What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written,
“For your sake we are killed all day long.We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39, World English Bible Updated edition, which is in the public domain.
Which funeral services use it
- Catholic, US (Lectionary for Masses for the Dead): Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39, as a second reading.
- Catholic, England and Wales (Order of Christian Funerals): Romans 8:31-35, 37-39.
- Church of England (Common Worship funeral readings): Romans 8.31-end (the whole passage).
Where it comes in the service
At a Catholic funeral Mass this is a second reading, read after the psalm and before the Gospel acclamation. In a Church of England funeral the Bible readings come in the readings and sermon part of the service.
At a Catholic Mass the reader uses the parish Lectionary, which is a different translation from the one printed here, and in the US its text may not be reproduced without permission. You may prefer to print only the reference and the reader in the running order, for example "Second reading: Romans 8:31-39, read by Anne Hughes".
Add Romans 8:31-39 to your booklet, typeset in full, with the order of service around it. You can see the whole booklet before paying anything.
Put Romans 8:31-39 in my bookletAbout this translation
The words here are the World English Bible, a modern English translation whose translators dedicated it to the public domain, so it can be printed in a booklet in the US and the UK without permission or a fee. The King James Version is public domain in the US but is covered by Crown letters patent in the UK, which is why it is not used here. If your church prefers another translation, add it in step 5 with "Use your own words".
Funeral lists checked on September 28, 2026 against the USCCB, the Liturgy Office of England and Wales and the Church of England's Common Worship pages.