1 ¿ Acaso ignoran, hermanos, (pues hablo a los que conocen la ley), que la ley tiene jurisdicción sobre una persona mientras vive?

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 P ues la mujer casada está ligada por la ley a su marido mientras él vive; pero si su marido muere, queda libre de la ley en cuanto al marido.

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 A sí que, mientras vive su marido, será llamada adúltera si ella se une a otro hombre; pero si su marido muere, está libre de la ley, de modo que no es adúltera aunque se una a otro hombre.

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 P or tanto, hermanos míos, también a ustedes se les hizo morir a la Ley por medio del cuerpo de Cristo, para que sean unidos a otro, a Aquél que resucitó de entre los muertos, a fin de que llevemos fruto para Dios.

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 P orque mientras estábamos en la carne, las pasiones pecaminosas despertadas por la Ley, actuaban en los miembros de nuestro cuerpo a fin de llevar fruto para muerte.

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 P ero ahora hemos quedado libres de la Ley, habiendo muerto a lo que nos ataba, de modo que sirvamos en la novedad del Espíritu y no en el arcaísmo de la letra.

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 ¿ Qué diremos entonces? ¿Es pecado la Ley? ¡De ningún modo! Al contrario, yo no hubiera llegado a conocer el pecado si no hubiera sido por medio de la Ley. Porque yo no hubiera sabido lo que es la codicia, si la Ley no hubiera dicho: “ No codiciaras.”

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 P ero el pecado, aprovechándose del mandamiento, produjo en mí toda clase de codicia. Porque aparte de la Ley el pecado está muerto.

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 E n un tiempo yo vivía sin la Ley, pero al venir el mandamiento, el pecado revivió, y yo morí;

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 y este mandamiento, que era para vida, a mí me resultó para muerte;

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

11 p orque el pecado, aprovechándose del mandamiento, me engañó, y por medio de él me mató.

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

12 A sí que la Ley es santa, y el mandamiento es santo, justo y bueno.

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

13 ¿ Entonces lo que es bueno vino a ser causa de muerte para mí? ¡De ningún modo! Al contrario, fue el pecado, a fin de mostrarse que es pecado al producir mi muerte por medio de lo que es bueno, para que por medio del mandamiento el pecado llegue a ser en extremo pecaminoso.

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 P orque sabemos que la Ley es espiritual, pero yo soy carnal, vendido a la esclavitud del pecado.

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 P orque lo que hago, no lo entiendo. Porque no practico lo que quiero hacer, sino que lo que aborrezco, eso hago.

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 Y si lo que no quiero hacer, eso hago, estoy de acuerdo con la Ley, reconociendo que es buena.

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

17 A sí que ya no soy yo el que lo hace, sino el pecado que habita en mí.

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

18 P orque yo sé que en mí, es decir, en mi carne, no habita nada bueno. Porque el querer está presente en mí, pero el hacer el bien, no.

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

19 P ues no hago el bien que deseo, sino el mal que no quiero, eso practico.

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 Y si lo que no quiero hacer, eso hago, ya no soy yo el que lo hace, sino el pecado que habita en mí.

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 A sí que, queriendo yo hacer el bien, hallo la ley de que el mal está presente en mí.

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

22 P orque en el hombre interior me deleito con la Ley de Dios,

My mind and heart agree with the Law of God.

23 p ero veo otra ley en los miembros de mi cuerpo que hace guerra contra la ley de mi mente, y me hace prisionero de la ley del pecado que está en mis miembros.

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 ¡ Miserable de mí! ¿Quién me libertará de este cuerpo de muerte ?

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

25 G racias a Dios, por Jesucristo Señor nuestro. Así que yo mismo, por un lado, con la mente sirvo a la ley de Dios, pero por el otro, con la carne, a la ley del pecado.

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!