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Romans 3

God’s Righteousness Upheld

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, ^athe Jews were entrusted with ^bthe oracles of God. 3 ^cWhat if some were unfaithful? ^dDoes their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! ^eLet God be true though ^fevery one were a liar, as it is written,

^g“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you ^hare judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict ⁱwrath on us? ( ^jI speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could ^kGod judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory ^lwhy am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not ^mdo evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jews ^{▼

▼
Greek Are we} any better off? ^{▼

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Or at any disadvantage?} No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both ^pJews and ^qGreeks, are ^runder sin, 10 as it is written:

^s“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 ^t“Their throat is ^uan open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
^v“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 ^w“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 ^x“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and ^ythe way of peace they have not known.”
18 ^z“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever ^aathe law says it speaks to those who are under the law ^abso that every mouth may be stopped, and ^acthe whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For ^adby works of the law no human being ^{▼

▼
Greek flesh} will be justified in his sight, since ^afthrough the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

21 But now ^agthe righteousness of God ^ahhas been manifested apart from the law, although ^aithe Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God ^ajthrough faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^akFor there is no distinction: 23 for ^alall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 ^amand are justified ^anby his grace as a gift, ^aothrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God ^apput forward as ^aqa propitiation ^arby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in ^ashis divine forbearance he had passed over ^atformer sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 ^auThen what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith ^avapart from works of the law. 29 Or ^awis God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since ^axGod is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and ^aythe uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.