Romans 3-4

Romans 3

¹How then is the Jew better off? or what profit is there in circumcision?

²Much in every way: first of all because the words of God were given to them.

³And if some have no faith, will that make the faith of God without effect?

⁴In no way: but let God be true, though every man is seen to be untrue; as it is said in the Writings, That your words may be seen to be true, and you may be seen to be right when you are judged.

⁵But if the righteousness of God is supported by our wrongdoing what is to be said? is it wrong for God to be angry (as men may say)?

⁶In no way: because if it is so, how is God able to be the judge of all the world?

⁷But if, because I am untrue, God being seen to be true gets more glory, why am I to be judged as a sinner?

⁸Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment.

⁹What then? are we worse off than they? In no way: because we have before made it clear that Jews as well as Greeks are all under the power of sin;

¹⁰As it is said in the holy Writings, There is not one who does righteousness;

¹¹Not one who has the knowledge of what is right, not one who is a searcher after God;

¹²They have all gone out of the way, there is no profit in any of them; there is not one who does good, not so much as one:

¹³Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips:

¹⁴Whose mouth is full of curses and bitter words:

¹⁵Their feet are quick in running after blood;

¹⁶Destruction and trouble are in their ways;

¹⁷And of the way of peace they have no knowledge:

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.

¹⁹Now, we have knowledge that what the law says is for those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all men may be judged by God:

²⁰Because by the works of the law no man is able to have righteousness in his eyes, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹But now without the law there is a revelation of the righteousness of God, to which witness is given by the law and the prophets;

²²That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,

²³For all have done wrong and are far from the glory of God;

²⁴And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus:

²⁵Whom God has put forward as the sign of his mercy, through faith, by his blood, to make clear his righteousness when, in his pity, God let the sins of earlier times go without punishment;

²⁶And to make clear his righteousness now, so that he might himself be upright, and give righteousness to him who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷What reason, then, is there for pride? It is shut out. By what sort of law? of works? No, but by a law of faith.

²⁸For this reason, then, a man may get righteousness by faith without the works of the law.

²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not in the same way the God of Gentiles? Yes, of Gentiles:

³⁰If God is one; and he will give righteousness because of faith to those who have circumcision, and through faith to those who have not circumcision.

³¹Do we, then, through faith make the law of no effect? in no way: but we make it clear that the law is important.

Romans 4

¹What, then, may we say that Abraham, our father after the flesh, has got?

²For if Abraham got righteousness by works, he has reason for pride; but not before God.

³But what does it say in the holy Writings? And Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness.

⁴Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt.

⁵But to him who without working has faith in him who gives righteousness to the evil-doer, his faith is put to his account as righteousness.

⁶As David says that there is a blessing on the man to whose account God puts righteousness without works, saying,

⁷Happy are those who have forgiveness for their wrongdoing, and whose sins are covered.

⁸Happy is the man against whom no sin is recorded by the Lord.

⁹Is this blessing, then, for the circumcision only, or in the same way for those who have not circumcision? for we say that the faith of Abraham was put to his account as righteousness.

¹⁰How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

¹¹And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

¹²And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who keep to the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he underwent circumcision.

¹³For God's word, that the earth would be his heritage, was given to Abraham, not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

¹⁴For if they who are of the law are the people who get the heritage, then faith is made of no use, and the word of God has no power;

¹⁵For the outcome of the law is wrath; but where there is no law it will not be broken.

¹⁶For this reason it is of faith, so that it may be through grace; and so that the word of God may be certain to all the seed; not only to that which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

¹⁷(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

¹⁸Who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping, so that he became the father of a number of nations, as it had been said, So will your seed be.

¹⁹And not being feeble in faith though his body seemed to him little better than dead (he being about a hundred years old) and Sarah was no longer able to have children:

²⁰Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,

²¹And being certain that God was able to keep his word.

²²For which reason it was put to his account as righteousness.

²³Now, it was not because of him only that this was said,

²⁴But for us in addition, to whose account it will be put, if we have faith in him who made Jesus our Lord come back again from the dead,

²⁵Who was put to death for our evil-doing, and came to life again so that we might have righteousness.