1 O r do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man 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 has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her 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 marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married 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 T herefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to 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 when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to 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 have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Sin’s Advantage in the Law

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 W hat shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall 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 B ut sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

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

9 I was alive once without the law, 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 the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

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

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

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

12 T herefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Law Cannot Save from Sin

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

13 H as then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

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

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

15 F or what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that 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 what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it 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 B ut now, it is no longer I who 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 F or I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

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 the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

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

20 N ow if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, 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 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

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

22 F or I delight in the law of God according to 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, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to 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 will deliver me from this body of death?

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

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.

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.