Romans 1:23 (LSB)

Passage

and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Nearby Context

Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

Romans 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "exchanged", "glory", "incorruptible", "image", "likeness", "birds", and "four-footed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "exchanged" and "glory", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Professing to be wise they became fools..." into verse 24's "Therefore God gave them over in the...", so "exchanged" and "glory" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "exchanged" and "glory" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.