Let us stop judging and you should decide translate two different forms of the same verb in Greek. This verb has already appeared five times in the earlier part of the chapter and has been translated in three different ways. In verses 3 and 10 it is translated pass judgment on, while in verse 4 it is translated to judge. Its use (twice) in verse 5 covers a different area of meaning and so is rendered thinks. Its first use in this verse clearly means “to judge” or “to pass judgment on”; but its use in the latter part of the verse is quite different. Whereas the first instance implies a condemnatory judgment, the second instance indicates that the persons involved are to evaluate something and to make up their minds with respect to it. For this reason the Good News Translation renders it as decide (see Jerusalem Bible “you should make up your mind”).

Let us stop judging one another may be rendered as “we must no longer condemn one another.”

The implied subject of the infinitive to do is you, and it should not be given an impersonal construction (New English Bible “that no obstacle or stumbling-block be placed in a brother’s way”)

In English it is quite effective to indicate by means of a colon that what follows is the content of what should be decided. However, this is a rather complex construction and must often be replaced in other languages by one of two different forms: (1) a directly subordinate content clause—for example, “instead you must decide to do nothing that would make your fellow believers stumble or fall into sin”; or (2) a form of direct discourse: “instead, this is what you should decide, We will not do anything that will make our fellow believers stumble or fall into sin.” In some languages a translation of decide may very well be a form of speaking, “you should say to yourselves,” “you should say within your minds,” or “your minds should say.”

The phrase into sin is introduced by the Good News Translation to qualify what is meant by the stumbling and falling. In a number of languages expressions for stumble or fall may be readily applied to the idea of becoming involved in sin. However, in other languages these terms can only be understood in a strictly physical or literal sense. Therefore it may be necessary to eliminate this figure of speech and to employ a causative form of the verb sin—for example, “cause your fellow believer to sin.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .