Romans 3:9-20
Expanded Bible
All People Are Guilty
9 ·So [L What then?] ·are we Jews [or are we Christians; L are we] ·better than others [or making excuses for ourselves]? ·No [L Not at all]! We have already ·said [charged; made the accusation] that Jews and Gentiles alike are all ·guilty of [or under the power of; L under] sin. 10 As the Scriptures say:
“There is no one who ·always does what is right [L is righteous],
not even one.
11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who ·looks to God for help [L seeks God].
12 All have turned away.
Together, everyone has become ·useless [worthless].
There is no one who ·does anything good [or shows kindness];
there is not even one [Ps. 14:1–3].”
13 “Their throats are like open graves [C either their words are like rotting corpses, or their speech is murderous];
they use their tongues ·for telling lies [to deceive; Ps. 5:9].”
“·Their words are like snake poison [L Asp/Viper venom is on their lips; Ps. 140:3].”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and ·hate [bitterness; Ps. 10:7].”
15 “·They [L Their feet] are ·always ready [eager; quick] to ·kill people [L shed blood].
16 ·Everywhere they go [L Along their paths/ways] they cause ·ruin [destruction; havoc] and misery.
17 They don’t know ·how to live in [L the way of] peace [Is. 59:7–8].”
18 “They have no fear of God [Ps. 36:1].”
19 We know that ·the law’s commands [L what the law says] are for those who ·have [are under/subject to; L are in] the law. This ·stops all excuses [L silences every mouth] and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20 because no one can be ·made right [justfied; declared righteous] with God [Ps. 143:2] ·by following [L through the works of] the law. [L For] The law only ·shows us our [brings awareness of] sin.
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