^21 (A)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

¹⁶ and said, ^(A)“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring ^(B)as the stars of heaven and ^(C)as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess ^(D)the gate of his^[a] enemies, ¹⁸ and ^(E)in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^(F)because you have obeyed my voice.”

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and ^(A)laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, ^(B)“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for ^(C)now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹ They answered him, ^(A)“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ^(B)“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,

³⁷ for ^(A)by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^(A)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^(B)by my works.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(A)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(B)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(C)who is the father of us all,

¹² and 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.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^(A)our forefather according to the flesh?