My reply to the objection that there is no advantage in being a Jew or being circumcised is that there is much advantage, especially since God entrusted his promises to us. My reply to the objection that God has not kept his promise is that he certainly has, for his promises are always true. My reply to the objection that it is not right for God to punish us Jews is that it certainly is right for him to punish us, because if God did not judge us Jews he could not judge anyone.

1Someone may object to this, saying, “If being circumcised does not cause God to accept us Jews, ◄there is no advantage in being a Jew over being a non-Jew./is there any advantage in being a Jew over being a non-Jew?► [RHQ] Being circumcised does not benefit us Jews at all!”

2I would reply that being Jews benefits us in many ways [HYP]. First of all, it benefits us because it was to our ancestors that God’s words, words that contain his promises, were given {that God gave his words, words that contain his promises}.

3Many Jews did not obey God as they promised that they would. So someone might ask, “Does their not being faithful mean that God will not bless us Jews as he promised that he would?”

4I 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}.”

5So if we Jews’ being wicked [PRS] shows that it is right that God does not bless us, what shall we say/conclude? Shall we conclude that it is not right for God to be angry and punish us Jews [MTY]? I should not be saying these things, but I am speaking as ordinary humans speak.

6We should certainly not conclude that God should not judge us, because if God did not judge us Jews, ◄it would not possibly be right for him to judge anyone in the world [MTY]!/how could he judge anyone in the world?► [MTY, RHQ]

7But someone might object and say to me, “The fact that God truly keeps his promises becomes very clear/evident because of my not doing what God has commanded. But the result is that people praise God! So ◄God should no longer say that I should be punished {that he should punish me} on account of my having sinned!/why should God still say that I should be punished {that he should punish me} on account of my having sinned?► [RHQ]

8If what you, Paul, say is true, then ◄we might as well/it is all right for us to► do evil things in order that good things like that will result! For example, then people will praise God!” Some people speak evil about me by their falsely saying that I say such things. God will fairly/justly punish people who say such things about me!

My reply to a query about whether God will treat Jews more favorably than non-Jews is no, because the Scriptures make clear that all people are condemned by God for their sin.

9If someone would ask, “Shall we conclude that God will treat us Jews more favorably and will treat the non-Jews less favorably [RHQ]?” I would reply that we can certainly not conclude that! I have already shown you that all people, the Jews and also the non-Jews, have sinned and so they deserve to be punished {that God will punish them} [PRS].

10The following words that are written {prophets have written} in the Scriptures support this, No person is righteous. There is not even one righteous person!

11There is no one who understands how to live properly (OR, about God). There is no one who seeks/desires to know God!

12Absolutely everyone has turned away [MET] from God. God considers them depraved (OR, Everyone has become useless to God). There is no one who acts righteously; no, there is not even one!

13What people say [MTY] is foul/bad, like the smell that comes from a grave that has been {that people have} opened [MET]. By what people say [MTY], they deceive people.
By what they say [MTY] they injure people, just like the poison of snakes injures people [MET].

14They are continually ◄cursing/asking God to do harmful things to► others and saying ◄cruel/harsh/hateful► things [MTY].

15They ◄go quickly/are eager► to murder people [MTY].

16Wherever they go, they ruin everything and make people miserable [MTY].

17They have not/never known how to live peacefully with other people.

18They absolutely refuse to fear/reverence God [SYN]!

In summary, no one is able to object to God’s condemnation; everyone has been declared guilty by God.

19Furthermore, we know that it is to Jewish people, who are required to obey God’s laws, that Moses wrote those laws [PRS]. We can infer from this that there are no Jews or non-Jews [SYN] who are able to say anything in reply to God’s saying that he will punish them for having sinned. God has declared everyone in the world [MTY] guilty!

20It is not because people have done the things that God’s laws require that God will ◄erase the record of their sins/declare them no longer guilty for sin►, because no one has done those things completely. In fact, the result of our knowing God’s laws is that we know clearly that we have sinned (OR, are sinful).

Now God erases the record of sins of everyone, Jew and non-Jew, who trusts in what Jesus Christ has done for them. God presented Christ as the one who would atone for sins by dying on the cross.

21But God’s ◄erasing the record of our sins/declaring us no longer guilty► does not depend on our obeying the laws that he gave Moses. It has now been {God has now} revealed to us how he erases the record of our sins by a different way. It was written about by Moses {Moses wrote about it} in the laws [PRS] God gave him, and it was also written about by the prophets {the prophets also wrote about it}.

22God erases the record of our sins because we trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us. God does this for every person who trusts in Christ, because he considers that there is no difference between Jews and non-Jews.

23All people have done evil, and all people have failed to accomplish the glorious goals that God set for them.

24Our record of sins has been erased {God erased the record of our sins} by God acting kindly to forgive our sins, without our doing anything to earn it. Christ Jesus accomplished this by dying for us.

25God showed that Christ was the one who would atone for (OR, forgive) our sins with the blood that flowed from his body when he died. God redeems/forgives us because of our trusting in Christ’s having died for us. God wanted to show that he acts justly. He wanted to do that because, before Jesus came, God did not punish everyone who sinned. So it seemed as though he was not being just. But he was overlooking people’s sins during that time,

26because he is patient. God arranged for Jesus to die for us. By doing that, God now shows that he is just, and he shows that he is justly able to erase the record of sins for everyone who trusts/believes in Jesus.

So we are prevented from boasting that God saves us because of our obeying the Mosaic laws. And God will also accept non-Jews on the same basis. And by agreeing that people are declared righteous by their trusting in Christ, we actually confirm, not nullify, the Mosaic laws.

27It is not at all [RHQ] because of our obeying the laws of Moses that God erases the record of our sins. So, ◄there is no way that we can boast that God does that because of our obeying those laws./how can we boast about God erasing the record of our sins because of our obeying those laws?► [RHQ] Instead, it is because of our believing/trusting in Christ that God erases the record of our sins.

28We cannot boast about that, because we conclude that the record of our sins is erased {God erases the record of our sins} because of our trusting in Christ. God does not erase the record of our sins because of our obeying the laws that he gave to Moses, because it is impossible for us to completely obey them.

29◄You who are Jews certainly should not think that you are the only ones whom God will accept!/Do you Jews think it is you alone whom God will accept?► [RHQ] You certainly should realize that he will accept non-Jews, too. [RHQ] Of course, he will accept non-Jews also,

30because, as you firmly believe, there is only one God, who will erase the record of Jews’ [MTY] sins if they trust in what Christ has done, and who will similarly erase the record of non-Jews’ [MTY] sins if they trust in Christ.

31So, if someone should ask concerning the laws that God gave Moses, “By saying that God erases the record of our sins because of our trusting in Christ, does that mean that those laws now are useless?”, I would reply, “Certainly not. Instead, we truly fulfill the laws that God gave Moses.”