Romans 4:1–12

Abraham Justified by Faith

4What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^tour forefather according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^unot before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? ^v“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴Now ^wto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵And to the one who does not work but ^xbelieves in² him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

^7y“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

⁸blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not ^zcount his sin.”

⁹Is this blessing then only for ^athe circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^bFor we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ^11cHe received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^dto make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.