| New Living Translation | King James Bible |
| 1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? | 1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? |
| 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. | 2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. |
| 3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” | 3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. |
| 4When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. | 4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. |
| 5But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. | 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. |
| 6David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: | 6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, |
| 7“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. | 7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. |
| 8Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.” | 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. |
| 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. | 9Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for 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! | 10How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. |
| 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, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: |
| 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 the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. |
| 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, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of 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 they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: |
| 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 worketh wrath: for where no law is, 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 it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who 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. | 17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. |
| 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!” | 18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed 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. | 19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: |
| 20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. | 20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; |
| 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. | 21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. |
| 22And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. | 22And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. |
| 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded | 23Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; |
| 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 for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up 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. | 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. |
| 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. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
|
