The scripture to which Paul refers comes from Isaiah 52.5. The form in which Paul quotes it comes from the Septuagint; in the Hebrew the words because of you do not appear.

In a number of languages one cannot say the scripture says; only “people can say.” An equivalent expression may be: “as it is written in the scripture,” “the scripture has these words,” or “these are the words of the writings.”

The Good News Translation makes the Greek expression “because of you” explicit as a reference to the Jews: because of you Jews, the Gentiles speak evil of God’s name translates a Greek passive construction (literally, “the name of God is being spoken evil of among the nations”). Speak evil (New English Bible “dishonored”) is generally rendered “blaspheme” in other translations wherever it appears in the New Testament. “Blaspheme” has a disadvantage of being a term which most readers do not understand unless they are familiar with biblical terminology; it is merely a transliteration of the Greek word blasphēmeō, a term which means, in contexts such as this, “to speak evil of God.” In some languages it is confusing to say speak evil of God’s name. The more natural equivalent is “speak evil of God.” Since name is simply a symbolic substitute for God, it is frequently better to employ a more direct expression: “speak bad against God.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .