Romans 1:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Jer 2:5 : 5 This is what the Lord says:“What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.
  • Eph 4:17-18 : 17 Live in Holiness So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
  • 2 Kgs 17:15 : 15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to the LORD. They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the LORD’s command.
  • Ps 50:23 : 23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.”
  • Rev 15:4 : 4 Who will not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name, because you alone are holy? All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
  • 2 Tim 3:2 : 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
  • 1 Pet 2:9 : 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
  • Rev 14:7 : 7 He declared in a loud voice:“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”
  • John 3:19 : 19 Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
  • Rom 1:19 : 19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
  • Rom 1:28 : 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.
  • Rom 11:10 : 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and make their backs bend continually.”
  • Rom 15:9 : 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,“Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.”
  • Gen 6:5 : 5 But the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.
  • Gen 8:21 : 21 And the LORD smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself,“I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
  • Deut 28:29 : 29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you.
  • Ps 81:12 : 12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; they did what seemed right to them.
  • Ps 86:9 : 9 All the nations, whom you created, will come and worship you, O Lord. They will honor your name.
  • Eccl 7:29 : 29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.
  • Isa 44:9-9 : 9 All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame. 10 Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless? 11 Look, all his associates will be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand! They will panic and be put to shame. 12 A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired. 13 A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire– over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says,‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19 No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:‘I burned half of it in the fire– yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 20 He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say,‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’
  • Isa 60:2 : 2 For, look, darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the nations, but the LORD shines on you; his splendor appears over you.
  • Jer 10:3-8 : 3 For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over. 5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.” 6 I said,“There is no one like you, LORD. You are great. And you are renowned for your power. 7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, because you deserve to be revered. For there is no one like you among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. 8 The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
  • Jer 10:14-15 : 14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. 15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
  • Jer 16:19 : 19 Then I said,“LORD, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say,‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods– worthless idols that could not help them at all.
  • Hos 2:8 : 8 Agricultural Fertility Withdrawn from Israel Yet until now she has refused to acknowledge that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil; and that it was I who lavished on her the silver and gold– which they used in worshiping Baal!
  • Hab 1:15-16 : 15 The Babylonian tyrant pulls them all up with a fishhook; he hauls them in with his throw net. When he catches them in his dragnet, he is very happy. 16 Because of his success he offers sacrifices to his throw net and burns incense to his dragnet; for because of them he has plenty of food, and more than enough to eat.
  • Luke 17:15-18 : 15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.(Now he was a Samaritan.) 17 Then Jesus said,“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
  • 1 Pet 1:18 : 18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed– not by perishable things like silver or gold,
  • Acts 26:18 : 18 to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Rom 1:22-26
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    22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

    23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

    24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

    25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

    26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,

  • Rom 1:18-20
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    18The Condemnation of the Unrighteous For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,

    19because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

    20For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes– his eternal power and divine nature– have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

  • Eph 4:17-19
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    17Live in Holiness So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

    18They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

    19Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

  • Rom 1:28-32
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    28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

    29They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,

    30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,

    31senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.

    32Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

  • 1 Cor 1:20-21
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    20Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?

    21For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.

  • Titus 1:16
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    16They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

  • Rom 10:2-3
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    2For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.

    3For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

  • Ps 14:1
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    1For the music director; by David. Fools say to themselves,“There is no God.” They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.

  • Isa 44:18
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    18They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.

  • Rom 3:11-12
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    72%

    11there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.

    12All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”

  • Ps 53:1-2
    2 verses
    72%

    1For the music director; according to the machalath style; a well-written song by David. Fools say to themselves,“There is no God.” They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.

    2God looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.

  • Rom 3:17-18
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    17and the way of peace they have not known.”

    18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

  • 1 Cor 3:19-20
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    19For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written,“He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

    20And again,“The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

  • Prov 1:29
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    29Because they hated moral knowledge, and did not choose to fear the LORD,

  • Gal 4:8
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    8Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.

  • Job 34:27
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    27because they have turned away from following him, and have not understood any of his ways,

  • 2 Cor 4:4
    69%

    4among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.

  • Jer 4:22
    69%

    22The LORD answered,“This will happen because my people are foolish. They do not know me. They are like children who have no sense. They have no understanding. They are skilled at doing evil. They do not know how to do good.”

  • Jude 1:10
    69%

    10But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend.

  • 2 Tim 3:2
    69%

    2For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

  • Ps 107:11
    69%

    11because they had rebelled against God’s commands, and rejected the instructions of the Most High.

  • 1 Cor 1:25
    69%

    25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

  • Prov 19:3
    68%

    3A person’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the LORD.

  • Ps 10:4
    68%

    4The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”

  • 1 Cor 1:29
    68%

    29so that no one can boast in his presence.

  • 2 Cor 4:6
    68%

    6For God, who said“Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.

  • 2 Thess 2:10
    68%

    10and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved.

  • Ps 106:39
    68%

    39They were defiled by their deeds, and unfaithful in their actions.

  • John 3:19
    68%

    19Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

  • Hos 4:7
    68%

    7The more the priests increased in numbers, the more they rebelled against me. They have turned their glorious calling into a shameful disgrace!

  • Job 17:4
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    4Because you have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not exalt them.

  • 2 Pet 2:21
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    21For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them.