4 ¹³ The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 4 ¹⁴ If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 4 ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

4 ¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants - not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, 4 ^{17 [ Gn.17.5, Gn.15.5. ]} as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 4 ^{18 [ Is.48.13. ]} In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be." 4 ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 4 ²⁰ No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 4 ²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 4 ^{22 [ Gn.15.6. ]} That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness." 4 ²³ But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 4 ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 4 ²⁵ who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.