EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Romans 3:4
4No, certainly it does not mean that! God will always do what he says. He will always say what is true, even if everyone in the world should tell lies. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘Your message is true. It shows that you are right. People may say that you are wrong. But it will always be clear that you are right.’
Romans 3:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”
Context of Romans 3:4
2Yes, it helps in many ways. The first is that God chose to give his messages to the Jewish people. 3But you may say, ‘Some Jews did not believe God's messages as they should have done. Because of that, maybe God will not do what he said he would do.’ No, certainly it does not mean that! God will always do what he says. He will always say what is true, even if everyone in the world should tell lies. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘Your message is true. It shows that you are right. People may say that you are wrong. But it will always be clear that you are right.’ 5Maybe some people may say, ‘The wrong things that we do show more clearly that God is always right. So perhaps God is wrong to punish us.’ 6That is not true! God always decides what is right and fair. That is why he is able to judge everyone in the world.
Read all of Romans 3Romans 3:4 word by word
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.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- ·ἄνan · ifG302
- God forbidμήmē · notG3361
- God forbidγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
- yeaδέde · thenG1161
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- trueἀληθήςalēthēs · trueG227
- everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
- manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
- a liarψεύστηςpseustēs · liarG5583
- asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
- it is writtenγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
- Thatὅπωςhopōs · thatG3704
- thou mightest be justifiedδικαιόωdikaioō · to justifyG1344
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- thyσύsu · youG4771
- sayingsλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- mightest overcomeνικάωnikaō · to conquerG3528
- art judgedκρίνωkrinō · to judgeG2919
Cross-references for Romans 3:4
- Romans 3:6That is not true! God always decides what is right and fair. That is why he is able to judge everyone in the world.
- Romans 6:2No! Certainly we should not do that! Sin does not rule our lives any longer. That old life is dead! So it is not right that we should continue to do wrong things.
- Romans 7:7So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things.
- Romans 9:14Because of this, someone might say that God is not fair. No! We should never say that!
- Romans 11:1So I ask this: ‘Has God turned away from his people?’ No, certainly, he has not done that! I myself belong to Israel's people. I am a descendant of Abraham and I belong to Benjamin's tribe.
- Luke 20:16I tell you, he will come to those farmers and he will kill them. Then he will give the garden to other people to take care of it.’ When the people heard this, they replied, ‘That must never happen!’
- 1 Corinthians 6:15You know that your bodies are parts of Christ's own body. So you must never take your body and make it join with a prostitute's body. That is like you have done it with part of Christ's body. Never let that happen!
- Galatians 2:17So then, we Jews become right with God when we believe in Christ. That means that we no longer obey all the Jewish rules. But that does not mean that Christ causes us to do wrong things. Certainly, it does not mean that!
- Galatians 2:21So I do not refuse to accept the kind gift of God. If the rules of God's Law could make me right with him, then Christ would have died for no reason!
- Galatians 6:14But I do not want to say any great things about myself. The only thing that makes me great is our Lord Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is like I have also died. The things that belong to this world have become dead to me, and I have become dead to them.
- Deuteronomy 32:4He is the strong Rock where we can be safe. Everything that he does is perfect. He only does what is right and fair. We can trust him to be faithful.
- Job 40:8Do you say that I am not a fair judge? Do you want to show that I am guilty, not you? Then you could say that you are right.
- Psalms 100:5Yes, the Lord is good. He always loves us as his people. He always does what he has promised to us and to our descendants for ever.
- Psalms 119:160I can trust that your message is true. All your righteous rules will continue for ever.
- Psalms 138:2I look towards your holy temple, and I bend down to worship you. I thank you for who you are. You love your people and they can always trust you. You are more famous than anyone, because you always do what you promise.
- Micah 7:20You will continue to be kind to us, because we are Jacob's and Abraham's people. That is what you promised to our grandfathers a long time ago.
Commentaries on Romans 3:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Apostle. God forbid - , Let it not be, far from it, by no means. Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar, etc. We must ever maintain that God is true, and that if, in any case, his promise appear to fail, it is because the condition on which it was given has not been complied with; which is the sense of what is written, Psalm 51:4; : I acknowledge my sin, and condemn myself that the truth of thy promise ( 2 Samuel 7:15, 2 Samuel 7:16;) to establish my…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4God forbid - Greek. Let not this be. The sense is, “let not this by any means be supposed.” This is the answer of the apostle, showing that no such consequence followed from his doctrines; and that “if” any such consequence should follow, the doctrine should be at once abandoned, and that every man, no matter who, should be rather esteemed false than God. The veracity of God was a great first principle, which was to be held, whatever might be the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Certainly not!: The Greek phrase mē genoito is a strong way to say "no." Paul often uses this style of argument in other parts of Romans (see 3:6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11). As it is written: Paul quotes Psalm 51:4, where King David admitted his sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11:1–27). God punished David, and David admitted that God was right to judge him. David accepted that God’s judgment was completely just. God…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-43-4. For what if some did not believe?--It is the unbelief of the great body of the nation which the apostle points at; but as it sufficed for his argument to put the supposition thus gently, he uses this word "some" to soften prejudice. shall their unbelief make the faith of God--or, "faithfulness of God." of none effect?--"nullify," "invalidate" it.Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 3:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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