Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 8:3:
- Uma: “The Lord’s Law cannot release us from the power of sin, for with our own strength we are not able to follow the Lord’s Law. But what was beyond the ability the Lord’s Law, God did [emphatic]: he ordered his Child to come to earth to become mankind; his physical body was the same as the physical body of sinful man. And that Child of his died to redeem mankind’s sins. So, with the death of his Child, God defeated the power of sin in the heart of mankind.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “We (dual) are not freed from our (incl.) sin because-of our (dual) following/obeying the law, for we (incl.) are just humans and we (dual) cannot follow/obey the law. But there is (something) God did so that now we (incl.) are no longer carried by our (incl.) inborn sinning/old nature. His Child/Son was sent by him to be born here on earth having a human body and his customs (were) like our (incl.) customs but he was not influenced/carried to sin. He was punished because of our (incl.) sin and he died so that we (incl.) are no longer carried/influenced by our (incl.) inborn sinning/old nature.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We cannot be helped by means of our obeying the Law, because we cannot obey it; however, as for God by contrast, He is the one who helps us. For He sent His son Jesus who became a man, and as for Jesus, He had a body like the body of us sinners so that He might experience in His body the punishment of God because of our sins. And by means of His punishing the body of Jesus, he removed the power of our (incl.) evil desires.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “The law is not able to set-us -free from the power of sin, because we are only people who are not able-to-obey the commands of the law. But God did what the law was not able to do. He sent his Child who became a person like us so that he would be the one to be punished for our sins. And that’s how God removed the power of sin to rule us people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “We knew about God’s law, but it couldn’t take us out of the power sin had. Because it wasn’t possible that we do what all was commanded by the law. But God saved us. He caused that his Son whom he sent here became a person. It was seen that he was a person but he did not commit sin. This one died in order to pay for our sins. He brought to an end the power of the sin which grabbed our hearts.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
- Chichewa (interconfessional translation, 1999): “God did what the Law(s) of Moses could not do, because the human nature bent towards evil weakened them. He judged sinfulness in that human nature bent towards evil, by sending his very own Son, having a body just like we sinners, that in this body he would conquer that sinfulness.” (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 141)
