ROM 3:4 Parallel View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. This view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on the version abbreviation to see the verse in more of its context.

Key: yellow:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT May it never be! Instead, let God be true, but every man a liar. Just as it is written, “So that you might be justified in your words and you will prevail when you are judged.”

UST Then I would say, “Of course not!” On the contrary, God is always truthful, but everyone else is not. This is what David meant when he wrote in the Scriptures, “The result of my sin is that people will acknowledge that you, God, are right when you speak and victorious when people try to judge you.”

BSB Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written:
 ⇔ “So that You may be proved right when You speak
⇔ and victorious when You judge.”

BLB Never may it be! But let God be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written: "That You may be justified in Your words, and will prevail in Your being judged."

AICNT By no means! Let God be true, and every man a liar, as it is written: “So that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.”

OEB 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.”

WEB May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written,
 ⇔ “that you might be justified in your words,
⇔ and might prevail when you come into judgment.”

NET Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written: “ so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”

LSV Let it not be! And let God become true, and every man false, according as it has been written: “That You may be declared righteous in Your words, and may overcome in Your being judged.”

FBV Of course not! Even if everyone else is proved to be lying, God always tells the truth. As Scripture says, “What you say will be proved right, and you will win your case when you are judged.”

TCNT Certainly not! Rather, let God be true even if every man is a liar, just as it is written,
 ⇔ “So that yoʋ may be justified in yoʋr words,
 ⇔ and prevail when yoʋ are judged.”

T4T I would reply, “No, it certainly does not mean that! God always does what he has promised, even though people do not. All those who accuse God of not keeping his promises to us Jews are very mistaken.” What King David wrote about God’s justly saying that he would punish him for his sins is also true of those who accuse God of not keeping his promises. What he said to God was, “So everyone must acknowledge that what you (sg) have said about them (OR, their sin) is true, and you will always win the case when you are accused {when people accuse you}.”

LEB

•

BBE In no way: but let God be true, though every man is seen to be untrue; as it is said in the Writings, That your words may be seen to be true, and you may be seen to be right when you are judged.

MOF No MOF ROM book available

ASV God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written,
 ⇔ That thou mightest be justified in thy words,
 ⇔ And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

DRA But God is true; and every man a liar, as it is written, That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.

YLT let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, 'That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'

DBY Far be the thought: but let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written, So that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment.

RV God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

WBS God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

KJB God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
(God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou/you mightest be justified in thy/your sayings, and mightest overcome when thou/you art judged.)

BB God forbyd. Yea let God be true, and euery man a lyer, as it is writte: That thou myghtest be iustified in thy sayinges, and ouercome when thou art iudged.
(God forbyd. Yea let God be true, and every man a lyer, as it is writte: That thou/you mightest be iustified in thy/your sayings, and overcome when thou/you art judged.)

GNV God forbid: yea, let God be true, and euery man a lyar, as it is written, That thou mightest be iustified in thy words, and ouercome, when thou art iudged.
(God forbid: yea, let God be true, and every man a lyar, as it is written, That thou/you mightest be iustified in thy/your words, and overcome, when thou/you art judged.)

CB God forbyd. Let it rather be thus, that God is true, and all me lyers. As it is wrytten: That thou mayest be iustified in thy sayenges, and shuldest ouercome, wha thou art iudged.
(God forbyd. Let it rather be thus, that God is true, and all me lyers. As it is written: That thou/you mayest/may be iustified in thy/your sayenges, and shuldest overcome, wha thou/you art judged.)

TNT God forbid. Let god be true and all men lyars as it is written: That thou myghtest be iustifyed in thy sayinge and shuldest overcome when thou arte iudged.
(God forbid. Let god be true and all men lyars as it is written: That thou/you mightest be iustifyed in thy/your saying and shuldest overcome when thou/you art judged.)

WYC God forbede. For God is sothefast, but ech man a liere; as it is writun, That thou be iustified in thi wordis, and ouercome, whanne thou art demed.
(God forbede. For God is sothefast, but each man a liere; as it is written, That thou/you be iustified in thy/your words, and overcome, when thou/you art demed.)

LUT Das sei ferne! Es bleibe vielmehr also, daß GOtt sei wahrhaftig und alle Menschen falsch; wie geschrieben steht: Auf daß du gerecht seiest in deinen Worten und überwindest, wenn du gerichtet wirst.
(The be ferne! It stay vielmehr also, that God be wahrhaftig and all Menschen falsch; like written steht: Auf that you gerecht seiest in deinen words and überwindest, when you gerichtet wirst.)

