Psalms 81:12

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ¹ 

they did what seemed right to them. ² 

Matthew 15:9

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ³ 

Matthew 15:13-14

15:13 And he replied, ⁴  “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ⁵  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ⁶  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁸  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁹  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ¹⁰  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Romans 1:28

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ¹¹  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ¹² 

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ¹³  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 2:10-12

2:10 but ¹⁴  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹⁵  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

¹ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

² tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

³ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

⁴ tn Grk “And answering, he said.”

⁵ tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

⁶ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

⁸ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

⁹ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

¹⁰ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹¹ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

¹² tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

¹³ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

¹⁴ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

¹⁵ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.