13. Their throats are open graves.Their tongues practice deception.Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes.
14. Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment.
15. They run quickly to murder people.
16. There is ruin and suffering wherever they go.
17. They have not learned to live in peace.
18. They are not terrified of God.”
19. We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God.
20. Not one person can have God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is.
21. Now, the way to receive God’s approval has been made plain in a way other than the laws in the Scriptures. Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets tell us this.
22. Everyone who believes has God’s approval through faith in Jesus Christ.There is no difference between people.
23. Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory.
24. They receive God’s approval freely by an act of his kindness through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free ⌊from sin⌋.