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Is this blessedness[a] then for[b] the circumcision[c] or also for[d] the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”[e] 10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised,[f] so that he would become[g] the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised,[h] that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised,[i] who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.[j]

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 4:9 tn Or “happiness.”
  2. Romans 4:9 tn Grk “upon.”
  3. Romans 4:9 sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.
  4. Romans 4:9 tn Grk “upon.”
  5. Romans 4:9 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
  6. Romans 4:11 tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”
  7. Romans 4:11 tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.
  8. Romans 4:11 tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”
  9. Romans 4:12 tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”
  10. Romans 4:12 tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

Is this blessing, then, pronounced only on the circumcised or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith[a] while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe[b] without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,(A) 12 and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.

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Footnotes

  1. 4.11 Or trust
  2. 4.11 Or trust