# whatever the law says, it speaks to

Paul speaks of the law here as if it were alive and had its own voice. AT: "everything that the law says people should do is for" or "all the commands that Moses wrote in the law are for" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-personification]])

# the ones who are under the law

"those who must obey the law"

# in order that every mouth may be shut

Here "mouth" is a synecdoche that means the words people speak. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "so that no people will be able to say anything valid to defend themselves" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# the whole world held accountable to God

Here "world" is a synecdoche that represents all the people who live in the world. AT: "that God can declare everyone in the world guilty" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]])

# flesh

Here "flesh" refers to all human beings.

# For

Possible meanings are 1) "Therefore" or 2) "This is because"

# through the law comes the knowledge of sin

"when someone knows God's law, he realizes that he has sinned"

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/world]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/god]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/flesh]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/justify]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/works]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]]