¹Or don’t you know, brothers The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.” (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?

¹ወንድሞች ሆይ፥ ሕግን ለሚያውቁ እናገራለሁና ሰው ባለበት ዘመን ሁሉ ሕግ እንዲገዛው አታውቁምን?

²For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.

²ያገባች ሴት ባልዋ በሕይወት ሲኖር ከእርሱ ጋር በሕግ ታስራለችና፤ ባልዋ ቢሞት ግን ስለ ባል ከሆነው ሕግ ተፈትታለች።

³So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

³ስለዚህ ባልዋ በሕይወት ሳለ ለሌላ ወንድ ብትሆን አመንዝራ ትባላለች፤ ባልዋ ቢሞት ግን ከሕጉ አርነት ወጥታለችና ለሌላ ወንድ ብትሆን አመንዝራ አይደለችም።

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to God.

⁴እንዲሁ፥ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፥ እናንተ ደግሞ በክርስቶስ ሥጋ ለሕግ ተገድላችኋል፤ ለእግዚአብሔር ፍሬ እንድናፈራ፥ እናንተ ለሌላው፥ ከሙታን ለተነሣው፥ ለእርሱ ትሆኑ ዘንድ።

⁵For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit to death.

⁵በሥጋ ሳለን በሕግ የሚሆን የኃጢአት መሻት ለሞት ፍሬ ሊያፈራ በብልቶቻችን ይሠራ ነበርና፤

⁶But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.

⁶አሁን ግን ለእርሱ ለታሰርንበት ስለ ሞትን፥ ከሕግ ተፈትተናል፥ ስለዚህም በአዲሱ በመንፈስ ኑሮ እንገዛለን እንጂ በአሮጌው በፊደል ኑሮ አይደለም።

⁷What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

⁷እንግዲህ ምን እንላለን? ሕግ ኃጢአት ነውን? አይደለም፤ ነገር ግን በሕግ ባይሆን ኃጢአትን ባላወቅሁም ነበር፤ ሕጉ። አትመኝ ባላለ ምኞትን ባላወቅሁም ነበርና።

⁸But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

⁸ኃጢአት ግን ምክንያት አግኝቶ ምኞትን ሁሉ በትእዛዝ ሠራብኝ፤ ኃጢአት ያለ ሕግ ምውት ነውና።

⁹I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

⁹እኔም ዱሮ ያለ ሕግ ሕያው ነበርሁ፤ ትእዛዝ በመጣች ጊዜ ግን ኃጢአት ሕያው ሆነ እኔም ሞትሁ፤

¹⁰The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death;

¹⁰ለሕይወትም የተሰጠችውን ትእዛዝ እርስዋን ለሞት ሆና አገኘኋት፤

¹¹for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

¹¹ኃጢአት ምክንያት አግኝቶ በትእዛዝ አታሎኛልና በእርስዋም ገድሎኛል።

¹²Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.

¹²ስለዚህ ሕጉ ቅዱስ ነው ትእዛዚቱም ቅድስትና ጻድቅት በጎም ናት።

¹³Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.

¹³እንግዲህ በጎ የሆነው ነገር ለእኔ ሞት ሆነብኝን? አይደለም፥ ነገር ግን ኃጢአት ሆነ፤ ኃጢአትም በትእዛዝ ምክንያት ያለ ልክ ኃጢአተኛ ይሆን ዘንድ፥ ኃጢአትም እንዲሆን ይገለጥ ዘንድ በጎ በሆነው ነገር ለእኔ ሞትን ይሠራ ነበር።

¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.

¹⁴ሕግ መንፈሳዊ እንደ ሆነ እናውቃለንና፤ እኔ ግን ከኃጢአት በታች ልሆን የተሸጥሁ የሥጋ ነኝ።

¹⁵For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.

¹⁵የማደርገውን አላውቅምና፤ የምጠላውን ያን አደርጋለሁና ዳሩ ግን የምወደውን እርሱን አላደርገውም።

¹⁶But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.

¹⁶የማልወደውን ግን የማደርግ ከሆንሁ ሕግ መልካም እንደ ሆነ እመሰክራለሁ።

¹⁷So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.

¹⁷እንደዚህ ከሆነ ያን የማደርገው አሁን እኔ አይደለሁም፥ በእኔ የሚያድር ኃጢአት ነው እንጂ።

¹⁸For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.

¹⁸በእኔ ማለት በሥጋዬ በጎ ነገር እንዳይኖር አውቃለሁና፤ ፈቃድ አለኝና፥ መልካሙን ግን ማድረግ የለኝም።

¹⁹For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.

¹⁹የማልወደውን ክፉን ነገር አደርጋለሁና ዳሩ ግን የምወደውን በጎውን ነገር አላደርገውም።

²⁰But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.

²⁰የማልወደውን የማደርግ ከሆንሁ ግን ያን የማደርገው አሁን እኔ አይደለሁም፥ በእኔ የሚኖር ኃጢአት ነው እንጂ።

²¹I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.

²¹እንግዲያስ መልካሙን አደርግ ዘንድ ስወድ በእኔ ክፉ እንዲያድርብኝ ሕግን አገኛለሁ።

²²For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,

²²በውስጡ ሰውነቴ በእግዚአብሔር ሕግ ደስ ይለኛልና፥

²³but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.

²³ነገር ግን በብልቶቼ ከአእምሮዬ ሕግ ጋር የሚዋጋውንና በብልቶቼ ባለ በኃጢአት ሕግ የሚማርከኝን ሌላ ሕግ አያለሁ።

²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?

²⁴እኔ ምንኛ ጎስቋላ ሰው ነኝ! ለዚህ ሞት ከተሰጠ ሰውነት ማን ያድነኛል?

²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.

²⁵በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በጌታችን ለእግዚአብሔር ምስጋና ይሁን። እንግዲያስ እኔ በአእምሮዬ ለእግዚአብሔር ሕግ፥ በሥጋዬ ግን ለኃጢአት ሕግ እገዛለሁ።