Passage

Romans 3.9-18

Book: Romans · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8. and why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is just."

"9. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin; 10. as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; 11. There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God; 12. They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not, so much as one: 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their lips: 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17. And the way of peace have they not known: 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

"19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God: 20. because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:7-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8. Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned."

"9. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. 10. As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one. 11. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 12. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.” 13. “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”; 14. “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15. “Their feet are swift to shed blood. 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways. 17. The way of peace, they haven’t known.” 18. “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”"

"19. Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. 20. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:7-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? 8. And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just."

"9. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; ^{proved: Gr. charged} 10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17. And the way of peace have they not known: 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

"19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. ^{guilty: or, subject to the judgment of God} 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:7-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. for if the truth of God in my falsehood did more abound to His glory, why yet am I also as a sinner judged? 8. and not, as we are evil spoken of, and as certain affirm us to say, 'We may do the evil things, that the good ones may come?' whose judgment is righteous."

"9. What, then? are we better? not at all! for we did before charge both Jews and Greeks with being all under sin, 10. according as it hath been written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; 11. There is none who is understanding, there is none who is seeking after God. 12. All did go out of the way, together they became unprofitable, there is none doing good, there is not even one. 13. A sepulchre opened [is] their throat; with their tongues they used deceit; poison of asps [is] under their lips. 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15. Swift [are] their feet to shed blood. 16. Ruin and misery [are] in their ways. 17. And a way of peace they did not know. 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.'"

"19. And we have known that as many things as the law saith, to those in the law it doth speak, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may come under judgment to God; 20. wherefore by works of law shall no flesh be declared righteous before Him, for through law is a knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:7-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Original Sin

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.