| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? | 1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? |
| 2For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, 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 as 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, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. | 4When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. |
| 5But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. | 5But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. |
| 6So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man 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: |
| 7"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds 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 one against whom the Lord will never count sin." | 8Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.” |
| 9Is this blessedness then for the circumcision or also for the uncircumcision? For we say, "faith was credited to Abraham as 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. |
| 10How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not 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 he was still uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have righteousness credited to them. | 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 is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when 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 fulfilled 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. |
| 14For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. | 14If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. |
| 15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either. | 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!) |
| 16For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants--not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who 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. |
| 17(as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed--the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. | 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. |
| 18Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, "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!” |
| 19Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and 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 about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving 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. |
| 21He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. | 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. |
| 22So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. | 22And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. |
| 23But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham's sake, | 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded |
| 24but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one 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 given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification. | 25He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. |
|
