In Greek verses 23-26 are all one sentence. This has been broken into several parts by the Good News Translation for the sake of clarity.

There is a definite contrast in the tenses of the two verbs used in verse 23, have sinned and are far away. The expression which the Good News Translation translates are far away from God’s saving presence (literally “are falling short of the glory of God”) may possibly be understood in another sense. “Glory” in this passage may refer not to God’s saving presence, but to the likeness of God that each man is intended to bear but which has been forfeited because of sin. Most translations simply render this literally. Of the three modern translations that attempt to give meaning to this phrase, Phillips seems to have missed the meaning completely (“everyone falls short of the beauty of God’s plan”), while the Jerusalem Bible (see note in the Jerusalem Bible) seems to go in the same direction as the Good News Translation; the New English Bible (“are deprived of the divine splendor”) seems to support the alternative interpretation explained here.

There are considerable difficulties involved in translating the expression far away from God’s saving presence. One can, of course, say “far away from God who saves” and in essence this is the meaning of God’s saving presence. “To fall short of the glory of God” may be rendered as “not to attain to the glory which comes from God” or “not to reach the glory which God gives.”

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 .