“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Parallel translations
- WEB “Their feet are swift to shed blood.
- KJV Their feet are swift to shed blood:
- NKJV “Theirfeet are swift to shed blood;
- NASB “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
- NLT “They rush to commit murder.
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
People are quick to violence and bloodshed. It exposes the destructive bent of sinful human behavior.
Overview
Paul turns from the sins of speech to sins of action, quoting Isaiah 59:7. The phrase 'swift to shed blood' captures humanity's readiness for violence when unrestrained. This reinforces that sin corrupts the whole person, body as well as tongue, leaving all in need of the peace Christ brings.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Isa 59:7–8Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
- Prov 1:16For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
- Prov 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
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 3:15 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.