CLV Est autem Deus verax: omnis autem homo mendax, sicut scriptum est: [Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis: et vincas cum judicaris.]
(Est however God verax: everyone however human mendax, sicut scriptum est: [Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis: and vincas cum yudicaris.])

UGNT μὴ γένοιτο! γινέσθω δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, καθὼς γέγραπται, ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε.
(maʸ genoito! ginesthō de ho Theos alaʸthaʸs, pas de anthrōpos pseustaʸs, kathōs gegraptai, hopōs an dikaiōthaʸs en tois logois sou, kai nikaʸseis en tōi krinesthai se.)

SBL-GNT μὴ γένοιτο· γινέσθω δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, ⸀καθὼς γέγραπται· Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ ⸀νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε.
(maʸ genoito; ginesthō de ho theos alaʸthaʸs, pas de anthrōpos pseustaʸs, ⸀kathōs gegraptai; Hopōs an dikaiōthaʸs en tois logois sou kai ⸀nikaʸseis en tōi krinesthai se.)

TC-GNT Μὴ γένοιτο· γινέσθω δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, καθὼς γέγραπται,
 ⇔ Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου,
 ⇔ καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε.
(Maʸ genoito; ginesthō de ho Theos alaʸthaʸs, pas de anthrōpos pseustaʸs, kathōs gegraptai,
 ⇔ Hopōs an dikaiōthaʸs en tois logois sou,
 ⇔ kai nikaʸsaʸs en tōi krinesthai se.)

Key for above GNTs: red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μὴ γένοιτο

never ˱it˲_/might/_become

In this verse Paul responds to the rhetorical questions he wrote in the previous verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “I would respond by saying, ‘May it never be!’”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclamations

μὴ γένοιτο

never ˱it˲_/might/_become

May it never be is an exclamation that communicates a strong prohibition. Use an exclamation that is natural in your language for communicating a strong prohibition. Alternate translation: “Absolutely not” or “Certainly not”

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

δὲ

and

Instead here indicates that what follows is a contrast to the idea in the previous verse that unfaithful Jews could “nullify the faithfulness of God.” Use a natural way in your language for introducing a contrast. Alternate translation: “But” or “However”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

γινέσθω & ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθής

/let_be/_becoming & ¬the God true

Here, let God be true is an imperative phrase, but this is not a command. Instead, Paul is exclaiming that people must consider that God is always truthful regardless of what people think. Use a form in your language that would be used in this type of situation. Alternate translation: “let people always know that God is true” or “may people always declare that God is true”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

πᾶς & ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης

every & person /a/_liar

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of liar, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “every man lies”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

πᾶς & ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης

every & person /a/_liar

Paul is leaving out some words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the previous clause. Alternate translation: “let every man be a liar”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

πᾶς & ἄνθρωπος

every & person

Although the term man is masculine, Paul is using the word here in a generic sense that includes both men and women. Alternate translation: “every person”

Note 8 topic: writing-quotations

καθὼς γέγραπται

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: μὴ γένοιτο γινέσθω δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἀληθής πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης καθάπερ γέγραπται ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε)

See how you translated this phrase in 1:17.

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

καθὼς γέγραπται

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who did the action, the quotation was written by David. Alternate translation: “just as David wrote”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε

so_that ¬wishfully ˱you˲_/may_be/_justified in the words ˱of˲_you and ˱you˲_/will_be/_overcoming in the_‹time› /to_be_being/_judged you

This sentence is a quotation from Psalm 51:4. It may be helpful to your readers to indicate this by setting off all of this material with quotation marks or with whatever punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate a quotation.

Note 11 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

ὅπως

so_that

So that indicates that what follows is the result of what David had written previously in Psalm 51:4, which is about how David had sinned. Paul assumes that his readers would be familiar with the earlier part of that verse. Use a natural way in your language for indicating result. Alternate translation: “I have sinned so that” or “Because of my sin”

Note 12 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε

so_that ¬wishfully ˱you˲_/may_be/_justified in the words ˱of˲_you and ˱you˲_/will_be/_overcoming in the_‹time› /to_be_being/_judged you

In this sentence, you and your refer to God and are singular. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly, as in the UST.

Note 13 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

δικαιωθῇς & ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε

˱you˲_/may_be/_justified & in the_‹time› /to_be_being/_judged you

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “people would acknowledge how righteous you are … when people attempt to judge you” or “you would prove yourself to be righteous … when others try to judge you”

Note 14 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου

in the words ˱of˲_you

Paul records David using words to describe the things that God said by using words. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “in what you say”

Parallel ROM 3:4