1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the scripture say? »Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.« 4Now to him who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. 5And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. 6So also David describes the blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7»Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,and whose sins are covered; 8blessed is the man against whom the Lordwill not reckon his sin.« 9Is this blessedness only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. 10How then was it reckoned to him? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be reckoned to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if those who are of the law are to be the heirs, faith has no value and the promise is void, 15because the law brings wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression. 16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all 17(as it is written, »I have made you the father of many nations«) in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they did. 18In hope, he believed against hope, so that he became the father of many nations; as he had been told, »So shall your descendants be.« 19And he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why it was »reckoned to him as righteousness.« 23But the words, »it was reckoned to him,« were written not for his sake alone, 24but for us also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered to death for our sins and was raised for our justification.