VaRoma 9
1 Ndinotaura chokwadi muna Kristu, handinyepi, hana yangu ichipupurirana neni muMweya Mutsvene,
[Now I would like to discuss the fact that most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ]. Because of my relationship with Christ, I say completely truthfully [what I will now tell you]. I am not lying [DOU]! My conscience confirms what I [say] because the Holy Spirit [controls it].
2 kuti ndinoshushikana kwazvo, neshungu dzisingaperi mumoyo mangu.
[I tell you that] I grieve very greatly and deeply [DOU] [about my fellow Israelites].
3 Nokuti ndaishuva kuti ini ndomene nditukwe kuna Kristu nekuda kwehama dzangu, verudzi rwangu panyama;
I personally would be willing to let [God] curse me [and, as a result, be separated] from Christ, [if that would] help my fellow Israelites, my natural kinsmen, [to believe in Christ].
4 vari VaIsraeri, vane kuitwa vana, nekubwinya, nesungano, nekupiwa kwemurairo, neushumiri hwaMwari, nezvivimbiso,
We [Jews] are [Israelites, God’s chosen] descendants of [Jacob]. [God has always considered] us as his children [MET]. It was to our ancestors [that he used to appear] gloriously [while they were in the desert]. It was with them that [God made] covenants [several times]. It was to them [that God] gave the laws [at Sinai Mountain]. They were the ones [to whom God showed how they should] worship him. They were the ones [to whom God] promised many things, [especially that the Messiah would come from their race].
5 madzibaba ndeavo, naKristu wakabva kwavari panyama, ari pamusoro pezvese, Mwari anokudzwa narinhi. Ameni. (aiōn g165)
It was our ancestors, [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom God chose to found our nation]. And, [most importantly], it was from us Israelites that the Messiah received his human nature. [Nevertheless, most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ], who is the one who controls all things! He is God, the one who is worthy that we praise him forever! This is true! (OR, Amen!) (aiōn g165)
6 Asi kwete shoko raMwari serakakundikana. Nokuti havasi vese vakabva kuna Israeri, vari VaIsraeri;
[God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that their descendants would all inherit his blessings]. But [although most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ], that does not [prove] that God has failed [to do] the things that he promised, because it is not all who are descended from Jacob and who [call themselves the people of] Israel whom [God considers] to be truly his people.
7 kwete nokuti imbeu yaAbhurahama, vese vana; asi zvinonzi: Kuna Isaka ndiko kuchadanwa mbeu yako.
And it is also not all of Abraham’s natural descendants that [God considers] to be his people. Instead, [God considers only some of them to be Abraham’s children]. [This agrees with what God told Abraham]: “It is Isaac, [not any of your(sg) other sons], whom [I] will consider [to be the true father of] your descendants.”
8 Ndiko kuti, havasi vana venyama, ivo vari vana vaMwari; asi vana vechivimbiso vanoverengerwa kumbeu.
That means that it is not all the natural-born descendants [of Abraham] whom God [considers as] his children. Instead, it is those who [believed what God] promised whom [he] considers to be his children.
9 Nokuti iri ishoko rechivimbiso rinoti: Nenguva ino ndichauya, uye Sara achava nemwanakomana.
[You know that what God] promised [to Abraham] was this: “About this time [next year] Sarah [your wife] will bear a son [as a result of my enabling] [MTY] [her to do so].” [So Abraham knew that it was not through Ishmael, the son that he already had, that God would fulfill what he had promised him] (OR, [that his true descendants would come]).
10 Handizvo chete, asi naRibheka wakati ava nemimba neumwe, Isaka baba vedu;
And not only then did God show [that he did not determine who would be his true children according to who their ancestors were. He showed it again] when Rebecca conceived [twins] by our ancestor Isaac.
11 nokuti vana vasati vaberekwa, kana kumboita chakanaka kana chakaipa, kuti zano raMwari maererano nesananguro rigare, kwete kubva pamabasa, asi kubva kune anodana,
Before [the twins, Jacob and Esau], were born, when neither one had yet done anything good or bad, [God] said to Rebecca [about the twins she was to bear], “The older one shall later serve the younger one, [contrary to normal custom].” [God said this] in order that [we] might [clearly] understand that what he purposed [for people] was according to what he himself determined. That is, people’s [eternal destiny] does not depend on what they do. Instead, their destiny depends on [God], the one who chooses them.
