As the Scriptures say is the same formula as in verse 4 above. The reason for the difference in translation is that in this series of quotes (vv. 11-18) Paul is using various passages from the Old Testament as a summary of the entire content of its message. The accumulative effect of keeping all these verses together is seen in verse 19-20, that is, to indicate that all men have sinned and so are under God’s judgment.

These verses come from Psalm 14.1-3 (parallel 53.1-3). In the Psalm the first and sixth lines read the same, but Paul has made a significant change by introducing into the quote the word righteous. This word appears neither in the Hebrew nor in the Septuagint, but it is a basic element in Paul’s theology. For Paul this phrase would mean there is not a man who is in a right relation with God. It is significant that in verse 20 Paul summarizes his total argument from the scriptures by the quotation from Psalm 143.2: because no man is put right in God’s sight by doing what the Law requires. To translate as the Jerusalem Bible does (“there is not a good man left, no, not one”) is to translate the Psalm rather than what Paul intends.

In view of the particular manner in which Paul uses righteous in this context, it may be necessary in some languages to use the phrase “right before God,” “righteous in God’s eyes,” or “seen as righteous by God.” This is certainly more than merely “doing right.”

In a number of languages one cannot use an expression such as who understands without indicating something of the nature of what is or is not understood. The most neutral and contextually appropriate goal of such understanding is probably “what is right.” Therefore one may translate: “There is not one person who really understands what is right.”

The last clause of verse 11 must not be rendered in such a way as to imply that a person goes out looking for God in the same way that one would look for a lost coin. To avoid a wrong connotation one may have, in some languages, “seeks to be related to God,” “seeks to be with God,” or “wants to have God with him.”

In the Psalm the phrase from God does not appear in the statement all men have turned away, but it is clearly implicit, and the Good News Translation makes this information explicit for its readers.

The equivalent of the expression turned away from God is in some instances “do not wish to have God in their minds,” “will not remember God any longer,” or “have turned their backs on God.” The verb rendered gone wrong (so Revised Standard Version, Moffatt) literally means “to become useless” and appears in a variety of forms in various translations (An American Translation* “worthless”; New English Bible “debased”; Phillips “unprofitable”; Jerusalem Bible “tainted”). The meaning of does what is good (so most translations) is to be preferred over the meaning “to show kindness” (New English Bible).

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 .