Romans 3
Complete Jewish Bible
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? What is the value of being circumcised? 2 Much in every way! In the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God. 3 If some of them were unfaithful, so what? Does their faithlessness cancel God’s faithfulness? 4 Heaven forbid! God would be true even if everyone were a liar! — as the Tanakh says,
“so that you, God, may be proved right in your words
and win the verdict when you are put on trial.”[a]
5 Now if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what should we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict his anger on us? (I am speaking here the way people commonly do.) 6 Heaven forbid! Else, how could God judge the world? 7 “But,” you say, “if, through my lie, God’s truth is enhanced and brings him greater glory, why am I still judged merely for being a sinner?” 8 Indeed! Why not say (as some people slander us by claiming we do say), “Let us do evil, so that good may come of it”? Against them the judgment is a just one!
9 So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. 10 As the Tanakh puts it,
“There is no one righteous, not even one!
No one understands,
11 no one seeks God,
12 all have turned away
and at the same time become useless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one![b]
13 “Their throats are open graves,
they use their tongues to deceive.[c]
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[d]
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.[e]
15 “Their feet rush to shed blood,
16 in their ways are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of shalom they do not know.[f]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[g]
19 Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God’s adverse judgment. 20 For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous[h] on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.
21 But now, quite apart from Torah, God’s way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear — although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well — 22 and it is a righteousness that comes from God, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile, 23 since all have sinned and come short of earning God’s praise. 24 By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua. 25 God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past; 26 and it vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that he is righteous himself and is also the one who makes people righteous on the ground of Yeshua’s faithfulness.
27 So what room is left for boasting? None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting. 28 Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands.
29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles; 30 because, as you will admit, God is one.[i] Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. 31 Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.
Footnotes
- Romans 3:4 Psalm 51:6 (4)
- Romans 3:12 Psalm 14:1–3, 53:2–4(1–3)
- Romans 3:13 Psalm 5:10(9)
- Romans 3:13 Psalm 140:4(3)
- Romans 3:14 Psalm 10:7
- Romans 3:17 Isaiah 59:7–8, Proverbs 1:16
- Romans 3:18 Psalm 36:2(1)
- Romans 3:20 Psalm 143:2
- Romans 3:30 Deuteronomy 6:4
Romans 3
New King James Version
God’s Judgment Defended
3 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because (A)to them were committed the [a]oracles of God. 3 For what if (B)some did not believe? (C)Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 (D)Certainly not! Indeed, let (E)God be [b]true but (F)every man a liar. As it is written:
(G)“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (H)(I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then (I)how will God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, (J)“Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their [c]condemnation is just.
All Have Sinned(K)
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that (L)they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
(M)“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their(N) throat is an open [d]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
(O)“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose(P) mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their(Q) feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There(R) is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever (S)the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that (T)every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become [e]guilty before God. 20 Therefore (U)by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
God’s Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now (V)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, (W)being witnessed by the Law (X)and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [f]and on all who believe. For (Y)there is no difference; 23 for (Z)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified [g]freely (AA)by His grace (AB)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth (AC)as a [h]propitiation (AD)by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over (AE)the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Boasting Excluded
27 (AF)Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude (AG)that a man is [i]justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since (AH)there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Footnotes
- Romans 3:2 sayings, Scriptures
- Romans 3:4 Found true
- Romans 3:8 Lit. judgment
- Romans 3:13 grave
- Romans 3:19 accountable
- Romans 3:22 NU omits and on all
- Romans 3:24 without any cost
- Romans 3:25 mercy seat
- Romans 3:28 declared righteous
Romans 3
The Voice
When God’s people—or people who claim to be God’s people—are hypocrites, then God is the one who gets the bad name. How often do we say one thing and do another? How often have we set a standard for others only to break it ourselves? The saying is true: we practice every day what we believe; all the rest is religious talk. There is a lot of religious talk out there, a lot of smugness and self-satisfaction. But every day people readily violate their consciences and the Lord’s reasonable teachings. For faith to matter, it has to get under your skin.
3 So then, do the Jews have an advantage over the other nations? Does circumcision do anything for you? 2 The answer is yes, in every way. To begin with, God spoke to and through the Jewish people. 3 But what if some Jews have been unfaithful? Does the fact that they abandoned their faith zero out God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not! If every person on the planet were a liar and thief, God would still be true. It stands written:
Whenever You speak, You are in the right.
