Romans 4
1 Abraham is the [revered] ancestor of us [Jews]. So think about what we can conclude [from what happened to Abraham about how God can erase the record of our sins]. [RHQ]
Vậy, chúng ta sẽ nói Áp-ra-ham, tổ phụ chúng ta, theo xác thịt đã được ích gì?
2 If it was because of Abraham’s doing [good] things that the record of his sins was erased {that [God] erased the record of his sins}, Abraham could then have been able to boast [about that to people], but he would not have [had any basis to] boast to God [about it].
Thật thế nếu Áp-ra-ham đã được xưng công bình bởi việc làm, thì có cớ khoe mình; nhưng trước mặt Ðức Chúa Trời không có như vậy.
3 [Remember that] in the Scriptures it is written {someone wrote} [PRS] that Abraham believed what God [promised] [RHQ], and as a result the record of his sins was erased {[God] erased the record of his sins}.
Vì Kinh Thánh có dạy chi? Áp-ra-ham tin Ðức Chúa Trời, và điều đó kể là công bình cho người.
4 If we receive wages for work that we do, those wages are not considered to be a gift. Instead, they [are considered] to be what we have earned. [Similarly, if God erases the record of our sins because we did things to earn God’s favor], we would not consider that [God’s erasing the record of our sin] was [a gift. Instead, we would consider it as what we had earned].
Vả, đối với kẻ nào làm việc, thì tiền công không kể là ơn, nhưng kể như là nợ,
5 But suppose that we do not do things [to gain God’s acceptance]. Suppose that we instead trust [in God], who erases the record of sins of wicked people. Then the erasing of the record of our sins because of our trusting [in Christ] is considered to be a gift to us, [not something that we earned].
còn kẻ chẳng làm việc chi hết, nhưng tin Ðấng xưng người có tội là công bình, thì đức tin của kẻ ấy kể là công bình cho mình.
6 Similarly, it is as David wrote [in the Psalms] about people being happy whose record of sins God has erased even though they have not done things [to earn it. David wrote]:
Ấy vậy, vua Ða-vít cũng tỏ ra cái phước của người mà Ðức Chúa Trời kể cho là công bình chẳng bởi việc làm, mà rằng:
7 [God] is pleased with people whose sins have been {whose sins [he] has} forgiven, and whose sins he [has decided] to forget [DOU].
Phước thay cho kẻ, lỗi mình được tha thứ, Tội mình được che đậy!
8 [God] causes to be happy the people whose sins he no longer keeps a record of.
Phước thay cho người mà Chúa chẳng kể tội lỗi cho!
9 As for our being happy [because God has erased the record of our sins], (it is not something that [only] we Jews [can experience]./is it [MTY] something that [only] we Jews [can experience]?) [RHQ] [No, it is] also something that non-Jews [can experience] [MTY]. [What is written in the Scriptures], that it was because Abraham trusted [in God] that the record of his sins was erased {[God] erased the record of his sins}, [also shows that this is true].
Vậy, lời luận về phước đó chỉ chuyên về kẻ chịu cắt bì mà thôi sao? Cũng cho kẻ không chịu cắt bì nữa. Vả, chúng ta nói rằng đức tin của Áp-ra-ham được kể là công bình cho người.
10 ([Think about] when [God erased the record of Abraham’s sins]./When did [God erase the record of Abraham’s sins]?) [RHQ] (Consider whether [it happened] after someone circumcised [Abraham to mark him as one who belonged to God], or before someone circumcised him./[Did it happen] after [Abraham was] circumcised [to be marked as one who belonged to God], or before he was circumcised?) [RHQ] It happened before he was circumcised, not after he was circumcised.
Nhưng được kể thế nào? Khi người đã chịu cắt bì rồi, hay là khi người chưa chịu cắt bì? Ấy không phải sau khi người chịu cắt bì, bèn là trước.
11 [Many years later, God commanded that] Abraham [be] circumcised. Abraham’s accepting that ritual simply showed [that he knew that God had accepted him]. [He knew that God] had [erased the record of his sins] because he trusted [in God] while he was still, [in effect, a non-Jew because] he had not been circumcised. [So we can understand that] Abraham became (a spiritual ancestor/like an ancestor) to [all] of us whose record of sins has been erased {whose sins [God] has erased the record of} because we believe [in God’s promise, even though some of us] are not circumcised.
Vậy, người đã nhận lấy dấu cắt bì, như dấu ấn của sự công bình mà người đã được bởi đức tin, khi chưa chịu cắt bì; hầu cho làm cha hết thảy những kẻ tin mà không chịu cắt bì, đặng họ được kể là công bình,
12 Likewise, Abraham is the [spiritual] ancestor of all us Jews who are not merely circumcised but who, more importantly, [believe in God’s promise] as our ancestor Abraham did, even before he was circumcised.
và cũng làm cha những kẻ chịu cắt bì, tức là cha những kẻ không những chịu cắt bì thôi, lại cũng noi theo dấu đức tin mà Áp-ra-ham, tổ phụ chúng ta, đã có trước khi chưa chịu cắt bì vậy.
