1 ¶ Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to those that know the law), that the law has dominion over a man only as long as he lives?

Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

2 F or the woman who is subject to a husband is obligated to the law so long as the husband lives; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law of the husband.

For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.

3 S o then if, while her husband lives, she belongs to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress if she belongs to another man.

So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

4 L ikewise ye also, my brethren, are become dead to the law in the body of the Christ that ye should belong to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

5 F or while we were in the flesh, the affections of the sins which were by the law worked in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

6 B ut now we are free from the law of death in which we were held, that we might serve in newness of Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

7 ¶ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? No, in no wise. But, I did not know sin except by the law; for neither would I have known lust if the law did not say, Thou shalt not covet.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “ You shall not covet.”

8 T hen sin, when there was occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of lust. For without the law sin was as if it were dormant.

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

9 S o that without the law I lived for some time; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;

10 A nd I found that the same commandment, which was unto life, was mortal unto me.

and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

11 F or sin, having had occasion, deceived me by the commandment and by it killed me.

for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

12 S o the law is truly holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 W as then that which is good made death unto me? No, in no wise. But sin, to show itself sin by that which is good, worked death in me, making sin exceedingly sinful by the commandment.

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. The Conflict of Two Natures

14 ¶ For we now know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold unto subjection by sin.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

15 F or that which I do, I do not understand, and not even the good that I desire is what I do; but what I hate, that is what I do.

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

16 I f then I do that which I do not desire, I approve that the law is good.

But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.

17 S o that it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.

So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

18 A nd I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for I have the desire, but I am not able to perform that which is good.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

19 F or I do not do the good that I desire; but the evil which I do not desire, that I do.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

20 A nd if I do that which I do not desire, I am not working, but sin that dwells in me.

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21 S o that, desiring to do good, I find this law: evil is natural unto me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

22 F or I delight with the law of God with the inward man,

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,

23 b ut I see another law in my members which rebels against the law of my mind, bringing captive unto the law of sin which is in my members.

but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

25 T he grace of God, by Jesus, the Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.