Ayub 4:19

4:19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay, ¹ 

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed ²  like ³  a moth?

Ayub 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ⁴ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

Mazmur 14:1-3

Psalm 14 ⁵ 

For the music director; by David.

14:1 Fools say to themselves, ⁶  “There is no God.” ⁷ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁸ 

none of them does what is right. ⁹ 

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹⁰  at the human race, ¹¹ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹²  and seeks God. ¹³ 

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹⁴ 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹⁵ 

None of them does what is right, ¹⁶ 

not even one!

Mazmur 53:3

53:3 Everyone rejects God; ¹⁷ 

they are all morally corrupt. ¹⁸ 

None of them does what is right, ¹⁹ 

not even one!

Roma 1:28-30

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ²⁰  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ²¹  1:29 They are filled ²²  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ²³  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,

Roma 3:9-19

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” ²⁴ 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves, ²⁵ 

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.” ²⁶ 

3:14 “Their mouths are ²⁷  full of cursing and bitterness.” ²⁸ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ²⁹ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ³⁰ 

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ³¹  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Titus 3:3

3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.

[4:19]  ¹ sn Those who live in houses of clay are human beings, for the human body was made of clay (Job 10:9; 33:6; and Isa 64:7). In 2 Cor 4:7 the body is an “earthen vessel” – a clay pot. The verse continues the analogy: houses have foundations, and the house of clay is founded on dust, and will return to dust (Gen 3:19; Ps 103:14). The reasoning is that if God finds defects in angels, he will surely find them in humans who are inferior to the angels because they are but dust. In fact, they are easily crushed like the moth.

[4:19]  ² tn The imperfect verb is in the plural, suggesting “they crush.” But since there is no subject expressed, the verb may be given an impersonal subject, or more simply, treated as a passive (see GKC 460 §144.g).

[4:19]  ³ tn The prepositional compound לִפְנֵי (lifne) normally has the sense of “before,” but it has been used already in 3:24 in the sense of “like.” That is the most natural meaning of this line. Otherwise, the interpretation must offer some explanation of a comparison between how quickly a moth and a human can be crushed. There are suggestions for different readings here; see for example G. R. Driver, “Linguistic and Textual Problems: Jeremiah,” JQR 28 (1937/38): 97-129 for a change to “bird’s nest”; and J. A. Rimbach, “‘Crushed before the Moth’ (Job 4:19),” JBL 100 (1981): 244-46, for a change of the verb to “they are pure before their Maker.” However, these are unnecessary emendations.

[42:6]  ⁴ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

[14:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 14. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[14:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[14:1]  ⁷ sn “There is no God.” The statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[14:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they make a deed evil.” The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[14:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[14:2]  ¹⁰ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹² tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ¹³ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[53:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all of it turns away.” Ps 14:1 has הָכֹּל (hakkol) instead of כֻּלּוֹ, and סָר (sar, “turn aside”) instead of סָג (sag, “turn away”).

[53:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[53:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[1:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ²¹ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[1:29]  ²² tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ²³ tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:12]  ²⁴ sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.

[3:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”

[3:13]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.

[3:14]  ²⁷ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ²⁹ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[3:19]  ³¹ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”