| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? | 1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered? |
| 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. | 2If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. |
| 3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” | 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” |
| 4When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. | 4Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. |
| 5But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. | 5However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. |
| 6David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: | 6And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: |
| 7“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. | 7“Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered. |
| 8Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.” | 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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! | 10In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 14If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. | 14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless, |
| 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!) | 15because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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!” | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. | 20Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, |
| 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. | 21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. |
| 22And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. | 22This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” |
| 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded | 23Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham, |
| 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. | 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 handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. | 25He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification. |
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