1 ¿ IGNORAIS, hermanos, (porque hablo con los que saben la ley) que la ley se enseñorea del hombre entre tanto que 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 orque la mujer que está sujeta á marido, mientras el marido vive está obligada á la ley; mas muerto el marido, libre es de la ley del 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, viviendo el marido, se llamará adúltera si fuere de otro varón; mas si su marido muriere, es libre de la ley; de tal manera que no será adúltera si fuere de otro marido.

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 A sí también vosotros, hermanos míos, estáis muertos á la ley por el cuerpo de Cristo, para que seáis de otro, á saber, del que resucitó de los muertos, á fin de que fructifiquemos á 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, los afectos de los pecados que eran por la ley, obraban en nuestros miembros fructificando 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 M as ahora estamos libres de la ley, habiendo muerto á aquella en la cual estábamos detenidos, para que sirvamos en novedad de espíritu, y no en vejez de 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 pues diremos? ¿La ley es pecado? En ninguna manera. Empero yo no conocí el pecado sino por la ley: porque tampoco conociera la concupiscencia, si la ley no dijera: No codiciarás.

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 M as el pecado, tomando ocasión, obró en mí por el mandamiento toda concupiscencia: porque sin 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 A sí que, yo sin la ley vivía por algún tiempo: mas venido 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 hallé que el mandamiento, á intimado para vida, para mí era mortal:

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

11 P orque el pecado, tomando ocasión, me engañó por el mandamiento, y por él me mató.

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

12 D e manera que la ley á la verdad es santa, y el mandamiento santo, y justo, y bueno.

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

13 ¿ Luego lo que es bueno, á mí me es hecho muerte? No; sino que el pecado, para mostrarse pecado, por lo bueno me obró la muerte, haciéndose pecado sobremanera pecante por el mandamiento.

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; mas yo soy carnal, vendido á sujeción 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; ni lo que quiero, hago; antes lo que aborrezco, aquello 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, esto hago, apruebo que la ley es buena.

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

17 D e manera que ya no obro aquello, sino el pecado que mora en mí.

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

18 Y yo sé que en mí (es á saber, en mi carne) no mora el bien: porque tengo el querer, mas efectuar el bien no lo alcanzo.

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 orque no hago el bien que quiero; mas el mal que no quiero, éste hago.

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 hago lo que no quiero, ya no obro yo, sino el mal que mora 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 esta ley: Que el mal está 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 según el hombre interior, me deleito en la ley de Dios:

My mind and heart agree with the Law of God.

23 M as veo otra ley en mis miembros, que se rebela contra la ley de mi espíritu, y que me lleva cautivo á 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 M iserable hombre de mí! ¿quién me librará del cuerpo de esta muerte?

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

25 G racias doy á Dios, por Jesucristo Señor nuestro. Así que, yo mismo con la mente sirvo á la ley de Dios, mas con la carne á 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!