12 zvakataurwa kwaari kuti: Mukuru achashumira mudiki,
13 sezvazvakanyorwa zvichinzi: Jakobho ndakamuda, asi Esau ndakamuvenga.
And [this teaching is] ([supported/shown to be true]) [by] what is written [in the Scriptures] {what [a prophet] recorded} [that God said]: “I favored Jacob, [the younger son]. I did not favor [HYP] Esau, [the older son].”
14 Ko zvino tichatii? Kusarurama kuriko kuna Mwari here? Ngazvisadaro!
[Someone] might say, “(Is God unjust [by choosing the ones he wants to choose?/I think] that God is unjust [by choosing the ones he wants to choose!])” [RHQ] [I would reply], “[He is] certainly not [unjust]!”
15 Nokuti anoti kuna Mozisi: Ndichava netsitsi kune wandine tsitsi naye, ndichanzwira ngoni wandinonzwira ngoni.
God told Moses, “I will pity and help anyone whom I choose [DOU]!”
16 Naizvozvo zvakadaro hazvisi zveanoda, kana zveanomhanya, asi zvaMwari anonzwira tsitsi.
So [God chooses people], not because they want [God to choose them] or because they try hard [to do things so that he] will [accept them]. Instead he chooses people because he himself has mercy [on undeserving ones].
17 Nokuti rugwaro rwunoti kuna Farao: Ndizvozvi zvandakakumutsira, kuti ndiratidze simba rangu mauri, uye kuti zita rangu riparidzwe panyika yese.
[Moses] recorded [PRS] [that God had told] Pharaoh, “This is why I gave you [(sg)] authority [MTY]: It was in order that I might show [by how I oppose] you [how exceedingly] powerful I am, and in order that people everywhere [HYP] would hear about me [MTY].”
18 Naizvozvo zvino anonzwira tsitsi iye waanoda; uye anowomesa moyo wewaanoda.
So [we conclude that God] kindly helps the ones he wants to act kindly towards. But he makes stubborn the ones [such as Pharaoh] that he wants [to make stubborn].
19 Zvino iwe uchati kwandiri: Iye achiri kuwanirei mhosva? Nokuti ndiani angapikisa kuda kwake?
[One of] you may [object to this by] saying to me, “[Because God determines ahead of time everything that people do, that also implies that he wants us to do everything that we do]. (No one has resisted what God has willed!/Who has resisted what God has willed?) [RHQ] Therefore, (it would not be right that God would still condemn [a person for having sinned]!/why does God still condemn [a person for having sinned]?) [RHQ]”
20 Haiwa, iwe munhu ndiwe ani anokakavadza Mwari? Chakaumbiwa chingati here kune wakaumba: Wakandiitirei sezvizvi?
[I would reply that since] you [(sg)] are [just a] human being, (you do not [have any right at all to] criticize God!/[who are you to] say that what God does is wrong?) [RHQ] [As a potter is the one who creates a clay pot, God is the one who created you]. (A clay pot [MET] certainly would not [have a right to criticize] the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you [(sg)] make me this way?”/Would a clay pot [have a right to criticize] the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you [(sg)] make me this way?”) [RHQ]
21 Kana muumbi haana simba pamusoro pevhu here, kuti nebundu rimwe aite mudziyo umwe unokudzwa, neumwe unozvidzwa?
Instead, (the potter certainly has the right to [take] some clay and from one lump [of clay] make one pot that people will honor and [make another] one for ordinary purposes [MET]./does not a potter have the right to [take] some clay and from one lump [of clay] make one pot that people will honor and [make another] pot for ordinary purposes?) [MET, RHQ] [Similarly, God has the right to carry out what he purposes for people].