13 God promised Abraham and his descendants that they would receive [the blessings that he promised to give to the people in] the world. But when he promised that, it was not because Abraham [obeyed] the laws [that God later gave to Moses]. Instead, it was because Abraham believed [that God would do what he promised that he would do]. As a result, God erased the record of his sins.
Vả, ấy chẳng phải bởi luật pháp mà có lời hứa cho Áp-ra-ham hoặc dòng dõi người lấy thế gian làm gia nghiệp, bèn là bởi sự công bình của đức tin.
14 If [we think that] it is those who [obey God’s] laws who will receive [what he has promised], it is useless [for us to trust in him. And what he] promised is worthless. [Remember that] it is [stated] in God’s law [PRS] [that] he will punish [people who do not perfectly obey them], and remember that wherever [MTY] laws exist, [people] disobey them [LIT].
Vì, nếu bởi luật pháp mà được hưởng gia nghiệp, thì đức tin ra vô ích, lời hứa cũng bỏ rồi,
vì luật pháp sanh ra sự giận; song đâu không có luật pháp, thì đó cũng không có sự phạm luật pháp.
16 So it is because [we] trust [in God that we will receive the things that he has promised]. [It is not because we perfectly obey God’s laws. He wants] (to [erase the record of our sins/to declare us no longer guilty]) without our earning it. As a result, what God now promises, he guarantees to give to all people who are [Abraham’s spiritual] descendants. [He promises to do that not only for us Jewish believers], who [have] God’s laws [and trust in him as Abraham did], but also for those [non-Jews who do not have God’s laws but] who trust [in him] as Abraham did. Abraham is the [spiritual] ancestor of all of us [believers].
Vậy nên, bởi đức tin mà người ta trở nên kẻ ăn gia tài, hầu cho sự ấy được bởi ân điển, và cho lời hứa được chắc chắn cho cả dòng dõi Áp-ra-ham, chẳng những cho dòng dõi dưới quyền luật pháp, mà cũng cho dòng dõi có đức tin của Áp-ra-ham, là tổ phụ hết thảy chúng ta,
17 What is written {What [Moses] wrote} [in the Scriptures about what God promised Abraham shows that this is true]. [God said to him], “It is in order that you [(sg)] may be the ancestor of many ethnic groups that I have chosen you.” Romans 4:17b-22 God [guaranteed that he would give Abraham many descendants]. Abraham confidently believed that God [would do that],
y như lời chép rằng: Ta đã lập ngươi làm cha nhiều dân tộc, thật người là cha chúng ta trước mặt Ðức Chúa Trời, tức là Ðấng người đã tin, là Ðấng ban sự sống cho kẻ chết, gọi những sự không có như có rồi.
18 even though there was no physical reason for him to hope [that he would have descendants, because he and his wife were too old to bear children]. But God is the one who causes dead people to live again, and who talks about things that do not yet exist as already existing. [God said to Abraham], “You will have so many descendants that they will be [as impossible to count as the stars].” And Abraham believed that, and he believed that he would become the ancestor of many ethnic groups.
Người cậy trông khi chẳng còn lẽ trông cậy, cứ tin, và trở nên cha của nhiều dân tộc, theo lời đã phán cho người rằng: Dòng dõi ngươi sẽ như thể ấy.
19 He did not doubt [that God would do what he promised], even though he knew that his body was already [as incapable of begetting children as if he were] dead [MET] because he was about 100 years old. And [even though he realized that] Sarah had never been able to become pregnant [IDM],
Người thấy thân thể mình hao mòn, vì đã gần đầy trăm tuổi, và thấy Sa-ra không thể sanh đẻ được nữa, song đức tin chẳng kém.
20 he did not doubt at all that God [would do what he had] promised. Instead, he trusted [in God] more/very strongly, and he thanked God [for what God was going to do].
Người chẳng có lưỡng lự hoặc hoài nghi về lời hứa Ðức Chúa Trời, nhưng càng mạnh mẽ trong đức tin, và ngợi khen Ðức Chúa Trời,
21 He was also convinced {very sure} that the thing that God promised, God was able to do.
vì tin chắc rằng điều chi Ðức Chúa Trời đã hứa, Ngài cũng có quyền làm trọn được.
22 And that is the reason that the record of his sins was erased {[God] erased the record of his sins}.
Cho nên đức tin của người được kể cho là công bình.
23 The words [in the Scriptures], “The record of his sins was erased {[God] erased the record of his sins},” are not only about Abraham.
Vả, ấy chẳng phải chỉ vì một mình người mà có chép rằng đức tin người đã được kể cho là công bình,
24 They were also written {[They] also wrote that} for us whose record of sins would be erased {[God] would erase}. They were written {[They] wrote it} for us who believe [God], the one who caused our Lord Jesus to become alive again after he died.
nhưng cũng vì chúng ta nữa, đức tin sự được kể là công bình cho chúng ta, là kẻ tin Ðấng đã làm cho Ðức Chúa Jêsus, Chúa chúng ta, sống lại từ trong kẻ chết,
25 Jesus allowed [men] to execute [MTY] him so that [God could forgive] our evil deeds. And [God] caused Jesus to live again because [God wanted to show that because of the death of Jesus he was able to] erase the record of our sins.
Ngài đã bị nộp vì tội lỗi chúng ta, và sống lại vì sự xưng công bình của chúng ta.
