1 K now ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Christian brothers, I am sure you understand what I am going to say. You know all about the Law. The Law has power over a man as long as he lives.

2 F or the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

A married woman is joined by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if he dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him.

3 S o then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

If she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is sinning by not being faithful in marriage. If her husband dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him. After that she can marry someone else. She does not sin if she marries another man.

4 W herefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

My Christian brothers, that is the way it is with you. You were under the power of the Law. But now you are dead to it because you are joined to another. You are joined to Christ Who was raised from the dead. This is so we may be what God wants us to be. Our lives are to give fruit for Him.

5 F or when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

When we lived to please our bodies, those sinful desires were pulling at us all the time. We always wanted to do what the Law said not to do. Living that kind of life brings death,

6 B ut now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

but now we are free from the Law. We are dead to sin that once held us in its power. No longer do we follow the Law which is the old way. We now follow the new way, the way of the Spirit.

7 W hat shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Then what are we saying? Is the Law sinful? No, not at all! But it was the Law that showed me what sin is. I did not know it was sin to follow wrong desires, but the Law said, “You must not follow wrong desires.”

8 B ut sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

The Law made me know how much I was sinning. It showed me how I had a desire for all kinds of things. For without the Law, sin is dead.

9 F or I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

I was once alive. That was when I did not know what the Law said I had to do. Then I found that I had broken the Law. I knew I was a sinner. Death was mine because of the Law.

10 A nd the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

The Law was supposed to give me new life. Instead, it gave me death.

11 F or sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Sin found a way to trap me by working through the Law. Then sin killed me by using the Law.

12 W herefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

The Law is holy. Each one of the Laws is holy and right and good.

13 W as then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Then does it mean that the Law, which is good, brought death to me? No, not at all! It was sin that did it. Sin brought death to me by the Law that is good. In that way, sin was shown to be what it is. So because of the Law, sin becomes much more sinful.

14 F or we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

We know that the Law is right and good, but I am a person who does what is wrong and bad. I am not my own boss. Sin is my boss.

15 F or that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.

16 I f then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

When I do the thing I do not want to do, it shows me that the Law is right and good.

17 N ow then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

So I am not doing it. Sin living in me is doing it.

18 F or I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

I know there is nothing good in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do good but I do not.

19 F or the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I am always doing the sinful things I do not want to do.

20 N ow if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

If I am always doing the very thing I do not want to do, it means I am no longer the one who does it. It is sin that lives in me.

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

This has become my way of life: When I want to do what is right, I always do what is wrong.

22 F or I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

My mind and heart agree with the Law of God.

23 B ut I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

But there is a different law at work deep inside of me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in its power because sin is still in me.

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

There is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

God’s Law has power over my mind, but sin still has power over my sinful old self. I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord!