The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram^(A) in a vision:^(B)

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord,^(F) what can you give me since I remain childless^(G) and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?^(H)” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant^(I) in my household^(J) will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.^(K)” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars^(L)—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”^(M)

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.^(N)

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,^(A) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years^(B) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved^(C) and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out^(D) with great possessions.^{(E) 15} You, however, will go to your ancestors^(F) in peace and be buried at a good old age.^{(G) 16} In the fourth generation^(H) your descendants will come back here,^(I) for the sin of the Amorites^(J) has not yet reached its full measure.”

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch^(K) appeared and passed between the pieces.^{(L) 18} On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram^(M) and said, “To your descendants I give this land,^(N) from the Wadi^[a] of Egypt^(O) to the great river, the Euphrates^(P)—

Righteousness Through Faith

²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God^(A) has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.^{(B) 22} This righteousness^(C) is given through faith^(D) in^[a] Jesus Christ^(E) to all who believe.^(F) There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,^{(G) 23} for all have sinned^(H) and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified^(I) freely by his grace^(J) through the redemption^(K) that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,^[b](L) through the shedding of his blood^(M)—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished^(N)— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting?^(O) It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.^{(P) 29} Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,^{(Q) 30} since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.^{(R) 31} Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.