All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Parallel translations
- WEB They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.”
- KJV They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
- NKJV They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
- NASB They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, There is not even one.”
- NLT All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”
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
All people have turned away from God and become corrupt, with no one doing true good. It underscores the total reach of sin across humanity.
Overview
Paul completes the quotation from Psalm 14, stressing that humanity has universally 'turned aside' from God's way and become unprofitable. The repeated 'no, not one' echoes verse 10, framing the human condition as comprehensively fallen. This sober diagnosis prepares the reader to receive the good news that righteousness comes as a gift through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 14:3All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
- Eccl 7:20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- Isa 59:8The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
- Isa 64:6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Isa 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- Eccl 7:29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
- Eph 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
- 1 Pet 2:25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- Phlm 1:11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
- Eph 2:8–10For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Gen 1:31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
- Exod 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
- Titus 2:13–14as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
- Jas 1:16–17Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
- Jer 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Gen 6:6–7And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- Ps 53:1For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Matt 25:30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Phil 2:12–13Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
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 3:12 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.