Romanos 3
1 Quid ergo amplius Judæo est? aut quæ 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 evacuabit? 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 justificeris in sermonibus tuis: et vincas cum judicaris.]
God must prove true, though everyone prove a liar! As scripture says of God – “That you may be pronounced righteous in what you say, and gain your cause when people would judge you.”
5 Si autem iniquitas nostra justitiam Dei commendat, quid dicemus? Numquid iniquus est Deus, qui infert iram?
But what if our wrongdoing makes God’s righteousness all the clearer? Will God be wrong in inflicting punishment? (I can but speak as a person.) Heaven forbid!
6 secundum hominem dico. Absit. Alioquin quomodo judicabit 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 judicor?
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 justa 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 people is indeed just!
9 Quid ergo? præcellimus eos? Nequaquam. Causati enim sumus Judæos et Græcos 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 justus 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 snakes 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 quæcumque 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 to bring the whole world under God’s judgment.
20 quia ex operibus legis non justificabitur 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 justitia 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 Justitia autem Dei per fidem Jesu 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, on 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 Justificati gratis per gratiam ipsius, per redemptionem quæ est in Christo Jesu,
but, in his loving kindness, are being freely pronounced righteous through the deliverance found in Christ Jesus.
25 quem proposuit Deus propitiationem per fidem in sanguine ipsius, ad ostensionem justitiæ suæ propter remissionem præcedentium 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 people had previously committed;
26 in sustentatione Dei, ad ostensionem justitiæ ejus in hoc tempore: ut sit ipse justus, et justificans eum, qui est ex fide Jesu 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 person who takes their 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 justificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis.
For we conclude that a person is pronounced righteous on the ground of faith, quite apart from obedience to Law.
29 An Judæorum Deus tantum? nonne et gentium? Immo et gentium:
Or can it be that God is the God only of the Jews? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles?
30 quoniam quidem unus est Deus, qui justificat circumcisionem ex fide, et præputium 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.
