For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”
- KJV For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
- BSB For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- NASB For Moses writes of the righteousness that is based on the Law, that the person who performs them will live by them.
- NLT For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses described the law's way of righteousness: the one who does its commands will live by them. This demands perfect obedience that fallen people cannot render.
Overview
Quoting Leviticus 18:5, Paul summarizes the principle of law-righteousness: it offers life on condition of doing everything the law requires. Because no sinner can perfectly keep the law, this way leads not to life but to condemnation. Paul contrasts it sharply with the righteousness of faith in the following verses, showing why the gospel, not law-keeping, is the only path to acceptance with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 18:5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Yahweh.
- Neh 9:29and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
- Ezek 20:11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
- Ezek 20:21“‘“But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
- Ezek 20:13“‘“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
- Gal 3:12The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
- Rom 7:10The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death;
- Luke 10:27–28He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 10:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.