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]
| پس در این صورت دربارۀ آنچه ابراهیم یافت چه بگوییم، او که به‌لحاظ بشری، جدّ ما یهودیان بود؟ |
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].
| اگر اعمال نیک او سبب شد مقبول خدا واقع شود، می‌توانست افتخار کند. اما راه و روش خدا این نبود. |
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}.
| ببینیم در کتب مقدّس چه گفته شده: «ابراهیم به خدا ایمان آورد، و این برای او عدالت شمرده شد.» |
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].
| وقتی شخص کاری انجام می‌دهد، دستمزدش دیگر هدیه به شمار نمی‌آید، بلکه چیزی است که به خاطر کارش به دست آورده است. |
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].
| اما به کسی که کاری انجام نمی‌دهد، بلکه به خدایی توکل می‌کند که خدانشناسان را عادل می‌شمارد و نجات می‌بخشد، ایمانش به حساب عدالت او گذاشته می‌شود. |
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]:
| داوود در بیان همین حقیقت، شادی یک شخص گناهکار را توصیف می‌کند که بدون آنکه لایق باشد، خدا او را «بی‌گناه» اعلام می‌دارد: |
7 [God] is pleased with people whose sins have been {whose sins [he] has} forgiven, and whose sins he [has decided] to forget [DOU].
| «خوشا به حال کسی که گناهش آمرزیده شد، و خطایش پوشانیده گردید. |
8 [God] causes to be happy the people whose sins he no longer keeps a record of.
| خوشا به حال کسی که خداوند او را مجرم نمی‌شناسد!» |
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].
| حال ممکن است این سؤال مطرح شود که این سعادت نصیب چه کسانی می‌گردد؟ آیا فقط نصیب اشخاصی می‌شود که ضمن ایمان به عیسی مسیح، مطابق شریعت ختنه نیز می‌شوند؟ یا نصیب آنانی هم می‌شود که بدون ختنه، فقط به عیسی مسیح ایمان دارند؟ در مورد ابراهیم چطور بود؟ دیدیم که ایمان ابراهیم برای او عدالت شمرده شد. |
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.
| اما این امر چگونه اتفاق افتاد؟ آیا بعد از ختنه بود که او عادل به شمار آمد، یا پیش از آنکه ختنه شود؟ روشن است که پیش از رسم ختنه بود. |
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.
| در واقع او زمانی ختنه شد که مدتها از ایمان آوردن او به خدا و دریافت وعدهٔ برکت الهی می‌گذشت. مراسم ختنه، نشانه و علامتی بود از همین واقعیت. در نتیجه ابراهیم از لحاظ روحانی، پدر کسانی است که بدون ختنه شدن به خدا ایمان می‌آورند تا ایشان نیز عادل شمرده شوند. |
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.
| در ضمن، ابراهیم از لحاظ روحانی پدر کسانی است که ختنه شده‌اند، اما با توجه به زندگی ابراهیم، پی برده‌اند که نجات و لطف خدا، از راه ایمان به دست می‌آید، نه در اثر مراسم ختنه. زیرا ابراهیم تنها از راه ایمان توانست رضایت خدا را حاصل کند، پیش از آنکه ختنه شود. |
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.
| خدا به ابراهیم و به نسل او وعده داد که جهان را به ایشان ببخشد. واضح است که این وعدهٔ خدا به این دلیل نبود که ابراهیم تشریفات و احکام شریعت را اجرا می‌کرد، بلکه فقط به خاطر ایمان او بود، ایمان و اعتماد به اینکه خدا وعده‌های خود را وفا خواهد نمود. خدا نیز در برابر این ایمان، ابراهیم را عادل شمرد. |
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].
| پس اگر هنوز هم ادعا می‌کنید که برکات خدا نصیب کسانی می‌شود که احکام و تشریفات یهود را نگاه می‌دارند، در واقع منظورتان این است که وعده‌های خدا به صاحبان ایمان، بی‌اعتبار است و ایمان به خدا نیز کار احمقانه‌ای است. |
| اما حقیقت امر این است که هرگاه بکوشیم نجات و سعادت الهی را از راه انجام احکام شریعت به دست آوریم، همیشه نتیجه‌اش این می‌شود که مورد خشم و غضب خدا قرار می‌گیریم؛ زیرا هیچگاه موفق نمی‌شویم آن احکام را کاملاً رعایت کنیم. ما تنها زمانی می‌توانیم قانون‌شکنی نکنیم که اصلاً قانونی وجود نداشته باشد. |
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].
| پس نتیجه می‌گیریم که خدا برکات خود را از راه ایمان به ما عطا می‌کند، همچون یک هدیه. حال، چه مراسم مذهبی را رعایت کنیم و چه نکنیم، اگر ایمانی مانند ایمان ابراهیم داشته باشیم، بی‌شک آن برکات نصیب ما نیز خواهد شد، چون از لحاظ ایمان، ابراهیم پدر همگی ماست. |
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],
| همان‌طور که در کتب مقدّس نوشته شده: «تو را پدر قومهای بسیار ساخته‌ام.» علّت این امر این است که ابراهیم به خدایی ایمان آورد که مردگان را زنده می‌کند و چیزهای تازه را از نیستی‌ها خلق می‌کند. |
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.
| بنابراین، زمانی که خدا به ابراهیم فرمود که به او پسری خواهد بخشید و از نسل او قومهای بسیاری به وجود خواهند آمد، ابراهیم به وعدهٔ خدا ایمان آورد، اگرچه چنین امری عملاً محال بود. |
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],
| زیرا در آن زمان ابراهیم صد سال داشت و همسرش سارا نود سال، و هیچ‌یک قادر نبودند صاحب فرزند شوند. با وجود این، چون ایمان ابراهیم قوی بود، به وعدهٔ خدا شک نکرد. |
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].
| بله، او هیچگاه شک ننمود. او به خدا ایمان داشت و ایمانش روز‌به‌روز قویتر شده، خدا را تجلیل کرد. |
21 He was also convinced {very sure} that the thing that God promised, God was able to do.
| زیرا یقین داشت که خدا قادر است به همهٔ وعده‌های خود عمل کند. |
22 And that is the reason that the record of his sins was erased {[God] erased the record of his sins}.
| به خاطر همین ایمان بود که خدا او را عادل به شمار آورد. |
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.
| این عبارت که «از راه ایمان مورد قبول خدا واقع شد»، فقط دربارهٔ ابراهیم نوشته نشده است. |
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.
| بلکه برای این نوشته شد که ما اطمینان بیابیم که خدا ما را نیز از همان راه به حضور خود می‌پذیرد، یعنی از راه ایمان به وعدهٔ خدا، خدایی که خداوند ما عیسی را پس از مرگ زنده کرد. |
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.
| او به خاطر گناهان ما به مرگ سپرده شد، و دوباره زنده شد تا ما در پیشگاه خدا عادل به حساب آییم. |
