dicemus ? lex peccatum est ? Absit. Sed peccatum non cognovi, nisi per legem : nam concupiscentiam nesciebam, nisi lex diceret : Non concupisces.	7 What then can we say? That the law is sin? Of course not! Yet I did not know sin except through the law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the law said, "You shall not covet."
8 Occasione autem accepta, peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. Sine lege enim peccatum mortuum erat.	8 But sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness. Apart from the law sin is dead.
9 Ego autem vivebam sine lege aliquando : sed cum venisset mandatum, peccatum revixit.	9 I once lived outside the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive;
10 Ego autem mortuus sum : et inventum est mihi mandatum, quod erat ad vitam, hoc esse ad mortem.	10 then I died, and the commandment that was for life turned out to be death for me.
11 Nam peccatum occasione accepta per mandatum, seduxit me, et per illud occidit.	11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death.
12 Itaque lex quidem sancta, et mandatum sanctum, et justum, et bonum.	12 So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Quod ergo bonum est, mihi factum est mors ? Absit. Sed peccatum, ut appareat peccatum, per bonum operatum est mihi mortem : ut fiat supra modum peccans peccatum per mandatum.	13 Did the good, then, become death for me? Of course not! Sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin, worked death in me through the good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment.
14 Scimus enim quia lex spiritualis est : ego autem carnalis sum, venundatus sub peccato.	14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin.
15 Quod enim operor, non intelligo : non enim quod volo bonum, hoc ago : sed quod odi malum, illud facio.	15 What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.
16 Si autem quod nolo, illud facio : consentio legi, quoniam bona est.	16 Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good.
17 Nunc autem jam non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum.	17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Nam velle, adjacet mihi : perficere autem bonum, non invenio.	18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
19 Non enim quod volo bonum, hoc facio : sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago.	19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.
20 Si autem quod nolo, illud facio : jam non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me, peccatum.	20 Now if (I) do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 Invenio igitur legem, volenti mihi facere bonum, quoniam mihi malum adjacet :	21 So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.
22 condelector enim legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem :	22 For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self,
23 video autem aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meæ, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quæ est in membris meis.	23 but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus ?	24 Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
25 gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Igitur ego ipse mente servio legi Dei : carne autem, legi peccati.	25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.