Romans 3

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God Remains Faithful

¹Τί οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου ἢ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς

¹What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

²πολὺ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὅτι ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ

²Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words^a of God.

³Τί γάρ εἰ ἠπίστησάν τινες μὴ ἡ ἀπιστία αὐτῶν τὴν πίστιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταργήσει

³What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?

⁴μὴ 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

⁴Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written:

“So that You may be proved right when You speak

and victorious when You judge.”^a

⁵Εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀδικία ἡμῶν Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην συνίστησιν τί ἐροῦμεν μὴ ἄδικος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἐπιφέρων τὴν ὀργήν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγω

⁵But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.

⁶μὴ γένοιτο ἐπεὶ πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον

⁶Certainly not! In that case, how could God judge the world?

⁷εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ψεύσματι ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ τί ἔτι κἀγὼ ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸς κρίνομαι

⁷However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?

⁸καὶ μὴ καθὼς βλασφημούμεθα καὶ καθώς φασίν τινες ἡμᾶς λέγειν ὅτι Ποιήσωμεν τὰ κακὰ ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀγαθά ὧν τὸ κρίμα ἔνδικόν ἐστιν

⁸Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!

There Is No One Righteous

⁹Τί οὖν προεχόμεθα οὐ πάντως προῃτιασάμεθα γὰρ Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας πάντας ὑφ’ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι

⁹What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.

¹⁰καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς

¹⁰As it is written:

“There is no one righteous,

not even one.

¹¹οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ συνίων οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν Θεόν

¹¹There is no one who understands,

no one who seeks God.

¹²πάντες ἐξέκλιναν ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ποιῶν χρηστότητα οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός

¹²All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.”^a

¹³τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν

¹³“Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”^a

“The venom of vipers is on their lips.”^b

¹⁴ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει

¹⁴“Their mouths are full

of cursing and bitterness.”^a

¹⁵ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν

¹⁶ruin and misery lie in their wake,

¹⁷καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν

¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”^a

¹⁸οὐκ ἔστιν φόβος Θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν

¹⁸“There is no fear of God

before their eyes.”^a

¹⁹Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ καὶ ὑπόδικος γένηται πᾶς ὁ κόσμος τῷ Θεῷ

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

²⁰διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ διὰ γὰρ νόμου ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας

²⁰Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

Righteousness through Faith in Christ

²¹Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ πεφανέρωται μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν

²¹But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets.

²²δικαιοσύνη δὲ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή

²²And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,

²³πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ

²⁴and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

²⁵ὃν προέθετο ὁ Θεὸς ἱλαστήριον διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν πάρεσιν τῶν προγεγονότων ἁμαρτημάτων ἐν τῇ ἀνοχῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ

²⁵God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice^a in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

²⁶πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν δίκαιον καὶ δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ

²⁶He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Ποῦ οὖν ἡ καύχησις ἐξεκλείσθη διὰ ποίου νόμου τῶν ἔργων οὐχί ἀλλὰ διὰ νόμου πίστεως

²⁷Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.

²⁸λογιζόμεθα γὰρ δικαιοῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου

²⁸For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

²⁹Ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ Θεὸς μόνον οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν

²⁹Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³⁰εἴπερ εἷς ὁ Θεός ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως

³⁰since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

³¹Νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως μὴ γένοιτο ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν

³¹Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.