22 Uye kana Mwari achida kuratidza hasha, nekuzivisa simba rake, wakatakura nemoyo murefu kwazvo midziyo yehasha yakagadzirirwa kuparadzwa;
Although God desires to show that he is angry [about sin], and [although he desires to] make clear that he can powerfully [punish people who have sinned], he tolerated very patiently the people [MET] who caused him to be angry and who deserved to be destroyed (OR, who were made to be destroyed).
23 uye kuti azivise fuma yekubwinya kwake pamidziyo yetsitsi, yaakagara agadzirira kubwinya,
[God has been patient] in order that he might make clear how very wonderfully [he acts toward those] [MET] whom he intended to act mercifully towards and whom he prepared ahead of time in order that they might [live] gloriously [in heaven].
24 nesu, vaakadana, yatiri isu, kusiri kuVaJudha chete, asi nekuvahedheni?
That means us whom he chose—not only [us] Jews but also non-Jews.
25 Sezvaanorevawo muna Hosiya achiti: Ndichavaidza vanhu vangu ivo vasiri vanhu vangu; naiye wakange asingadikanwi mudikanwi;
[These words that] Hosea wrote [MTY] that [God] said also (show that God has the right/[support God’s right]) [to choose from among both Jews and non-Jews] [MTY]: I will declare that many people who were not my people are now my people. I will declare that many people whom I did not love [HYP] before, I love now.
26 zvino zvichaitika kuti, panzvimbo pazvakanzi kwavari: Hamusi vanhu vangu imwi, ipapo vachaidzwa vana vaMwari mupenyu.
And [another prophet wrote]: What will happen is that in the places where [God] told them before, “You are not my people,” in those same places [people] will declare truthfully that they are children of God, who is completely powerful.
27 Isaya anodanidzirawo maererano naIsraeri achiti: Kunyange uwandu hwevana vaIsraeri hukaita sejecha regungwa, vakasara vachaponeswa;
Isaiah also exclaimed concerning the Israelites: Even though the Israelites are [so many that no one can count them, like] sand [particles on the beach beside] the ocean, [only] a small part of them will be saved {[God] will save [only] a small part of them},
28 nokuti achapedza basa nekurigurisira mukururama; nokuti Ishe achagurisira basa panyika.
because the Lord will punish completely and speedily the [people who live on] this earth, as he said that he would do.
29 Uye Isaya sezvaakagara areva achiti: Dai Ishe wehondo asina kutisiira mbeu, tingadai takava seSodhoma, uye takaitwa takafanana neGomora.
[Also, we can understand from what the prophet] Isaiah said [that God would not save] anyone if he did not show mercy: If the Lord, who controls everything in heaven, had not mercifully allowed some of our descendants to survive, we would have become like the people of [the cities of] Sodom and Gomorrah, who were [SIM, DOU] completely destroyed.
30 Ko tichatii? Kuti vahedheni vasingatsvaki kururama, vakabata kururama, iko kururama kunobva parutendo;
We must conclude this: [RHQ] Although non-Jews did not search out [a way by which] God would erase the record of their sins, they actually found that way because they trusted [in what Christ did for them].
31 asi Israeri, achitsvaka murairo wekururama, haana kusvika pamurairo wekururama.
But although [the people of] Israel sought a basis [by which God would] erase the record of their sins, they did not succeed in [fulfilling the true purpose of the] laws [that God gave to Moses].
32 Nekuda kwei? Nokuti havana kutsvaka nerutendo, asi nezvainge namabasa emurairo; nokuti vakagumburwa pabwe rekugumbura.
The reason [RHQ] [that they did not succeed] is that they did not trust that [God would provide a way to save them]. Instead, they were trying to do certain things [in order that God would accept them. Because they did not expect the Messiah to die, the Israelites] felt disgusted about [Jesus’ death, which is like] the stone [MET] on which people stumble.
33 Sezvazvakanyorwa zvichinzi: Tarira, ndinoisa paZiyoni ibwe rekugumbura nedombo rechipinganidzo; uye ani nani anotenda kwaari haanganyadziswi.
This is what [a prophet] predicted when he wrote these words that [God said about the Messiah]: Listen! I am placing in Israel [MTY] [one who is like] a stone [MET] on which people will stumble. What he does will offend people [DOU]. Nevertheless, those who believe in him will not be disappointed.
