9 What shall we conclude then? Are we
[Jews] any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and
Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written: "There is no one
righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one."
13 "Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their
lips."
14
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not
know."
18 "There is no fear of God before
their eyes."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says,
it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and
the whole world held accountable to God.
20 Therefore no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become
conscious of sin.
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