14 What is man, that (A)he would be pure,
Or (B)he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?

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14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman,(A) that they could be righteous?(B)

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(A)Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin”?

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Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;(A)
    I am clean and without sin”?(B)

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10 as it is written:

(A)There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become [a]corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 (B)Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
(C)The venom of [b]asps is under their lips”;
14 (D)Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 (E)Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 (F)There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the (G)Law says, it speaks to (H)those who are [c]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and (I)all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because (J)by the works [d]of the Law [e]none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for [f](K)through the Law comes [g]knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

21 But now apart [h]from the Law (L)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being (M)witnessed by the [i]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the (N)righteousness of God through (O)faith (P)in Jesus Christ for (Q)all those [j]who believe; for (R)there is no distinction, 23 for all [k](S)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (T)by His grace through (U)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as (V)a [l]propitiation [m](W)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [n]because in God’s merciful (X)restraint He (Y)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [o]has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is (Z)boasting? It has been excluded. By (AA)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [p]For (AB)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works [q]of the Law. 29 Or (AC)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (AD)God (AE)who will justify the [r]circumcised [s]by faith and the [t]uncircumcised through faith (AF)is one.

31 Do we then nullify [u]the Law through faith? (AG)Far from it! On the contrary, we (AH)establish the Law.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 3:12 Or depraved
  2. Romans 3:13 I.e., venomous snakes
  3. Romans 3:19 Lit in
  4. Romans 3:20 Or of law
  5. Romans 3:20 Lit no flesh
  6. Romans 3:20 Or through law
  7. Romans 3:20 Or recognition
  8. Romans 3:21 Or from law
  9. Romans 3:21 I.e., the Old Testament
  10. Romans 3:22 Or who believe. For there is
  11. Romans 3:23 Or sinned
  12. Romans 3:25 I.e., a means of reconciliation between God and mankind by paying the penalty for sin
  13. Romans 3:25 Or by
  14. Romans 3:25 Lit because of the passing over of the sins previously committed, in the restraint of God
  15. Romans 3:26 Lit is of the faith of Jesus
  16. Romans 3:28 One early ms Therefore
  17. Romans 3:28 Or of law
  18. Romans 3:30 Lit circumcision
  19. Romans 3:30 Lit out of
  20. Romans 3:30 Lit uncircumcision
  21. Romans 3:31 Or law

10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”[a](A)
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”[b](B)
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c](C)
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d](D)
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e](E)
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f](F)

19 Now we know that whatever the law says,(G) it says to those who are under the law,(H) so that every mouth may be silenced(I) and the whole world held accountable to God.(J) 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law;(K) rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.(L)

Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God(M) has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.(N) 22 This righteousness(O) is given through faith(P) in[g] Jesus Christ(Q) to all who believe.(R) There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,(S) 23 for all have sinned(T) and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified(U) freely by his grace(V) through the redemption(W) that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[h](X) through the shedding of his blood(Y)—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished(Z) 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27 Where, then, is boasting?(AA) It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.(AB) 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,(AC) 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.(AD) 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 3:12 Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20
  2. Romans 3:13 Psalm 5:9
  3. Romans 3:13 Psalm 140:3
  4. Romans 3:14 Psalm 10:7 (see Septuagint)
  5. Romans 3:17 Isaiah 59:7,8
  6. Romans 3:18 Psalm 36:1
  7. Romans 3:22 Or through the faithfulness of
  8. Romans 3:25 The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16).

For we all (A)stumble in many ways. (B)If anyone does not stumble in [a]what he says, he is a (C)perfect man, able to [b](D)rein in the whole body as well.

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Footnotes

  1. James 3:2 Lit word
  2. James 3:2 Or hold in check

We all stumble(A) in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say(B) is perfect,(C) able to keep their whole body in check.(D)

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