9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.”

13 “Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery mark their ways,

17 and the way of peace they do not know.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

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

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

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; 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.

9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—

not even one.

11 No one is truly wise;

no one is seeking God.

12 All have turned away;

all have become useless.

No one does good,

not a single one.”

13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with lies.”

“Snake venom drips from their lips.”

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “They rush to commit murder.

16 Destruction and misery always follow them.

17 They don’t know where to find peace.”

18 “They have no fear of God at all.”

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both 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 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 throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced 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 they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

9 So are we Jews better than others? No! We have already said that Jews and those who are not Jews are all guilty of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say:

“There is no one who always does what is right,

not even one.

11 There is no one who understands.

There is no one who looks to God for help.

12 All have turned away.

Together, everyone has become useless.

There is no one who does anything good;

there is not even one.”

13 “Their throats are like open graves;

they use their tongues for telling lies.”

“Their words are like snake poison.”

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.”

15 “They are always ready to kill people.

16 Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery.

17 They don’t know how to live in peace.”

18 “They have no fear of God.”

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.

9 What then? are we better? No, in no wise: for we have before charged both Jews and Greeks with being all under sin: 10 according as it is written, There is not a righteous man, not even one; 11 there is not the man that understands, there is not one that seeks after God. 12 All have gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable; there is not one that practises goodness, there is not so much as one: 13 their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; asps’ poison is under their lips: 14 whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; 15 swift their feet to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery are in their ways, 17 and way of peace they have not known: 18 there is no fear of God before their eyes.

9 What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, 10 as Scripture says, 

“Not one person has God’s approval. 

11 No one understands. 

No one searches for God. 

12 Everyone has turned away. 

Together they have become rotten to the core. 

No one does anything good, 

not even one person. 

13 Their throats are open graves. 

Their tongues practice deception. 

Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes. 

14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment. 

15 They run quickly to murder people. 

16 There is ruin and suffering wherever they go. 

17 They have not learned to live in peace. 

18 They are not terrified of God.” 

9 What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, 10 as it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away;

all alike have become useless.

There is no one who does what is good,

not even one.

13 Their throat is an open grave;

they deceive with their tongues.

Vipers’ venom is under their lips.

14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,

17 and the path of peace they have not known.

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

9 What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written:

“There is no one who is righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who has understanding,

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness,

there is not even one.”

13 “Their throats are opened graves;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

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

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

9 What then? Do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already charged both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 just as it is written,

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned aside together; they have become worthless;

There is no one who practices kindness;

there is not even one.

13 Their throat is an opened grave;

they deceive with their tongues;

the venom 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 distress are in their paths,

17 and they have not known the way of peace.

18 The fear of God is not before their eyes.”

9 What should we say then? Are we Jews any better? Not at all! We have already claimed that Jews are sinners. The same is true of those who aren’t Jews.

10 It is written,

“No one is right with God, no one at all.

11 No one understands.

No one trusts in God.

12 All of them have turned away.

They have all become worthless.

No one does anything good,

no one at all.”

13 “Their throats are like open graves.

With their tongues they tell lies.”

“The words from their lips are like the poison of a snake.”

14 “Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “They run quickly to commit murder.

16 They leave a trail of failure and pain.

17 They do not know the way of peace.”

18 “They don’t have any respect for God.”