Romans 1:24

Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Roman church, tracing the downward trajectory of Gentile idolatry after humanity exchanged God’s glory for created images. He describes the divine response to this persistent rebellion in the immediate context of Romans 1.

The words — The Greek verb παρέδωκεν (paredōken) literally means “handed over” or “gave up,” indicating a judicial withdrawal of restraint. The prepositional phrase ἐν ταῖς (en tais) “in the” introduces the sphere where this handing over occurs: the desires of their hearts.

The thread — This pattern of divine handing over appears in Acts 7:42, where God turns away from Israel to give them over to heavenly worship, and echoes the principle in Psalms 81:11 that disobedience invites divine withdrawal. The motif of unchecked rebellion leading to ruin also surfaces in Matthew 15:14.

Why it lands — The text states that God responds to idolatry by allowing people to experience the full consequences of their chosen desires. It requires the reader to recognize that moral decay follows the rejection of divine truth, not as arbitrary punishment but as the natural outworking of abandoned boundaries.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Cross-references

Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
Acts 7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
Matthew 15:14 Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Acts 14:16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
Romans 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Leviticus 18:22 You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.