Romanos 4
Reina-Valera Antigua
4 ¿QUÉ, pues, diremos que halló Abraham nuestro padre según la carne?
2 Que si Abraham fué justificado por la obras, tiene de qué gloriarse; mas no para con Dios.
3 Porque ¿qué dice la Escritura? Y creyó Abraham á Dios, y le fué atribuído á justicia.
4 Empero al que obra, no se le cuenta el salario por merced, sino por deuda.
5 Mas al que no obra, pero cree en aquél que justifica al impío, la fe le es contada por justicia.
6 Como también David dice ser bienaventurado el hombre al cual Dios atribuye justicia sin obras,
7 Diciendo: Bienaventurados aquellos cuyas iniquidades son perdonadas, Y cuyos pecados son cubiertos.
8 Bienaventurado el varón al cual el Señor no imputó pecado.
9 ¿Es pues esta bienaventuranza solamente en la circuncisión ó también en la incircuncisión? porque decimos que á Abraham fué contada la fe por justicia.
10 ¿Cómo pues le fué contada? ¿en la circuncisión, ó en la incircuncisión? No en la circuncisión, sino en la incircuncisión.
11 Y recibió la circuncisión por señal, por sello de la justicia de la fe que tuvo en la incircuncisión: para que fuese padre de todos los creyentes no circuncidados, para que también á ellos les sea contado por justicia;
12 Y padre de la circuncisión, no solamente á los que son de la circuncisión, más también á los que siguen las pisadas de la fe que fué en nuestro padre Abraham antes de ser circuncidado.
13 Porque no por la ley fué dada la promesa á Abraham ó á su simiente, que sería heredero del mundo, sino por la justicia de la fe.
14 Porque si los que son de la ley son los herederos, vana es la fe, y anulada es la promesa.
15 Porque la ley obra ira; porque donde no hay ley, tampoco hay transgresión.
16 Por tanto es por la fe, para que sea por gracia; para que la promesa sea firme á toda simiente, no solamente al que es de la ley, mas también al que es de la fe de Abraham, el cual es padre de todos nosotros.
17 (Como está escrito: Que por padre de muchas gentes te he puesto) delante de Dios, al cual creyó; el cual da vida á los muertos, y llama las cosas que no son, como las que son.
18 El creyó en esperanza contra esperanza, para venir á ser padre de muchas gentes, conforme á lo que le había sido dicho: Así será tu simiente.
19 Y no se enflaqueció en la fe, ni consideró su cuerpo ya muerto (siendo ya de casi cien años,) ni la matriz muerta de Sara;
20 Tampoco en la promesa de Dios dudó con desconfianza: antes fué esforzado en fe, dando gloria á Dios,
21 Plenamente convencido de que todo lo que había prometido, era también poderoso para hacerlo.
22 Por lo cual también le fué atribuído á justicia.
23 Y no solamente por él fué escrito que le haya sido imputado;
24 Sino también por nosotros, á quienes será imputado, esto es, á los que creemos en el que levantó de los muertos á Jesús Señor nuestro,
25 El cual fué entregado por nuestros delitos, y resucitado para nuestra justificación
Romans 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Abraham believed God
4 Abraham was the ancestor of all of us who are Jews. Think about what he discovered. 2 God did not accept Abraham as right with him because Abraham had done good things. If God had done that, then Abraham would have been able to boast about himself. But he could not boast to God. 3 Remember what the Bible tells us. It says: ‘Abraham believed God. As a result, God accepted Abraham as right with him.’[a]
4 When a person works to get money, it is right for him to receive his money. That money is not a gift. It is what that person ought to receive as a result of his work. 5 But someone may believe in God. He does not work to cause God to accept him. God accepts that person because of their faith. God says that people who have turned away from him are right with him, if they trust him. That is God's gift to them. 6 David also wrote about the same thing. He describes those people that God has accepted as right with himself. God has not accepted them because they have done good things, but as his gift to them. David tells us how happy people like that are. 7 David says:
‘The people that God has forgiven are really happy.
They have done wrong things, but he has forgiven them.
