The Judgment of the Nations

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.^{(A) 32} All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,^{(B) 33} and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,^{(C) 35} for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,^{(D) 36} I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’^{(E) 37} Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’^{(F) 41} Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,^{(G) 42} for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’^{(H) 46} And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”^(I)

God’s Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”^{(A) 2} But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”^{[a](B) 3} And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”^{(C) 4} But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”^{(D) 5} He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”^{(E) 6} And he believed the Lord, and the Lord^[b] reckoned it to him as righteousness.

¹² As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.^{(A) 13} Then the Lord^[a] said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years,^{(B) 14} but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.^{(C) 15} As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.^{(D) 16} And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”^(E)

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.^{(F) 18} On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates,^(G)

Righteousness through Faith

²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets,^{(A) 22} the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ^[a] for all who believe.^[b] For there is no distinction,^{(B) 23} since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;^{(C) 24} they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,^{(D) 25} whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement^[c] by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;^{(E) 26} it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.^[d]

²⁷ Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith.^{(F) 28} For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.^{(G) 29} Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of gentiles also? Yes, of gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.^{(H) 31} Do we then overthrow the law through this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.