Romanos 3
1 Quid ergo amplius Iudaeo est? aut quae utilitas circumcisionis?
What is the advantage, then, of being a Jew? or what is the good of circumcision?
2 Multum per omnem modum. Primum quidem quia credita sunt illis eloquia Dei.
Great in every way. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God’s utterances.
3 quid enim si quidam illorum non crediderunt? Numquid incredulitas illorum fidem Dei evacuavit? Absit.
What follows then? Some, no doubt, showed a want of faith; but will their want of faith make God break faith? Heaven forbid!
4 Est autem Deus verax: omnis autem homo mendax, sicut scriptum est: Ut iustificeris in sermonibus tuis: et vincas cum iudicaris.
God must prove true, though every man prove a liar! As Scripture says of God — ‘That thou mayest be pronounced righteous in what thou sayest, and gain thy cause when men would judge thee.’
5 Si autem iniquitas nostra iustitiam Dei commendat, quid dicemus? Numquid iniquus est Deus, qui infert iram?
But what if our wrong-doing makes God’s righteousness all the clearer? Will God be wrong in inflicting punishment? (I can but speak as a man.) Heaven forbid!
6 (secundum hominem dico.) Absit. alioquin quomodo iudicabit Deus hunc mundum?
Otherwise how can God judge the world?
7 Si enim veritas Dei in meo mendacio abundavit in gloriam ipsius: quid adhuc et ego tamquam peccator iudicor?
But, if my falsehood redounds to the glory of God, by making his truthfulness more apparent, why am I like others, still condemned as a sinner?
8 et non (sicut blasphemamur, et sicut aiunt quidam nos dicere) faciamus mala ut veniant bona: quorum damnatio iusta est.
Why should we not say — as some people slanderously assert that we do say — ‘Let us do evil that good may come’? The condemnation of such men is indeed just!
9 Quid ergo? praecellimus eos? Nequaquam. Causati enim sumus Iudaeos, et Graecos omnes sub peccato esse,
What follows, then? Are we Jews in any way superior to others? Not at all. Our indictment against both Jews and Greeks was that all alike were in subjection to sin.
10 sicut scriptum est: Quia non est iustus quisquam:
As Scripture says — ‘There is not even one who is righteous,
11 non est intelligens, non est requirens Deum.
not one who understands, not one who is searching for God!
12 Omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt, non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum.
They have all gone astray; they have one and all become depraved; there is no one who is doing good — no, not one!’
13 Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum, linguis suis dolose agebant: Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum:
‘Their throats are like opened graves; they deceive with their tongues.’ ‘The venom of serpents lies behind their lips,’
14 Quorum os maledictione, et amaritudine plenum est:
‘And their mouths are full of bitter curses.’
15 Veloces pedes eorum ad effundendum sanguinem:
‘Swift are their feet to shed blood.
16 Contritio, et infelicitas in viis eorum:
Distress and trouble dog their steps,
17 et viam pacis non cognoverunt:
and the path of peace they do not know.’
18 Non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum.
‘The fear of God is not before their eyes.’
19 Scimus autem quoniam quaecumque lex loquitur, iis, qui in lege sunt, loquitur: ut omne os obstruatur, et subditus fiat omnis mundus Deo:
Now we know that everything said in the Law is addressed to those who are under its authority, in order that every mouth may be closed, and the whole world become liable to the judgment of God.
20 quia ex operibus legis non iustificabitur omnis caro coram illo. Per legem enim cognitio peccati.
For ‘no human being will be pronounced righteous before God’ as the result of obedience to Law; for it is Law that shows what sin is.
21 Nunc autem sine lege iustitia Dei manifestata est: testificata a lege et Prophetis.
But now, quite apart from Law, the Divine Righteousness stands revealed, and to it the Law and the Prophets bear witness —
22 Iustitia autem Dei per fidem Iesu Christi in omnes, et super omnes, qui credunt in eum: non enim est distinctio:
the Divine Righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, upon all, without distinction, who believe in him.
23 Omnes enim peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei.
For all have sinned, and all fall short of God’s glorious ideal,
24 Iustificati gratis per gratiam ipsius, per redemptionem, quae est in Christo Iesu,
but, in his loving-kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus.
25 quem proposuit Deus propitiatorem per fidem in sanguine ipsius, ad ostensionem iustitiae suae propter remissionem praecedentium delictorum
For God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed;
26 in sustentatione Dei, ad ostensionem iustitiae eius in hoc tempore: ut sit ipse iustus, et iustificans eum, qui est ex fide Iesu Christi.
as a proof, I repeat, at the present time, of his own righteousness, that he might be righteous in our eyes, and might pronounce righteous the man who takes his stand on faith in Jesus.
27 Ubi est ergo gloriatio tua? Exclusa est. Per quam legem? Factorum? Non: sed per legem fidei.
What, then, becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of Law? A Law requiring obedience? No, a Law requiring faith.
28 Arbitramur enim iustificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis.
For we conclude that a man is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law.
29 An Iudaeorum Deus tantum? Nonne et Gentium? Immo et Gentium.
Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Is not he also the God of the Gentiles?
30 Quoniam quidem unus est Deus, qui iustificat circumcisionem ex fide, et praeputium per fidem.
Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is only one God, and he will pronounce those who are circumcised righteous as the result of faith, and also those who are uncircumcised on their showing the same faith.
31 Legem ergo destruimus per fidem? Absit: sed legem statuimus.
Do we, then, use this faith to abolish Law? Heaven forbid! No, we establish Law.