When You come to judge, You will prevail.[a]
5 If our perpetual injustice and corruption merely accentuate the purity of God’s justice, what can we say? Is God unjust for unleashing His fury against us? (I am speaking from our limited human perspective.) 6 Again, absolutely not! If this were so, how could God stand as Judge over the world? 7 But if my lie serves only to point out God’s truth and bring Him glory, then why am I being judged for my sin? 8 There are slanderous charges out there that we are saying things like, “Let’s be as wicked as possible so that something good will come from it.” Those malicious gossips will get what they deserve.
9 So what then? Are we Jews better off? Not at all. We have made it clear that people everywhere, Jews and non-Jews, are living under the power of sin. 10 Here’s what Scripture says:
No one is righteous—not even one.
11 There is no one who understands the truth;
no one is seeking after the one True God.
12 All have turned away; together they’ve become worthless.
No one does good, not even one.[b]
13 What comes out of their mouths is as foul as a rotting corpse;
their words stink of flattery.[c]
Viper venom hides beneath their lips;[d]
14 their mouths are full of curses, lies, and oppression.[e]
15 Their feet race to violence and bloodshed;
16 destruction and trouble line the roads of their lives,
17 And they’ve never taken the road to peace.[f]
18 You will never see the fear of God in their eyes.[g]
Sin is more than just wrong choices, bad decisions, and willful acts of disobedience that violate God’s Word and are contrary to His will. It is that and much more. Paul knows sin is missing the mark or deliberately stepping over the line, but he also knows that sin is a power at work in him and every child of Adam. As strange as it may sound, sin seems to have a will of its own. Like an addiction, sin takes hold of us and causes us to act in ways we never wanted. For Paul the cross of Jesus deals finally and definitively with the dual reality of sin. Not only are we forgiven of our sins—our willful acts of disobedience—but we are also liberated from the power of sin.
19 We want to be clear that whatever the law says, it says to everyone who is under its authority. Its purpose is to muzzle every mouth, to silence idle talk, and to bring the whole world under the standard of God’s justice. 20 Therefore, doing what the law prescribes will not make anyone right in the eyes of God—that’s not its purpose—but the law is capable of exposing the true nature of sin.
21 But now for the good news: God’s restorative justice has entered the world, independent of the law. Both the law and the prophets told us this day would come. 22 This redeeming justice comes through the faithfulness of Jesus,[h] the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who makes salvation a reality for all who believe—without the slightest partiality. 23 You see, all have sinned, and all their futile attempts to reach God in His glory fail. 24 Yet they are now saved and set right by His free gift of grace through the redemption available only in Jesus the Anointed. 25 When God set Him up to be the sacrifice—the seat of mercy where sins are atoned through faith—His blood became the demonstration of God’s own restorative justice. All of this confirms His faithfulness to the promise, for over the course of human history God patiently held back as He dealt with the sins being committed. 26 This expression of God’s restorative justice displays in the present that He is just and righteous and that He makes right those who trust and commit themselves to Jesus.
In the incarnation and sacrificial death of Jesus, God is at work to extend salvation to those who fall under sin’s addiction. They are liberated from its power, cleansed of its stain. By “God’s restorative justice,” Paul means first the justice that belongs to God and reflects His character. God is just, fair, or in a word, righteous. But character is dynamic, not static. This means that God’s justice must express itself in some way. So it is in the nature of God’s justice that He acts to restore and repair a world that is not the way it should be. Above all, it is God’s saving actions through Jesus that constitute the gift of God’s restorative justice.
27 So is there any place left for boasting? No. It’s been shut out completely. And how? By what sort of law? The law of works perhaps? No! By the law of faith. 28 We hold that people are justified, that is, made right with God through faith, which has nothing to do with the deeds the law prescribes.
29 Is God the God of the Jews only? If He created all things, then doesn’t that make Him the God of all people? Jews and non-Jews, insiders and outsiders alike? Yes, He is also the God of all the outsiders. 30 So since God is one, there is one way for Jews and outsiders, circumcised and uncircumcised, to be right with Him. That is the way of faith. 31 So are we trying to use faith to abolish the law? Absolutely not! In fact, we now are free to uphold the law as God intended.
Footnotes
- 3:4 Psalm 51:4
- 3:10–12 Psalms 14:1–3; 53:1–3
- 3:13 Psalm 5:9
- 3:13 Psalm 140:3
- 3:14 Psalm 10:7
- 3:15–17 Isaiah 59:7–8
- 3:18 Psalm 36:1
- 3:22 Often translated “faith in Jesus”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.