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They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:12 · New King James Version
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.
  • BSB All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even 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 14:3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
  • Eccl 7:20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin.
  • Isa 59:8They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.
  • Isa 64:6For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
  • Isa 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • Eccl 7:29Behold, I have only found this: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.”
  • Eph 2:3among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
  • 1 Pet 2:25For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
  • Phlm 1:11who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.
  • Eph 2:8–10for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
  • Gen 1:31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
  • Exod 32:8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
  • Titus 2:13–14looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;
  • Jas 1:16–17Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
  • Jer 2:13“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
  • Gen 6:6–7Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
  • Ps 53:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Mahalath.” A contemplation by David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.
  • Matt 25:30Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
  • Phil 2:12–13So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 3:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.