Psalm 136

¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

²O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.

³O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁴who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁵who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁶who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁷who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁸the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁹the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁰who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹¹and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹²with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹³who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁴and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁵but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁶who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁷who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁸and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁹Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;

²⁰and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;

²¹and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;

²²a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.

²³It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;

²⁴and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;

²⁵who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.

²⁶O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

4What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor 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 reckoned to him as righteousness.” ⁴Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. ⁵But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. ⁶So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: ⁷“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; ⁸blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”

⁹Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹⁰How then was it reckoned 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 ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, ¹²and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised. ¹³For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. ¹⁶For this reason 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 all of us,

¹⁷as 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. ¹⁸Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

²³Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.