Rô-ma

1What, then, shall we say Abraham our father, to have found, according to flesh?

2for if Abraham by works was declared righteous, he hath to boast — but not before God;

3for what doth the writing say? 'And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him — to righteousness;'

4and to him who is working, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt;

5and to him who is not working, and is believing upon Him who is declaring righteous the impious, his faith is reckoned — to righteousness:

6even as David also doth speak of the happiness of the man to whom God doth reckon righteousness apart from works:

7'Happy they whose lawless acts were forgiven, and whose sins were covered;

8happy the man to whom the Lord may not reckon sin.'

9[Is] this happiness, then, upon the circumcision, or also upon the uncircumcision — for we say that the faith was reckoned to Abraham — to righteousness?

10how then was it reckoned? he being in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision;

11and a sign he did receive of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith in the uncircumcision, for his being father of all those believing through uncircumcision, for the righteousness also being reckoned to them,

12and father of circumcision to those not of circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of the faith, that [is] in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham.

13For not through law [is] the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith;

14for if they who are of law [are] heirs, the faith hath been made void, and the promise hath been made useless;

15for the law doth work wrath; for where law is not, neither [is] transgression.

16Because of this [it is] of faith, that [it may be] according to grace, for the promise being sure to all the seed, not to that which [is] of the law only, but also to that which [is] of the faith of Abraham,

17who is father of us all (according as it hath been written — 'A father of many nations I have set thee,') before Him whom he did believe — God, who is quickening the dead, and is calling the things that be not as being.

18Who, against hope in hope did believe, for his becoming father of many nations according to that spoken: 'So shall thy seed be;'

19and not having been weak in the faith, he did not consider his own body, already become dead, (being about a hundred years old,) and the deadness of Sarah's womb,

20and at the promise of God did not stagger in unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, having given glory to God,

21and having been fully persuaded that what He hath promised He is able also to do:

22wherefore also it was reckoned to him to righteousness.

23And it was not written on his account alone, that it was reckoned to him,

24but also on ours, to whom it is about to be reckoned — to us believing on Him who did raise up Jesus our Lord out of the dead,

25who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous.

Abraham Justified by Faith

1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has discovered?

2If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.

3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

4Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.

5However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

6And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven,whose sins are covered.

8Blessed is the manwhose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

9Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

10In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.

11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Abraham Receives the Promise

13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,

15because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.

18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

19Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

20Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

22This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

23Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,

24but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.