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Romans 3

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1 Τί οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου, ἢ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς; 2 πολὺ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὅτι ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ. 3 τί γὰρ εἰ ἠπίστησάν τινες; μὴ ἡ ἀπιστία αὐτῶν τὴν πίστιν τοῦ θεοῦ καταργήσει; 4 μὴ γένοιτο: γινέσθω δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, καθὼς γέγραπται, ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. 5 εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀδικία ἡμῶν θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην συνίστησιν, τί ἐροῦμεν; μὴ ἄδικος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐπιφέρων τὴν ὀργήν; κατὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγω. 6 μὴ γένοιτο: ἐπεὶ πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον; 7 εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ψεύσματι ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, τί ἔτι κἀγὼ ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸς κρίνομαι; 8 καὶ μὴ καθὼς βλασφημούμεθα καὶ καθώς φασίν τινες ἡμᾶς λέγειν ὅτι ποιήσωμεν τὰ κακὰ ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀγαθά; ὧν τὸ κρίμα ἔνδικόν ἐστιν.

1 Of what use is it, then, to be a Jew? What value was there in circumcision? 2 Much, I answer, in every respect; chiefly because the Jews had the words of God entrusted to them. 3 Some, to be sure, shewed unfaithfulness on their side; but can we suppose that unfaithfulness on their part will dispense God from his promise? It is not to be thought of; 4 God must prove true to his word, though all men should play him false; so it is written, Thy dealings were just, and if thou art called in question, thou hast right on thy side.[1] 5 Thus our fault only serves to bring God’s integrity to light. (Does that mean that God does wrong in punishing us for it? 6 Impossible again, even according to our human standards; that would mean that God has no right to judge the world; 7 it would mean that because my deceitfulness has promoted God’s glory by giving scope to his truthfulness, I on my side do not deserve to be condemned as a sinner. 8 If so, why should we not do evil so that good may come of it? That is what we are accused of preaching by some of our detractors; and their condemnation of it is just.)

1 Quid ergo amplius Judæo est? aut quæ utilitas circumcisionis? 2 Multum per omnem modum. Primum quidem quia credita sunt illis eloquia Dei. 3 Quid enim si quidam illorum non crediderunt? numquid incredulitas illorum fidem Dei evacuabit? Absit. 4 Est autem Deus verax: omnis autem homo mendax, sicut scriptum est:

Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis:
et vincas cum judicaris. 5 Si autem iniquitas nostra justitiam Dei commendat, quid dicemus? Numquid iniquus est Deus, qui infert iram? 6 secundum hominem dico. Absit. Alioquin quomodo judicabit Deus hunc mundum? 7 Si enim veritas Dei in meo mendacio abundavit in gloriam ipsius: quid adhuc et ego tamquam peccator judicor? 8 et non (sicut blasphemamur, et sicut aiunt quidam nos dicere) faciamus mala ut veniant bona: quorum damnatio justa est.

9 Τί οὖν; προεχόμεθα; οὐ πάντως, προῃτιασάμεθα γὰρ Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας πάντας ὑφ' ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι, 10 καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς, 11 οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ συνίων, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεόν. 12 πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν: οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. 13 τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν, ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν, 14 ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει: 15 ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα, 16 σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, 17 καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν. 18 οὐκ ἔστιν φόβος θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν. 19 οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ, ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ καὶ ὑπόδικος γένηται πᾶς ὁ κόσμος τῷ θεῷ: 20 διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, διὰ γὰρ νόμου ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας.

9 Well then, has either side the advantage? In no way. Jews and Gentiles, as we have before alleged, are alike convicted of sin.[2] 10 Thus, it is written, There is not an innocent man among them, no, not one. 11 There is nobody who reflects, and searches for God; 12 all alike are on the wrong course, all are wasted lives; not one of them acts honourably, no, not one.[3] 13 Their mouths are gaping tombs, they use their tongues to flatter. Under their lips the venom of asps is hidden.[4] 14 Their talk overflows with curses and calumny.[5] 15 They run hot-foot to shed blood; 16 havoc and ruin follow in their path;[6] 17 the way of peace is unknown to them. 18 They do not keep the fear of God before their eyes.[7] 19 So the law says, and we know that the words of the law are meant for the law’s own subjects; it is determined that no one shall have anything to say for himself, that the whole world shall own itself liable to God’s judgements.[8] 20 No human creature can become acceptable in his sight by observing the law; what the law does is to give us the full consciousness of sin.

