1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God, 2which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, 4who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake; 6among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ; 7to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; 12that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.
16For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. 17For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. 20For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. 21Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; 25who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. 28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, 30backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
The term "Phrygia" (literally, parched, dry, barren) geographically refers to a vaguely defined interior region of central-western part of what is now Turkey, or ancient Asia Minor. The term may lack precise geographical boundaries for two reasons - the geographical limits changed dramatically from the original migration of the Phrygians until biblical times, and the term originally referred to a people, not a place. Josephus alleges that this people group originally descended from Japheth, through his son Gomer and grandson Togarmah (Gen 10:3; cf. Ez. 27:14). According to Herodotus, this people group migrated from Thrace, where they were called Bryges, through the Hellespont, as allies of Troy, into a vaguely defined zone in central-western Asia Minor, where they came to be called Phrygians. The exact era of the original migration is not known, but is before the 12th century B.C. The Phrygian language is similar to Greek. Plato, for example, noted the similarity of Greek and Phrygian words in Plato's Cratylus (401a). Neo-Phrygian clearly utilizes the Greek script.
The Phrygians reached their zenith in approximately the 8th century B.C., with the reigns of Gordion and Midas. Midas is depicted in Greek mythology as having the ears of a donkey, and gifted by the gods to turn whatever he touched into gold, including his own children. Later conquered by the Kingdom of Lydia, the region came under Persian control under Cyrus, through Cyrus' defeat of the Lydian King, Croesus, in 546 B.C. Alexander then took the region in 334 B.C., which remained under Alexander's general Seleucus and his descendants' control until the Peace of Apamea in 188 B.C. where Pergamum, under Eumenes II (197-158 B.C.) as an ally of Rome, took control of the region from Antiochus III. The last king of Pergamum ceded his entire kingdom and territories, including Phrygia, to Rome in 133 B.C.
Phrygia, centered around the Lycus River valley, includes the sites of three nearly adjacent cities significantly named in Scripture - Colossae, Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22), and Hieropolis (Col 2:1; 4:13; modern Pammukale).
Three times the term Phrygia appears in the Bible, in Acts, 2:10, 16:6, and 18:23. Additionally, a subscript appended to 1 Timothy 6:21 appears in the Textus Receptus (upon which the KJV derived, hence its appearance in the KJV) stating that 1st Timothy "was written from Laodicea, which is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana." Pacatiana refers to Phrygia Prima, whose chief city was Laodicea, in distinction to Phrygia Secunda (Salutaris). These two provinces comprised Phrygia as a whole under the Roman imperial administrative rezoning of provinces under Diocletian in about A.D. 295.
Acts 2:10 describes the presence of Phrygians at Pentecost, hearing in their "own language the mighty works of God." During the second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-18:22), Paul passed through Phrygia and Galatia in Acts 16:6. Paul's third missionary journey (Acts 18:23-21:16) begins with his orderly excursion through "all the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples" (Acts 18:23).
Significantly, there was a thriving Jewish population in Phrygia, making the region a logical missionary target for the Apostle Paul (cf. Acts 13-22), who began church-planting enterprises by preaching Christ in the synagogues (as per Acts 13:15). Even in Obadiah's time (cf. vs. 20), around the time of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C., Jewish exiles resided in the Lydian capital of Sardis (an Aramaic inscription in Sardis matches the Hebrew transliteration of "Sepharad" of Ob. 20). Josephus reports that Seleucus I (312-281 B.C.) granted "full civic rights" to Jews, and moreover, Antiochus II (261 B.C.-246 B.C.) planted Jewish colonies in Ionia, while Antiochus III (222–187 B.C.) ordered his satrap (regional governor) Zeuxis to allow 2000 Jewish families to settle in Phrygia with free cultivable lands and a tax-free status for ten years. Jews of the region paid their half-shekel "temple tax" to support the Temple of Jerusalem, until it was confiscated by Lucius Valerius Flaccus in 62 B.C. (it was reinstituted under Flaccus' successor). The amount of money confiscated by Flaccus indicates a quite large Jewish population in the region. In A.D. 2-3, even Augustus posted a full declaration of Jewish rights in this part of the Empire in Ancyra, the capital of Galatia. Accordingly, Paul targeted a center of Jewish presence and prosperity in his missionary enterprises (cf. Rom 1:16; 9:3).