| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? | 1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? |
| 2If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about--but not before God. | 2If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. |
| 3For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. | 3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” |
| 4Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. | 4When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. |
| 5But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness. | 5But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. |
| 6Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: | 6David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: |
| 7Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. | 7“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. |
| 8Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin. | 8Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.” |
| 9Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. | 9Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. |
| 10In what way then was it credited--while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. | 10But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! |
| 11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. | 11Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. |
| 12And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised. | 12And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. |
| 13For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. | 13Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. |
| 14If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, | 14If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. |
| 15because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. | 15For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) |
| 16This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham's faith. He is the father of us all. | 16So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. |
| 17As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He is our father in God's sight, in whom Abraham believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. | 17That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. |
| 18He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. | 18Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” |
| 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah's womb. | 19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. |
| 20He did not waver in unbelief at God's promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, | 20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. |
| 21because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. | 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. |
| 22Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. | 22And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. |
| 23Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, | 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded |
| 24but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. | 24for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. |
| 25He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. | 25He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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