Paul moves from the use of the first person we to the second person you, though in meaning these are the same; this also holds true for his use of the third person those who in the following verse. In verse 13 Paul uses a Greek form which is much stronger than the simple future (see Revised Standard Version “you will die”), and for this reason the Good News Translation translates his words by you are going to die. In the Jerusalem Bible this appears as “you are doomed to die” and in the New English Bible as “you must die.” The death referred to is, of course, not physical death, but rather the final death.

By the particles which he uses, Paul makes a strong contrast between the way of death and the way of life (for if … but if).

Kill your sinful actions is literally “kill the deeds of the body.” Paul’s meaning is easily understood. He is affirming that life lived under the leadership of God’s Spirit will show itself in the way that one conducts himself.

The metaphor kill your sinful actions is a very forceful one and should be retained if at all possible. In some languages one may retain something of this figure, but in an altered form—for example, “cease your sinful actions as though you were killing them.” In other languages one may have to eliminate the metaphor and employ a nonmetaphorical equivalent—for example, “stop completely your sinful deeds.”

The phrase by the Spirit indicates agency, but it must often be expressed as “with the help of the Spirit.” In some languages one may even have “but if the Spirit helps you to cease completely your sinful actions.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .