14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery lie in their wake,
17and the way of peace they have not known.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
All Have Sinned
ruin and misery lie in their wake, Romans 3:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Everywhere humans go without God's guidance, we leave destruction and misery in our wake.
Paul is describing the trail of damage that human sinfulness leaves. It's not just that individuals sin; it's that sin creates systems of ruin. Families, communities, entire civilizations bear the wreckage.
Paul, quoting Isaiah
You're seeing the cosmic scope of sin. It's not individual actions in isolation; it's a force that corrupts everything it touches, rippling outward in consequences.
Destruction and misery accompany their path.
Continuing Isaiah 59:7-8, Paul emphasizes the consequences of sin: it does not isolate itself to the perpetrator but spreads ruin (Greek: suntrimma, 'breaking, crushing') and wretchedness (Greek: talaiporía, 'distress, hardship') in its wake. The image is of a destructive trail left by those who have departed from God's way. This moves from individual culpability to collective suffering, suggesting sin's social and structural dimensions.
Paul, citing Isaiah
This echoes the cascading consequences of sin throughout the Hebrew narrative—how one person's transgression (Adam) or violence (Cain) ripples outward to affect entire communities and generations.
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery lie in their wake,
17and the way of peace they have not known.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
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.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad