Chapter 3

All the World Guilty

1 Then what 1advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

2 Great in every respect. First of all, that athey were entrusted with the boracles of God.

3 What then? If asome 1did not believe, their 2unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

4 aMay it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found ba liar, as it is written,

“cThat You may be justified in Your words,

And prevail when You 1are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness 1ademonstrates the righteousness of God, bwhat shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (cI am speaking in human terms.)

6 aMay it never be! For otherwise, how will bGod judge the world?

7 But if through my lie athe truth of God abounded to His glory, bwhy am I also still being judged as a sinner?

8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “aLet us do evil that good may come”? 1Their condemnation is just.

9 What then? 1aAre we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both bJews and cGreeks are dall under sin;

10 as it is written,

“aThere is none righteous, not even one;

11 There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

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

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

13 “aTheir throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“bThe poison of asps is under their lips”;

14 “aWhose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15 “aTheir feet are swift to shed blood,

16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17 And the path of peace they have not known.”

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

19 Now we know that whatever the aLaw says, it speaks to bthose who are 1under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and call the world may become accountable to God;

20 because aby the works 1of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for 2bthrough the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

21 But now apart 1from the Law athe righteousness of God has been manifested, being bwitnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22 even the arighteousness of God through bfaith cin Jesus Christ for dall those 1who believe; for ethere is no distinction;

23 for all 1ahave sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 being justified as a gift aby His grace through bthe redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

25 whom God displayed publicly as aa 1propitiation 2bin His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, 3because in the cforbearance of God He dpassed over the sins previously committed;

26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who 1has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is aboasting? It is excluded. By bwhat kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

28 1For awe maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works 2of the Law.

29 Or ais God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

30 since indeed aGod bwho will justify the 1circumcised 2by faith and the 3uncircumcised through faith cis one.

31 Do we then nullify 1the Law through faith? aMay it never be! On the contrary, we bestablish the Law.