Romans 3:4-21

⁴Far be it! yea, let God be true, and every man a liar; as it is written, “That thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art arraigned.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness serve to display the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicteth punishment? (I am speaking as men do.)

⁶Far be it! For then how shall God judge the world?

⁷For if, through my being false, the truth of God hath been more abundantly manifested to his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner?

⁸And why do you not say, as some slanderously charge us with saying, Let us do evil, that good may come? The condemnation of such men is just.

⁹What then? Are we better than others? By no means! For we have already brought a charge both against Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.

¹⁰As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

¹¹there is none that hath understanding, there is none that diligently seeketh God;

¹²they have all turned aside from the right way, they have become worthless together; there is none that doeth good, not even one.

¹³Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have practised deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips.

¹⁴Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

¹⁵Swift are their feet to shed blood;

¹⁶destruction and misery are in their ways;

¹⁷and the way of peace they know not.

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the Law saith, it saith to those who are under the Law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become subject to condemnation before God.

²⁰Because by works of the Law no flesh shall be accepted as righteous: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.

²¹But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness which is of God, to which the Law and the Prophets bear testimony,