Funeral reading
Romans 8:31–35, 37–39
King James Bible
“Romans 8:31–35, 37–39” (King James Bible) is a scripture reading read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
This passage closes Romans 8, near the middle of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.
What it says
If God is for us, who can be against us? Paul asks a series of questions and answers them: no one can condemn, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, not trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword. Then the great list: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in creation can separate us from the love of God.
The list at the end is the point. Nothing on it wins. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: nothing can separate us · more than conquerors · defiance · love that holds.
Who it suits
Christian funerals of every kind, and especially deaths that came through hardship: illness, war, poverty or a long struggle. It suits families who need certainty, and it works for a believer whose faith was tested.
Where it goes in the ceremony
As the New Testament reading, before the Gospel or the address. Read by a family member or friend.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 177 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about a minute and a half of reading.
- The questions come quickly. Answer each one in your voice, with a short pause, so the argument is clear.
- The final list is long. Keep the rhythm steady: neither, nor, nor, nor. It should build without speeding up.
- Land firmly on “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” and stop.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Romans 8:31–35, 37–39” take to read aloud?
“Romans 8:31–35, 37–39” takes about a minute and a half read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Romans 8:31–35, 37–39”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Romans 8:31–35, 37–39” runs about a minute and a half, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “Romans 8:31–35, 37–39” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Psalm 139:1–12a minute and a halfNeither height nor depth, in a psalm
- 1 John 4:7–12a minute and a halfGod is love
- Romans 6:3–9a minute and a halfThe same letter, on dying and rising
- Ruth 1:16–17a30 secondsKing James Bible
- Psalm 10040 secondsKing James Bible
- Proverbs 31:10–12, 25–31a minute and a halfKing James Bible