9 Quid ergo? præcellimus eos? Nequaquam. Causati enim sumus Judæos et Græcos omnes sub peccato esse, 10 sicut scriptum est:

Quia non est justus quisquam: 11
non est intelligens, non est requirens Deum. 12
Omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt:
non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum. 13
Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum,
linguis suis dolose agebant:
venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum: 14
quorum os maledictione, et amaritudine plenum est: 15
veloces pedes eorum ad effundendum sanguinem: 16
contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum: 17
et viam pacis non cognoverunt: 18
non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum. 19 Scimus autem quoniam quæcumque lex loquitur, iis, qui in lege sunt, loquitur: ut omne os obstruatur, et subditus fiat omnis mundus Deo: 20 quia ex operibus legis non justificabitur omnis caro coram illo. Per legem enim cognitio peccati.

21 Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται, μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, 22 δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας: οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή: 23 πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ, 24 δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ: 25 ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεὸς ἱλαστήριον διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν πάρεσιν τῶν προγεγονότων ἁμαρτημάτων 26 ἐν τῇ ἀνοχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν δίκαιον καὶ δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ. 27 Ποῦ οὖν ἡ καύχησις; ἐξεκλείσθη. διὰ ποίου νόμου; τῶν ἔργων; οὐχί, ἀλλὰ διὰ νόμου πίστεως. 28 λογιζόμεθα γὰρ δικαιοῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου. 29 ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ θεὸς μόνον; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν; ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν, 30 εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεός, ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως.

21 But, in these days, God’s way of justification has at last been brought to light; one which was attested by the law and the prophets, but stands apart from the law; 22 God’s way of justification through faith in Jesus Christ, meant for everybody and sent down upon everybody without distinction, if he has faith. 23 All alike have sinned, all alike are unworthy of God’s praise.[9] 24 And justification comes to us as a free gift from his grace, through our redemption in Christ Jesus. 25 God has offered him to us as a means of reconciliation, in virtue of faith, ransoming us with his blood. Thus God has vindicated his own holiness, shewing us why he overlooked our former sins 26 in the days of his forbearance; and he has also vindicated the holiness of Jesus Christ, here and now, as one who is himself holy, and imparts holiness to those who take their stand upon faith in him.[10] 27 What has become, then, of thy pride? No room has been left for it. On what principle? The principle which depends on observances? No, the principle which depends on faith; 28 our contention is, that a man is justified by faith apart from the observances of the law. 29 Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Of the Gentiles too, assuredly; 30 there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised man if he learns to believe, and the Gentile because he believes.

21 Nunc autem sine lege justitia Dei manifestata est: testificata a lege et prophetis. 22 Justitia autem Dei per fidem Jesu Christi in omnes et super omnes qui credunt in eum: non enim est distinctio: 23 omnes enim peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei. 24 Justificati gratis per gratiam ipsius, per redemptionem quæ est in Christo Jesu, 25 quem proposuit Deus propitiationem per fidem in sanguine ipsius, ad ostensionem justitiæ suæ propter remissionem præcedentium delictorum 26 in sustentatione Dei, ad ostensionem justitiæ ejus in hoc tempore: ut sit ipse justus, et justificans eum, qui est ex fide Jesu Christi. 27 Ubi est ergo gloriatio tua? Exclusa est. Per quam legem? Factorum? Non: sed per legem fidei. 28 Arbitramur enim justificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis. 29 An Judæorum Deus tantum? nonne et gentium? Immo et gentium: 30 quoniam quidem unus est Deus, qui justificat circumcisionem ex fide, et præputium per fidem.

31 νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως; μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν.

31 Does that mean that we are using faith to rob the law of its force? No, we are setting the law on its right footing.[11]

31 Legem ergo destruimus per fidem? Absit: sed legem statuimus.

[1] Ps. 50.4.

[2] ‘Has either side the advantage?’; the Greek word here may mean ‘Do we excel them?’ or ‘Are we excelled by them?’ Nor are commentators agreed whether ‘we’ refers to the Jews or to the Gentiles. But the general sense remains clear.

[3] vv. 10-12: Ps. 13.2, 3.

[4] Ps. 5.10; Ps. 139.3.

[5] Ps. 9 (second part), 7.

[6] vv. 15-17: Is. 59.7, 8.

[7] Ps. 35.1.

[8] ‘The law’ seems to be used here, as often, for the Old Testament generally.

[9] ‘God’s praise’; some translate ‘the glory of God’, but it seems simplest to understand the words here as in Jn. 12.43, as referring to the praise which God bestows.

[10] The Greek text here can be, and commonly is, translated thus: ‘he has also vindicated his (God’s) holiness, here and now, as one who is himself holy, and imparts holiness to those who take their stand upon faith in Jesus Christ’. The other interpretation is, apparently, that of the Latin translators.

[11] As in verse 19 above, ‘the law’ seems to indicate the Old Testament generally, since the considerations here introduced relate to the story of Abraham.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd