Romans 3:13

Romans 3:13, in plain English

Paul uses graphic, almost violent language: our words are like open graves full of death, our tongues deceive, our words are poisonous and venomous.

Why it's here

Paul is drawing from the Psalms to show that human speech itself reveals our corruption. What we say comes from what we are inside. The language is intentionally visceral and disgusting because sin is visceral and disgusting.

Who's speaking

Paul, quoting the Psalms

Where it sits in the story

Language matters in Scripture. What we speak reveals our hearts, and Paul is showing that our hearts, left to themselves, produce death. Our words are weapons, our tongues are poisons.

The scholarly reading

Their speech itself becomes corrupt—they speak with open mouths like graves, their tongues deceive, and their lips carry venom like serpents.

Language and setting

Paul now shifts to Isaiah 59:7-8 (with additional echoes of Psalm 5:9, 140:3), focusing on the corruption of human language and communication. The image of 'open graves' (Greek: táphoi aneōgménoi) is shockingly visceral—their mouths emit death itself. The venom of vipers (Greek: ios ophéōn) recalls Genesis 3 and the serpent's deception, suggesting human sin perpetuates the primordial rebellion. This is not mere incidental rudeness but the structuring of communication itself around deception and harm.

Voice

Paul, citing Isaiah and the Psalms

Significance

Language, the divine gift that enabled the imago Dei and Adam's naming authority, has been weaponized into an instrument of destruction—a microcosm of how all human capacities have been corrupted by sin's penetration into the human condition.

11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

13“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”

14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Read all of Romans 3 — The courtroom falls silent. Every mouth is stopped. Then Paul introduces a righteousness that comes not from the law but through faith.