Bible Strands
Romans 1:27
Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Roman believers, tracing God’s judicial abandonment of humanity from idolatry in Romans 1:23 to sexual corruption in this passage.
The words — ἀφέντες (aphentes) means "having left" or "abandoned," and φυσικὴν (phusikēn) translates literally to "natural," describing the departure from created design.
The thread — The text echoes the Levitical prohibitions in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13, while directly continuing the gender-exchange motif of Romans 1:26 and the theme of divine surrender in Romans 1:28.
Why it lands — The verse states that men abandoned women, burned with lust for each other, committed indecent acts, and received the due penalty for their error, requiring the reader to recognize sexual rebellion as a direct consequence of rejecting God.
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
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
- Leviticus 18:22 You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- Romans 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.