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Psalm 53:3
Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Mahalath.” A contemplation by David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.
2God looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understood, who seek after God.
3Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on God?
5There they were in great fear, where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
Notice
The repeated negatives, ending with “no, not one,” leave no exception in the verdict and challenge the hope that goodness can be measured against other people.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What difference does God’s search in verse 2 make to your reading of this verdict?
Write on thisWhat happens to comparisons with other people when you read “no, not one”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Romans 3:12They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.”Both describe everyone turning away and becoming corrupt together, then declare that no one does good.
Isaiah 64:6For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the …Both describe shared moral uncleanness, with Isaiah comparing human righteousness to a polluted garment.
Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.Both describe a turning away that includes everyone; Isaiah pictures this wandering through sheep going astray.
Psalm 14:3They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.Both describe shared corruption and end with the same verdict: “There is no one who does good, no, not one.”
Jeremiah 8:5–6Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding? They cling to deceit. They refuse to return.Both describe people going back; Jeremiah names Jerusalem’s persistent backsliding and refusal to return.
Mark 7:21For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,Both describe human evil: the psalm names shared corruption, and Jesus lists sins that come from human hearts.
Job 15:16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!Both use images of defilement for human wrongdoing, with Job’s passage portraying iniquity as something a person drinks.
3 John 1:11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.Doing good is the shared concern: the psalm declares its absence, while John links it to being of God.
Zephaniah 1:6those who have turned back from following the LORD, and those who haven’t sought the LORD nor inquired after him.Both describe turning back, and their surrounding words connect that retreat with failing to seek God.
2 Samuel 20:2So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with their king, from the Jordan even …Both describe a collective departure, though Samuel recounts a change of allegiance from David to Sheba rather than universal corruption.
1 John 2:29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.Both concern human conduct before God; the psalm describes corruption, while John links practicing righteousness with birth from God.
Ezekiel 36:25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.Filthiness is the shared image: the psalm describes people becoming filthy together, while Ezekiel records God’s promise to cleanse.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The words are severe, and you do not have to rush past them. God sees the corruption people share; being part of the crowd offers no exemption.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).