King James Version

Romans 3:4

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

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Greek

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The KJV’s Greek text (Textus Receptus) does not include “will prevail” (νικήσεις) before in here. The KJV’s Greek text (Textus Receptus) adds “may prevail” (νικήσῃς) before in here.

μὴmēGod forbidμήadverb — “God forbid”G3361not, lest.God forbidγένοιτοgenoitoletγίνομαι (ginomai)verb, aorist middle optative, 3rd person singular — “let”, a single actionG1096I come into being, am born, become, come about, happen.letγινέσθωginesthōbeγίνομαι (ginomai)verb, present middle imperative, 3rd person singular — “be”, an ongoing or repeated actionG1096I come into being, am born, become, come about, happen.beδὲdebutδέconjunction — “but”G1161a weak adversative particle, generally placed second in its clause; but, on the other hand, and.This verse uses “but”.butὁhotheὁarticle, nominative, singular, masculine — “the”, the subject formG3588the, the definite article.θεὸςtheosGodθεόςnoun, nominative, singular, masculine — “God”, the subject formG2316(a) God, (b) a god, generally.This verse uses “God”.ἀληθήςalēthēstrueἀληθήςadjective, nominative, singular, masculine — “true”, the subject formG227unconcealed, true, true in fact, worthy of credit, truthful.This verse uses “true”.πᾶςpaseveryπᾶςadjective, nominative, singular, masculine — “every”, the subject formG3956all, the whole, every kind of.everyδὲdebutδέconjunction — “but”G1161a weak adversative particle, generally placed second in its clause; but, on the other hand, and.This verse uses “but”.ἄνθρωποςanthrōposmanἄνθρωποςnoun, nominative, singular, masculine — “man”, the subject formG444a man, one of the human race.manψεύστηςpseustēsa liarψεύστηςnoun, nominative, singular, masculine — “a liar”, the subject formG5583a liar, deceiver.This verse uses “a liar”.a liarκαθὼςkathōsasκαθώςconjunction — “as”G2531according to the manner in which, in the degree that, just as, as.asγέγραπταιgegraptaiit is writtenγράφω (graphō)verb, perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular — “it is written”, a completed action with a present resultG1125I write; pass: it is written, it stands written (in the scriptures).it is writtenὍπωςhopōsThatὅπωςconjunction — “That”G3704how, in order that, so that, that.Thatἂνanthou mightestἄνparticle — “thou mightest”G302an untranslatable word (under the circumstances, in that case, anyhow), the general effect of which is to make a statement contingent, which would otherwise be definite: it is thus regularly used with the subjunctive mood.thou mightestδικαιωθῇςdikaiōthēsbe justifiedδικαιόω (dikaioō)verb, aorist passive subjunctive, 2nd person singular — “be justified”, a single actionG1344I make righteous, defend the cause of, plead for the righteousness (innocence) of, acquit, justify; hence: I regard as righteous.be justifiedἐνeninἐνpreposition — “in”G1722in, on, among.inτοῖςtoistheὁ (ho)article, dative, plural, masculine — “the”, the to- or for-formG3588the, the definite article.λόγοιςlogoissayingsλόγος (logos)noun, dative, plural, masculine — “sayings”, the to- or for-formG3056a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy.sayingsσουsouyouσύ (su)personal pronoun, genitive, singular — “you”, the of-formG4771you.καὶkaiandκαίconjunction — “and”G2532and, even, also, namely.This verse uses “and”.andνικήσειςnikēseismightest overcomeνικάω (nikaō)verb, future active indicative, 2nd person singular — “mightest overcome”, an action still aheadG3528I conquer, am victorious, overcome, prevail, subdue.This verse uses “overcome”.mightest overcomeἐνenwhenἐνpreposition — “when”G1722in, on, among.whenτῷtōtheὁ (ho)article, dative, singular, neuter — “the”, the to- or for-formG3588the, the definite article.κρίνεσθαίkrinesthaito art judgedκρίνω (krinō)verb, present passive infinitive — “to art judged”, an ongoing or repeated actionG2919(a) I judge, whether in a law-court or privately: sometimes with cognate nouns emphasizing the notion of the verb, (b) I decide, I think (it) good.art judgedσεseyouσύ (su)personal pronoun, accusative, singular — “you”, the object formG4771you.

Textus Receptus Words Not in the SBL Text

νικήσῃςnikēsēsmightest overcomeνικάω (nikaō)verb, future active indicative, 2nd person singular — “mightest overcome”, an action still aheadG3528I conquer, am victorious, overcome, prevail, subdue.This verse uses “overcome”.

Literal (Young’s Literal Translation)

let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, 'That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

Young’s Literal Translation

let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, 'That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'

World English Bible

May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “that you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”

Darby Translation

Far be the thought: but let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written, So that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment.

Douay-Rheims

But God is true; and every man a liar, as it is written, That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.

Quotes

Psalms 51:4 Psalms 51:4 · King James VersionAgainst thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.Psalms 51:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source
as it is written
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.