Chapter 2

The Impartiality of God

1 Therefore you have ano excuse, 1beveryone of you who passes judgment, for in that which cyou judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

2 And we know that the judgment of God 1rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

3 But do you suppose this, aO man, 1when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

4 Or do you think lightly of athe riches of His bkindness and ctolerance and dpatience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

5 But 1because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ayou are storing up wrath for yourself bin the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

6 awho will render to each person according to his deeds:

7 to those who by aperseverance in doing good seek for bglory and honor and cimmortality, deternal life;

8 but to those who are aselfishly ambitious and bdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

9 There will be atribulation and distress 1for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew bfirst and also of the Greek,

10 but aglory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew bfirst and also to the Greek.

11 For athere is no partiality with God.

12 For all who have sinned 1awithout the Law will also perish 1without the Law, and all who have sinned 2under the Law will be judged 3by the Law;

13 for it is anot the hearers 1of the Law who are 2just before God, but the doers 1of the Law will be justified.

14 For when Gentiles who do not have 1the Law do 2ainstinctively the things of the Law, these, not having 1the Law, are a law to themselves,

15 in that they show athe work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

16 on the day when, aaccording to my gospel, bGod will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Condemned by the Law

17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and arely 1upon the Law and boast in God,

18 and know His will and 1aapprove the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,

19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

20 a 1corrector of the foolish, a teacher of 2the immature, having in the Law athe embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,

21 you, therefore, awho teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who 1preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?

22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you arob temples?

23 You who aboast 1in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?

24 For “athe name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles bbecause of you,” just as it is written.

25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you apractice 1the Law; but if you are a transgressor 2of the Law, byour circumcision has become uncircumcision.

26 aSo if bthe 1uncircumcised man ckeeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

27 And ahe who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not bjudge you who 1though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor 2of the Law?

28 For ahe is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

29 But ahe is a Jew who is one inwardly; and bcircumcision is that which is of the heart, by the cSpirit, not by the letter; dand his praise is not from men, but from God.

Chapter 3

All the World Guilty

1 Then what 1advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

2 Great in every respect. First of all, that athey were entrusted with the boracles of God.

3 What then? If asome 1did not believe, their 2unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

4 aMay it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found ba liar, as it is written,

“cThat You may be justified in Your words,

And prevail when You 1are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness 1ademonstrates the righteousness of God, bwhat shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (cI am speaking in human terms.)

6 aMay it never be! For otherwise, how will bGod judge the world?

7 But if through my lie athe truth of God abounded to His glory, bwhy am I also still being judged as a sinner?

8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “aLet us do evil that good may come”? 1Their condemnation is just.

9 What then? 1aAre we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both bJews and cGreeks are dall under sin;

10 as it is written,

“aThere is none righteous, not even one;

11 There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

13 “aTheir throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“bThe poison of asps is under their lips”;

14 “aWhose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15 “aTheir feet are swift to shed blood,

16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17 And the path of peace they have not known.”

18 “aThere is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the aLaw says, it speaks to bthose who are 1under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and call the world may become accountable to God;

20 because aby the works 1of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for 2bthrough the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Justification by Faith

21 But now apart 1from the Law athe righteousness of God has been manifested, being bwitnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22 even the arighteousness of God through bfaith cin Jesus Christ for dall those 1who believe; for ethere is no distinction;

23 for all 1ahave sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 being justified as a gift aby His grace through bthe redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

25 whom God displayed publicly as aa 1propitiation 2bin His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, 3because in the cforbearance of God He dpassed over the sins previously committed;

26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who 1has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is aboasting? It is excluded. By bwhat kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

28 1For awe maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works 2of the Law.

29 Or ais God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

30 since indeed aGod bwho will justify the 1circumcised 2by faith and the 3uncircumcised through faith cis one.

31 Do we then nullify 1the Law through faith? aMay it never be! On the contrary, we bestablish the Law.

Chapter 4

Justification by Faith Evidenced in Old Testament

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, 1our forefather aaccording to the flesh, has found?

2 For if Abraham was justified 1by works, he has something to boast about, but anot 2before God.

3 For what does the Scripture say? “aAbraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

4 Now to the one who aworks, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

5 But to the one who does not work, but abelieves in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “aBlessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,

And whose sins have been covered.

8 “aBlessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not btake into account.”

9 Is this blessing then on 1athe circumcised, or on 2the uncircumcised also? For bwe say, “cFaith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”

10 How then was it credited? While he was 1circumcised, or 2uncircumcised? Not while 1circumcised, but while 2uncircumcised;

11 and he areceived the sign of circumcision, ba seal of the righteousness of the faith which 1he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be cthe father of dall who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which 1he had while uncircumcised.

13 For athe promise to Abraham or to his 1descendants bthat he would be heir of the world was not 2through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

14 For aif those who are 1of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;

15 for athe Law brings about wrath, but bwhere there is no law, there also is no violation.

16 For this reason it is 1by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with agrace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ball the 2descendants, not only to 3those who are of the Law, but also to 3cthose who are of the faith of Abraham, who is dthe father of us all,

17 (as it is written, “aA father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, bwho gives life to the dead and 1ccalls into being dthat which does not exist.

18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become aa father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “bSo shall your 1descendants be.”

19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now aas good as dead since bhe was about a hundred years old, and cthe deadness of Sarah’s womb;

20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, agiving glory to God,

21 and abeing fully assured that bwhat God had promised, He was able also to perform.

22 Therefore ait was also credited to him as righteousness.

23 Now anot for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,

24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those awho believe in Him who braised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

25 He who was adelivered over because of our transgressions, and was braised because of our justification.