Chapter 12

1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.⁠ 2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith. 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 6 And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness. 9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good.⁠ 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.⁠ 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.⁠ 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”⁠ says the Lord.⁠ 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.⁠ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Summary

In Romans 12, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32, where God claims the right to revenge, using it to argue that humans should not seek revenge, and instead be merciful, since judgment belongs to God alone.

Passages

Deuteronomy 32:35

Hebrew Bible

33 Their wine is snakes’ poison, the deadly venom of cobras. 34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, “Is it not sealed up in my storehouses? 35 I will get revenge and pay them back at the time their foot slips; for the day of their disaster is near, and the impending judgment is rushing upon them!” 36 The Lord will judge his people, and will have compassion on his servants;⁶² when he sees that their power has disappeared, and that no one is left, whether confined or set free. 37 He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in whom they sought security,

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Romans 12:19

New Testament

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... The enslaved human condition notwithstanding, however, these texts still seem to view humans as complicit in their evil actions to some degree; they still do the will of the flesh and so must take some responsibility for their wrongdoing—hence the occasional language of punishment and accountability (see Romans 10:3, 16–21, treated more extensively in part five, chapter nineteen). Moreover, these explanations from disputed letters are to my mind authentically Pauline in tenor and partly confirmatory of accountability by the apostle’s notorious discussion of imperial government in Romans 13. Paul recognizes a degree of divine authorization within the Roman government to the point that an experience of “the sword” by wrongdoers is an appropriate experience of God’s wrath and punishment (Rom. 13:3–4: Gk ἔκδικος εἰς ὀργήν). This perspective also explains Paul’s quotation of Deuteronomy 32:35 in Romans 12:19. Paul seems to believe that one reason for Christians to refrain from revenge is that God reserves that right for himself! Not only does the nonretaliation of Christians heap burning coals on the heads of hostile non-Christians, but the endurance of ongoing hostility might simultaneously increase their future punishment ..."

Douglas A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 166.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Romans16 chapters

Compare Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19

Summary

Passages

Deuteronomy 32:35

Romans 12:19

References

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