8 A person is really happy when the Lord accepts him.
The Lord does not think about that person's sin any more.’[b]
9 God does this for all people, both Jews and Gentiles. All people can be really happy like this, when God accepts them. As we have said, Abraham believed God. As a result, God accepted Abraham as right with him. 10 They circumcised Abraham to show that he was a Jew. Think about the time when God accepted Abraham. Did it happen before they circumcised him, or after that? We know that it was before they circumcised him! 11 Some time after that, God told Abraham that someone should circumcise him. That would be a mark on his body to show that God had accepted him. God had already accepted Abraham because Abraham believed in him. God did not accept Abraham because they had circumcised him as a Jewish man. This shows that Abraham is like a father to everyone that God has accepted. Like Abraham, God has accepted them because they have believed in him. It is not important that nobody has circumcised them. 12 But Abraham is also like the father of all Jews who believe in God. Someone has circumcised those Jews, but they have copied Abraham's example. They have believed in God, as Abraham believed before anyone had circumcised him.[c]
13 God promised to Abraham, and to his descendants, that the world would belong to them one day.[d] God did not promise that because Abraham obeyed any rules. God promised it because Abraham believed in him. That is why God accepted Abraham as right with him. 14 People cannot get what God promised because they obey rules. If they could get it like that, then faith in God would be worth nothing. And what God promised would be worth nothing. 15 The rules in Moses' Law say that God will punish people who do not obey those rules. But without any rules, there is nothing for people to obey.
16 So God gives us his promise as a gift, because he is very kind. We receive it when we trust him. If we believe in God like Abraham did, then God accepts us. That is God's promise to all of Abraham's family. If we believe in God, we can call Abraham our ancestor. We can all receive what God has promised. It is not only for those who have Moses' Law to obey. 17 In the Bible, God said to Abraham, ‘I have chosen you to become the ancestor of many different people.’[e] That is what God himself promises, because Abraham believed in him. God is the one who causes dead people to become alive again. He speaks about things that are not yet there as if they were already there.
18 Abraham continued to trust God. He hoped to receive what God had promised. He continued to hope even when he had no good reason to hope. That is why he became the ancestor of many different people. It happened just like God had said: ‘You will have very many descendants.’[f]
19 Abraham was about 100 years old. His body was already so old that it was nearly dead. His wife, Sarah, was unable to have children. Abraham understood all that, but he did not stop trusting God. 20 He never stopped believing what God had promised. Instead, he believed in God more strongly. He trusted God's great power. 21 Abraham was sure that God was able to do what he had promised to do. 22 So we see that it is true: Because Abraham believed God, God accepted Abraham as right with him.[g]
23 Think about those words, ‘God accepted him as right.’ They are not only speaking about Abraham. 24 They are written in the Bible to help us too. If we believe in God, he will accept us as right with him. God raised our Lord Jesus, so that he became alive again after his death. 25 God let people kill Jesus on the cross because of the wrong things that we have done. Then God raised Jesus from death, to show that he would accept us as right with him.
Footnotes
- 4:3 See Genesis 15:6. Genesis 12—22 tell us about how Abraham believed God.
- 4:8 See Psalms 32:1-2.
- 4:12 See Genesis 17:1-27.
- 4:13 Genesis 22:17-18 shows us what God promised to Abraham.
- 4:17 See Genesis 17:5.
- 4:18 See Genesis 17:7.
- 4:22 See Genesis 18:14;.
Romans 4
New King James Version
Abraham Justified by Faith(A)
4 What then shall we say that (B)Abraham our (C)father[a] has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was (D)justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? (E)“Abraham believed God, and it was [b]accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now (F)to him who works, the wages are not counted [c]as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
5 But to him who (G)does not work but believes on Him who justifies (H)the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also (I)describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed(J) are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Abraham Justified Before Circumcision
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And (K)he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that (L)he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father (M)Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
13 For the promise that he would be the (N)heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For (O)if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because (P)the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be (Q)according to grace, (R)so that the promise might be [d]sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, (S)who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, (T)“I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, (U)who gives life to the dead and calls those (V)things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, (W)“So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, (X)he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), (Y)and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised (Z)He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore (AA)“it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now (AB)it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe (AC)in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 (AD)who was delivered up because of our offenses, and (AE)was raised because of our justification.
Footnotes
- Romans 4:1 Or (fore)father according to the flesh has found?
- Romans 4:3 imputed, credited, reckoned, counted
- Romans 4:4 according to
- Romans 4:16 certain
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
