Romans 1:22

New King James Version

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Claiming to be wise, they became fools

King James Version (1611)
Professing themselues to be wise, they became fooles:

King James Version
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

English Standard Version
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

New American Standard Bible
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

New Century Version
They said they were wise, but they became fools.

Amplified Bible
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Legacy Standard Bible
Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Berean Standard Bible
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

Contemporary English Version
They claim to be wise, but they are fools.

Complete Jewish Bible
Claiming to be wise, they have become fools!

Darby Translation
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Easy-to-Read Version
They said they were wise, but they became fools.

Geneva Bible (1587)
When they professed themselues to be wise, they became fooles.

George Lamsa Translation
And while they thought within themselves that they were wise, they became fools,

Good News Translation
They say they are wise, but they are fools;

Lexham English Bible
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Literal Translation
Professing to be wise, they became foolish

American Standard Version
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Bible in Basic English
Seeming to be wise, they were in fact foolish,

Hebrew Names Version
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

International Standard Version
Though claiming to be wise, they became foolsJeremiah 10:14;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And while thinking in themselves that they were wise, they were fools. [fn]

Murdock Translation
And, while they thought within themselves that they were wise, they became fools.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
When they counted them selues wyse, they became fooles:

English Revised Version
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

World English Bible
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Weymouth's New Testament
While boasting of their wisdom they became utter fools,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For thei `seiynge that hem silf weren wise, thei weren maad foolis.

Update Bible Version
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Webster's Bible Translation
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools:

New English Translation
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

New Living Translation
Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

New Life Bible
They said that they were wise, but they showed how foolish they were.

New Revised Standard
Claiming to be wise, they became fools;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Professing to be wise, they were made foolish,

Douay-Rheims Bible
For, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

Revised Standard Version
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
When they couted them selves wyse they became foles

Young's Literal Translation
professing to be wise, they were made fools,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan they counted them selues wyse, they became fooles:

Mace New Testament (1729)
pretending to be wise, they became fools:

Simplified Cowboy Version
They brag about their wisdom, but they are fools.

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. ²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. ²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Romans 11:25, Proverbs 25:14, Proverbs 26:12, Isaiah 47:10, Jeremiah 8:8, Jeremiah 8:9, Jeremiah 10:14, Matthew 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:19-21, 1 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 3:19

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 4:16 - corrupt 2 Samuel 16:23 - all the counsel Job 11:12 - For vain Psalms 14:4 - Have Psalms 94:11 - General Psalms 106:20 - Thus Proverbs 6:32 - lacketh Proverbs 8:14 - sound Ecclesiastes 7:10 - wisely Ecclesiastes 7:23 - I said Isaiah 5:21 - wise Isaiah 8:20 - it is Isaiah 19:13 - princes of Zoan Isaiah 29:14 - for the wisdom Isaiah 44:9 - their own Isaiah 50:11 - all ye Jeremiah 4:22 - For my Jeremiah 9:23 - wise Jeremiah 10:8 - brutish Jeremiah 49:7 - Is wisdom Ezekiel 28:17 - thou hast Hosea 13:2 - according Luke 11:35 - General Acts 17:18 - philosophers Romans 1:14 - both to Romans 3:11 - none that understandeth Romans 10:19 - foolish 1 Corinthians 1:20 - hath 1 Corinthians 15:36 - fool Ephesians 5:11 - works Colossians 2:8 - philosophy 1 Timothy 1:7 - understanding 1 Timothy 6:20 - oppositions James 3:15 - but

Cross-References

Genesis 1:13
So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Genesis 1:14
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;

Genesis 1:28
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Genesis 8:17
Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."

Genesis 9:1
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Genesis 1:28">[fn]

Genesis 30:27
And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake."

Genesis 30:30
For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?"

Genesis 35:11
Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Leviticus 26:9
"For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.

Job 40:15
"Look now at the behemoth, [fn] which I made along with you;He eats grass like an ox.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Professing themselves to be wise,.... The learned men among the Gentiles first called themselves σοφοι, "Sophi", wise men: and afterwards, to cover their wretched pride and vanity, φιλοσοφοι, "Philosophers", lovers of wisdom; but notwithstanding all their arrogance, their large pretensions to wisdom, and boast of it

they became fools; they appeared to be so; they showed themselves to be such in those very things they prided themselves with the knowledge of: as, for instance, Socrates, after he had asserted the unity of God, and is said to die a martyr for the truth; yet one of the last actions of his life was sacrificing a cock to Aesculapius, at least he desired his friend Crito to do it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Professing themselves to be wise - This was the common boast of the philosophers of antiquity. The very word by which they chose to be called, “philosophers,” means literally “lovers of wisdom.” That it was their boast that they were wise, is well known; compare Romans 1:14; 1 Corinthians 1:19, 1Co 1:20, 1 Corinthians 1:22; 1 Corinthians 3:19; 2 Corinthians 11:19.

They became fools - Compare Jeremiah 8:8-9. They became really foolish in their opinions and conduct. There is something particularly pungent and cutting in this remark, and as true as it is pungent. In what way they evinced their folly, Paul proceeds immediately to state. Sinners of all kinds are frequently spoken of as fools in the Scriptures. In the sense in which it is thus used, the word is applied to them as void of understanding or moral sense; as idolaters, and as wicked; Psalms 14:1; Proverbs 26:4; Proverbs 1:17, Proverbs 1:22; Proverbs 14:8-9. The senses in which this word here is applied to the pagan are,

1. That their speculations and doctrines were senseless; and,
2. That their conduct was corrupt.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 22. Professing themselves to be wise — This is most strikingly true of all the ancient philosophers, whether Greeks or Romans, as their works, which remain, sufficiently testify. The word φασκοντες signifies not merely the professing but the assumption of the philosophic character. In this sense the word φασκειν is used by the best Greek writers. See Kypke. A dispassionate examination of the doctrine and lives of the most famed philosophers of antiquity, of every nation, will show that they were darkened in their mind and irregular in their conduct. It was from the Christian religion alone that true philosophy and genuine philosophers sprang.