1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?

2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

3For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

5And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

6just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

9Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.

10How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.

11He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,

12and 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.