Genesis 13:13

13:13 (Now ¹  the people ²  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ³ 

Genesis 18:20-21

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁴  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁵  18:21 that I must go down ⁶  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁷  If not, ⁸  I want to know.”

Psalms 14:1-4

Psalm 14 ⁹ 

For the music director; by David.

14:1 Fools say to themselves, ¹⁰  “There is no God.” ¹¹ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ¹² 

none of them does what is right. ¹³ 

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹⁴  at the human race, ¹⁵ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁶  and seeks God. ¹⁷ 

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹⁸ 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹⁹ 

None of them does what is right, ²⁰ 

not even one!

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ²¹  do not understand – ²² 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Psalms 53:2

53:2 God looks down from heaven ²³  at the human race, ²⁴ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ²⁵  and seeks God. ²⁶ 

Romans 1:28-31

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ²⁷  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ²⁸  1:29 They are filled ²⁹  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ³⁰  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ³¹  heartless, ruthless.

Romans 3:9-19

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ³² 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ³³ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ³⁴ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ³⁵  full of cursing and bitterness.” ³⁶ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ³⁷ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ³⁸ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ³⁹  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

[13:13]  ¹ tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

[13:13]  ² tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ³ tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

[18:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ⁶ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ⁸ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[14:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 14. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[14:1]  ¹¹ sn “There is no God.” The statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[14:1]  ¹² tn Heb “they act corruptly, they make a deed evil.” The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[14:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[14:2]  ¹⁴ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹⁷ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[14:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[14:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ²² tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[53:2]  ²³ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[53:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[53:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[53:2]  ²⁶ tn That is, who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[1:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[1:29]  ²⁹ tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:31]  ³¹ tn Or “promise-breakers.”

[3:12]  ³² sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ³³ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ³⁵ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ³⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ³⁷ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ³⁹ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”