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.
This verse comes from Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome, written around 57 AD. He's building a sweeping argument that all of humanity — both Jews and non-Jews — stands equally in need of God's grace. In this section, Paul describes what he sees as the disorder that follows when people turn away from God. Same-sex sexual behavior is listed alongside greed, envy, pride, and gossip as part of that broader unraveling. The phrase 'received in themselves the due penalty' is debated among scholars — some read it as spiritual consequence, others as relational harm. This is one of the most discussed and disputed passages in the Bible; thoughtful, faithful Christians hold genuinely different views on what it means for life today, and critically, the very next chapter of Romans opens with a sharp warning against using such a list to judge others.
God, this verse is hard, and the hurt around it is real. Give me the honesty to sit with complexity rather than reach for easy answers, and the humility to remember that Paul's ultimate destination in Romans is not condemnation — it's grace. Keep me from ever using Scripture as a weapon. Amen.
Few verses carry more weight — or have caused more real pain — than this one. Before doing anything with it, it's worth sitting with that honestly. People have been wounded by this text, told it meant God had no place for them. Others hold it as a sincere, carefully reasoned part of their faith. Dismissing either reality doesn't serve the truth. Paul wrote this not as a standalone condemnation but as the opening of a case that every human being, without exception, has turned from God. He lists behaviors across two chapters — and places self-righteous judgment right alongside the things he's just cataloged. The very next chapter opens with a gut-punch: 'You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else.' Paul's aim isn't to hand you a stone. It's to disarm you. If you have felt condemned by this verse, know that the conversation around it is more complex and contested than it usually appears. If you hold it as a moral boundary, ask yourself honestly: does engaging with it produce humility in you, or does it sharpen your edge toward someone else? Either way, don't stop reading here. Paul is walking everyone — everyone — to the same destination: mercy. That's the whole point of Romans.
What is Paul's larger argument across Romans 1–2, and how does placing this verse in that full context change how you read it?
When you encounter a biblical passage that has been used to harm people, how do you approach it — and what does your approach reveal about your relationship with Scripture?
Romans 2:1 warns that those who judge others condemn themselves by the same standard. How does that verse reshape the way you read Romans 1:27?
How can a community of faith hold honest disagreement about a contested passage while still caring well for the people most affected by that disagreement?
This week, seek out someone whose experience with this verse is different from yours. What would it look like to listen to their story without needing to resolve the tension?
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:13
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1 Corinthians 6:9
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
2 Kings 23:7
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Leviticus 18:22
And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
1 Kings 14:24
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Leviticus 20:13
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jude 1:7
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:24
and in the same way also the men turned away from the natural function of the woman and were consumed with their desire toward one another, men with men committing shameful acts and in return receiving in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.
AMP
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
ESV
and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
NASB
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
NIV
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
NKJV
And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
NLT
Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.
MSG