Romans 9
1 I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit
I am speaking the truth as one in union with Christ; it is no lie; and my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
bears me out when I say that there is a great weight of sorrow on me and that my heart is never free from pain.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh
I could wish that I were myself accursed and severed from the Christ, for the sake of my people – my own flesh and blood.
4 who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
For they are Israelites, and theirs are the adoption as children, the visible presence, the covenants, the revealed Law, the Temple worship, and the promises.
5 of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. (aiōn g165)
They are descended from the patriarchs, and, as far as his human nature was concerned, from them came the Christ – he who is supreme over all things, God for ever blessed. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel that are of Israel.
Not that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites;
7 Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”
nor, because they are Abraham’s descendants, are they all his children; but – “It is Isaac’s children who will be called your descendants.”
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
This means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God’s children, but it is the children born in fulfilment of the promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants.
9 For this is a word of promise: “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
For these words are the words of a promise – “About this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac.
Nor is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac.
11 For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,
For in order that the purpose of God, working through selection, might not fail – a selection depending, not on obedience, but on his call – Rebecca was told, before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong,
12 it was said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.”
that the elder would be a servant to the younger.
13 Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
The words of scripture are – “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid!
15 For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
For his words to Moses are – “I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.”
16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.
So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
In scripture, again, it is said to Pharaoh – “It was for this purpose that I raised you to the throne, to show my power by my dealings with you, and to make my name known throughout the world.”
18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.
So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
19 You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?”
Perhaps you will say to me – “How can anyone still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?”
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
I might rather ask “Who are you who are arguing with God?” Does a thing which a person has moulded say to the person who has moulded it “Why did you make me like this?”
21 Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
Has not the potter absolute power over their clay, so that out of the same lump they make one thing for better, and another for common, use?
22 What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed,
23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory—
so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
24 us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?
and whom he called – even us – not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also!
25 As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.”
This, indeed, is what he says in the book of Hosea – “Those who were not my people, I will call my people, and those who were unloved I will love.
26 “It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
And in the place where it was said to them – ‘You are not my people’, they will be called sons of the living God.”
27 Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
And Isaiah cries aloud over Israel – “Though the sons of Israel are like the sand of the sea in number, only a remnant of them will escape!
28 for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
For the Lord will execute his sentence on the world, fully and without delay.”
29 As Isaiah has said before, “Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.”
It is as Isaiah foretold – “Had not the Lord of Hosts spared some few of our people to us, we should have become like Sodom and been made to resemble Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith;
What are we to say, then? Why, that Gentiles, who were not in search of righteousness, secured it – a righteousness which was the result of faith;
31 but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness.
while Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.
32 Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over the stumbling-block.
33 even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
As scripture says – “See, I place a stumbling-block in Zion – a rock which will prove a hindrance; and he who believes in him will have no cause for shame.”
