Passage

Romans 12.19

"Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." (Romans 12:19, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"17. Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18. If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men."

"19. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord."

"20. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. 21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"17. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. 18. If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men."

"19. Don't seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.""

"20. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21. Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"17. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

"19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

"20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"17. giving back to no one evil for evil; providing right things before all men. 18. If possible, so far as in you, with all men being in peace;"

"19. not avenging yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath, for it hath been written, 'Vengeance [is] Mine,"

"20. I will recompense again, saith the Lord;' if, then, thine enemy doth hunger, feed him; if he doth thirst, give him drink; for this doing, coals of fire thou shalt heap upon his head; 21. Be not overcome by the evil, but overcome, in the good, the evil." (Romans 12:17-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, quoting Deuteronomy 32.35 (the Song of Moses)
Audience: Christian believers in Rome (Jew + Gentile), under an imperial regime in which they had no recourse to state justice when wronged
Location: composed in Corinth; addressed to Rome
Time period: composed c. AD 57

Theological reading

Romans 12:19 is the canonical Christian text on personal vengeance. Paul has been laying out the ethic of the renewed mind since 12:1, and at v. 17 turns to enemies and outsiders. The instruction is twofold: do not take your own revenge, and leave room (δότε τόπον, dote topon, "give place") for the wrath of God. The two halves are inseparable. The prohibition of private vengeance is not a denial that the wrong deserves vengeance; it is a deferral of that vengeance to a more competent judge.

Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32.35 (the Song of Moses), ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω in the LXX-influenced form, to ground the deferral. The point is that God claims vengeance as His prerogative, not because vengeance is intrinsically wrong but because He will execute it justly and the human agent will not. The Imprecatory Psalms tradition operates on the same logic: imprecations are pleas that God do the vengeance the supplicant refuses to do.

The verse intersects with the apologetic terrain at multiple points. First, against the Imprecatory Psalms Objection that the Bible endorses hatred, Paul shows that the canonical Christian posture is non-retaliation paired with trust in God's justice. Second, against pacifist readings that flatten the verse into an absolute prohibition on coercive justice, the very next chapter (Romans 13:4) names the civil magistrate as God's servant who "bears the sword" and is "an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil." The two passages distinguish private vengeance (forbidden, 12:19) from civil justice (legitimate, 13:4), the same God who reserves vengeance to Himself executes some of it through ordained authorities. Third, the verse undergirds enemy-love (v. 20, quoting Proverbs 25:21-22): the believer can feed the hungry enemy because the believer is not responsible for the enemy's reckoning.

ris3n's Imprecatory Psalms Objection Defeater turns on exactly this distinction: the OT laments and the NT non-retaliation ethic both presuppose that God will judge, the difference being only in who holds the microphone.

Key words

ekdikēsis (Strong's G1557), vengeance, the carrying out of justice. The noun Paul cites from Deuteronomy. Lexicon entry not yet built.
orgē (Strong's G3709), wrath, settled divine displeasure. The "wrath of God" to which place is to be given. Lexicon entry not yet built.
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios (Strong's G2962), Lord. The speaker of the Deuteronomy citation, YHWH, applied here by Paul without commentary.

Theological themes

Deferred justice. Vengeance is not denied but reassigned to its proper agent.
Enemy-love. Personal non-retaliation creates the space for active good toward the enemy (v. 20-21).
State vs personal sphere. Romans 12:19 (no private vengeance) and Romans 13:4 (state as wrath-bearer) cohere because the agent of justice differs.
OT-NT continuity. Paul reads the Deuteronomy text not as a relic of older covenant ethics but as the abiding ground of Christian non-retaliation.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 32.35, the verse Paul is quoting (the Song of Moses).
Matthew 5.44, Jesus's "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you", the dominical parallel.
Romans 13.4, the civil-magistrate counterpart distinguishing state justice from private revenge.
Proverbs 25.21-22, the immediate background of v. 20 (feed the hungry enemy).
Hebrews 10:30, the parallel NT citation of the same Deuteronomy verse.
1 Peter 3:9, the parallel non-retaliation imperative.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.