Romans 3:3-14

3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being ¹  shown up as a liar, ²  just as it is written: “so that you will be justified ³  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” ⁴ 

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ⁵  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ⁶  (I am speaking in human terms.) ⁷  3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ⁸  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. ⁹  (Their ¹⁰  condemnation is deserved!)

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.” ¹¹ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ¹² 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ¹³ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ¹⁴  full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ 

[3:4]  ¹ tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.

[3:4]  ² tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

[3:4]  ³ tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ² tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ³ sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.

[3:7]  ¹ tn Grk “abounded unto.”

[3:8]  ¹ tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”

[3:8]  ² tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.

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

[3:13]  ¹ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ² sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ¹ 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]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.