Romanos 9
1 Veritatem dico in Christo Iesu, non mentior: testimonium mihi perhibente conscientia mea in Spiritu sancto:
I am speaking the truth as one in union with Christ; it is no lie; and my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
2 quoniam tristitia mihi magna est, et continuus dolor cordi meo.
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 Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis, qui sunt cognati mei secundum carnem,
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 qui sunt Israelitae, quorum adoptio est filiorum, et gloria, et testamentum, et legislatio, et obsequium, et promissa:
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 quorum patres, ex quibus est Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. 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 Non autem quod exciderit verbum Dei. Non enim omnes qui ex Israel sunt, ii sunt Israelitae:
Not that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites;
7 neque qui semen sunt Abrahae, omnes filii: sed in Isaac vocabitur tibi semen:
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 id est, non qui filii carnis, hi filii Dei: sed qui filii sunt promissionis, aestimantur in semine.
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 Promissionis enim verbum hoc est: Secundum hoc tempus veniam: et erit Sarae filius.
For these words are the words of a promise – “About this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 Non solum autem illa: sed et Rebecca ex uno concubitu habens, Isaac patris nostri.
Nor is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac.
11 Cum enim nondum nati fuissent, aut aliquid boni egissent, aut mali, (ut secundum electionem propositum Dei maneret)
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 non ex operibus, sed ex vocante dictum est ei: Quia maior serviet minori,
that the elder would be a servant to the younger.
13 sicut scriptum est: Iacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui.
The words of scripture are – “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
14 Quid ergo dicemus? numquid iniquitas apud Deum? Absit.
What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid!
15 Moysi enim dicit: Miserebor cuius misereor: et misericordiam praestabo cuius miserebor.
For his words to Moses are – “I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.”
16 Igitur non volentis, neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei.
So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy.
17 Dicit enim Scriptura Pharaoni: Quia in hoc ipsum excitavi te, ut ostendam in te virtutem meam: et ut annuncietur nomen meum in universa terra.
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 Ergo cuius vult miseretur, et quem vult indurat.
So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
19 Dicis itaque mihi: Quid adhuc queritur? voluntati enim eius quis resistit?
Perhaps you will say to me – “How can anyone still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?”
20 O homo, tu quis es, qui respondeas Deo? Numquid dicit figmentum ei, qui se finxit: Quid me fecisti sic?
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 An non habet potestatem figulus luti ex eadem massa facere aliud quidem vas in honorem, aliud vero in contumeliam?
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 Quod si Deus volens ostendere iram, et notum facere potentiam suam, sustinuit in multa patientia vasa irae, aptata in interitum,
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 ut ostenderet divitias gloriae suae in vasa misericordiae, quae praeparavit in gloriam.
so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
24 Quos et vocavit non solum ex Iudaeis, sed etiam in Gentibus,
and whom he called – even us – not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also!
25 sicut in Osee dicit: Vocabo non plebem meam, plebem meam: et non dilectam, dilectam: et non misericordiam consecutam, misericordiam consecutam.
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 Et erit: in loco, ubi dictum est eis: Non plebs mea vos: ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi.
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 Isaias autem clamat pro Israel: Si fuerit numerus filiorum Israel tamquam arena maris, reliquiae salvae fient.
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 Verbum enim consummans, et abbrevians in aequitate: quia verbum breviatum faciet Dominus super terram:
For the Lord will execute his sentence on the world, fully and without delay.”
29 et sicut praedixit Isaias: Nisi Dominus sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen, sicut Sodoma facti essemus, et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus.
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 Quid ergo dicemus? Quod gentes, quae non sectabantur iustitiam, apprehenderunt iustitiam: iustitiam autem, quae ex fide est.
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 Israel vero sectando legem iustitiae, in legem iustitiae non pervenit.
while Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.
32 Quare? Quia non ex fide, sed quasi ex operibus: offenderunt enim in lapidem offensionis,
And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over the stumbling-block.
33 sicut scriptum est: Ecce pono in Sion lapidem offensionis, et petram scandali: et omnis, qui credit in eum, non confundetur.
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.”
