Romana 3
1 Inoñe arè ty tombo’ ty maha Jiosy; he ino ty mahasoa o savatseo?
What is the advantage, then, of being a Jew? or what is the good of circumcision?
2 Toe jabajaba tok’aia’aia! Valoha’e, toe nafantoke am’iereo o fepèn’ Añahareo.
Great in every way. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God’s utterances.
3 Hera tsy nahafiato ty ila’e? Hahamodo ty figahiñan’ Añahare hao ty tsy fatokisa’e?
What follows then? Some, no doubt, showed a want of faith; but will their want of faith make God break faith? Heaven forbid!
4 Sondo’e! Ee abey te ho tendreke to t’i Andrianañahare ndra te kila mpandañitse ondatio, amy pinatetse ty hoe: Soa t’ie ho zoen-to amo tsara’oo vaho handreketse te mizaka.
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 Aa naho onjone’ ty hatsivokaran-tika ty hatòn’ Añahare, le akore ty hatao-tikañe? te tsy to hao t’i Andrianañahare t’ie mandafa? (manao reha’ ondaty rahoo).
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 Sondo’e ka! Naho nitò, akore ty hizakàn’ Añahare ty voatse toy?
Otherwise how can God judge the world?
7 Aa naho ty vandeko ro mampionjoñe ty hatòn’ Añahare ho ami’ty enge’e, le inoñe ty amàrañe ahy ho mpanan-kakeo?
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 Aa vaho akore t’ie tsy manao ty hoe: (Amy fanambaitambaiñañe anaiy, ie atao’ ty ila’e te enta’ay), Antao hanao raty hitotsaha’ ty soa? To ty famàrañe iareo.
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 Akore arè? Itika hao ro soa? Aiy! fa niventean-tika aniany te songa fehèn-kakeo ke te Jiosy he te Grika.
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 Fa pinatetse ty hoe: Tsy eo ty vañoñe, leo raike;
As Scripture says — ‘There is not even one who is righteous,
11 tsy eo ty mahilala, tsy eo ty mipay an’ Andrianañahare.
not one who understands, not one who is searching for God!
12 Fonga nandifike, songa tsy manjofake; tsy ia ty manao soa, leo raike.
They have all gone astray; they have one and all become depraved; there is no one who is doing good — no, not one!’
13 Kibory misokake ty tretra’ iareo; mitolom-pamañahy ty famele’ iareo; Ambane soñi’ iareo ao ty vore’ o mereñeo.
‘Their throats are like opened graves; they deceive with their tongues.’ ‘The venom of serpents lies behind their lips,’
14 Lifotse fatse naho afero o falie’ iareoo.
‘And their mouths are full of bitter curses.’
15 Malisa te hampiori-dio ty fandia’ iareo;
‘Swift are their feet to shed blood.
16 fianto naho hasotriañe ro amo lala’ iareoo;
Distress and trouble dog their steps,
17 vaho alik’am’ iereo ty lalam-panintsiñañe.
and the path of peace they do not know.’
18 Tsy aolom-pihaino’ iareo ty fañeveñañe aman’ Añahare.
‘The fear of God is not before their eyes.’
19 Fohintika te ze tsarae’ i Hake ro tsarae’e amy ze ambane’ Hake, hampihomboñe ze kila falie, vaho fonga hampivolilieñe aman’ Añahare ty voatse toy;
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 fa tsy ama’ nofotse veloñe ty hahazo to ampivazohoa’e ami’ty fimanemanea’e Hake; amy te fampandrendrehan-kakeo ty Hake.
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 Ie henaneo, fa nadodea alafe’ i Hake ty havantañan’ Añahare, ie taroñe’ ty Hake naho o Mpitokio
But now, quite apart from Law, the Divine Righteousness stands revealed, and to it the Law and the Prophets bear witness —
22 naho boak’ aman’ Añahare añamy figahiña’ Iesoà Norizañey ty havantañañe, ho amo hene mitam-patokisañeo, le tsy iambakambàhañe;
the Divine Righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, upon all, without distinction, who believe in him.
23 toe fonga nanao hakeo naho milesa ami’ty engen’ Añahare,
For all have sinned, and all fall short of God’s glorious ideal,
24 f’ie nampivantañeñe tsi-ambili’e amy fatariha’e añamy fijebañañe amy Iesoà Norizañeiy,
but, in his loving-kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus.
25 i sinafirin’ Añahare ho takom-boiñe añamy fiatoañe an-dio’ey, hampiboake ty havantaña’e, fa am-pahaliñisa’e ty nirirañen’ Añahare o hakeo taoloo,
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 hampidodeà’e amo sa zao ty havantaña’e, t’ie i Vantañey naho ty figahiña’ Iesoà ro fañavantañañe ondaty.
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 Aia arè ty firengeañe? Napoke añe. Ami’ty Hake manao akore? He am-pimanemaneañe? Aiy avao, fa amy Hake miato-patokisañey.
What, then, becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what sort of Law? A Law requiring obedience? No, a Law requiring faith.
28 Aa le agadon-tika te vantañe’ i fatokisa’ey t’indaty fa tsy am-pimanemanea’e Hake.
For we conclude that a man is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law.
29 Aa vaho Andrianañahare’ o Jiosio avao hao re? Tsy a’ o fokontokoñeo ka hao? Eka, toe a o fokontokoñeo ka.
Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Is not he also the God of the Gentiles?
30 Inao, Raike t’i Andrianañahare, le fatokisañe ty añavantaña’e o sinavatseo naho fatokisañe ka o tsy sinavatseo.
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 Hera faohen-tika am-patokisañe t’i Hake. Aiy, sondo’e! te mone ajadon-tikañe t’i Hake.
Do we, then, use this faith to abolish Law? Heaven forbid! No, we establish Law.
