Romawa 9
1 Mi hla njanji ni Kristi, mina si tie chena, imre mu si tsro me ni mi Brji Tsratsra,
I am telling you the truth as a Christian man--it is no falsehood, for my conscience enlightened, as it is, by the Holy Spirit adds its testimony to mine--
2 ndi mi he ni kpon yi ni low sron u kakle ni sronmu.
when I declare that I have deep grief and unceasing anguish of heart.
3 Ba ndi na tre ndi ba tie nyu nimu nda cume ni kan ni Yesu ni tu mri vayi mu, ni ba mla mu u kpa.
For I could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.
4 Ahi baba yi ba Israilawa, ba fe kpanyme, ni gbire san, ni yo nyun mbe dede, ni toh turon, da gbire Irji san ni tara kuma, ni yo nyu ma.
To them belongs recognition as God's sons, and they have His glorious Presence and the Covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the Temple service, and the ancient Promises.
5 Mba tiba mba ndi nimi Almasihu u no niko u kpa wawu wa a hi Irji u koge, du mba gbirasa u saika sai sai du he naki. (aiōn g165)
To them the Patriarchs belong, and from them in respect of His human lineage came the Christ, who is exalted above all, God blessed throughout the Ages. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 U ana nitu itere Irji wa a joku na, ana hi kohan ni Israilawa a hi Israilawa u njanji na.
Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel,
7 Nakima ana duka grji Ibrahim mba hi iriri Ibrahim na. “Mba yo mba be grji Ishaku.”
nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "Through Isaac shall your posterity be reckoned."
8 Mba ki mba he imiri be kpa mba na imiri be he imiri be Irji na. Mba imiri be yo nyu wa mba bla ba suru ni grji ba.
In other words, it is not the children by natural descent who count as God's children, but the children made such by the promise are regarded as Abraham's posterity.
9 U wayi hi itere u yo nyu a “nzizayi me ye de ye no Saraya ivire.
For the words are the language of promise and run thus, "About this time next year I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."
10 Ana he iwayi me ngana, niwaa Rifkatu a ban nne ni lonma itimbu Ishaku.
Nor is that all: later on there was Rebecca too. She was soon to bear two children to her husband, our forefather Isaac--
11 Ba rihe ngrji myri ba u mbana ti kpi dede ma ko meme ma na. Ni tu naki Irji a chu ana bi ni kpi wa mba ti ana amma nitu idi wa a yo.
and even then, though they were not then born and had not done anything either good or evil, yet in order that God's electing purpose might not be frustrated, based, as it was, not on their actions but on the will of Him who called them, she was told,
12 U mba hla ni wa “Nikon ani kwba ti gra ni tsitsama.” A na kima mba tere.
"The elder of them will be bondservant to the younger."
13 Naki mba han zi “Me son Yakubu de kamu ni Isuwa.”
This agrees with the other Scripture which says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
14 U khi tere de naki? Irji na ti bina naki? Ah ah.
What then are we to infer? That there is injustice in God?
15 U a hla ni Musa me lo sonro niwa mi losonro, mi losonron ni wa nimi no si sonro ni wa ani si sonron a.
No, indeed; the solution is found in His words to Moses, "Wherever I show mercy it shall be nothing but mercy, and wherever I show compassion it shall be simply compassion."
16 Ni tu na ki ana he ni tu idi wa a yo sonron. Ko kuma ni idi wa ani ri shishi, na a he ni nitu Irji wa ani losonro ni ta.
And from this we learn that everything is dependent not on man's will or endeavour, but upon God who has mercy. For the Scripture said to Pharaoh,
17 U lan tre Baci'a hla ni Firauna, “Ani tu wayi yi me nzuu lunde ni ndu me tsoro ngbengblen mu ni mi me ni ndu b d'bu nde mu ni ngbungblu'a wawuu.”
"It is for this very purpose that I have lifted you so high--that I may make manifest in you My power, and that My name may be proclaimed far and wide in all the earth."
18 Naki, Irji ni tsro low sron ni wa a son'a nda tie wa a son sen tu.
This is a proof that wherever He chooses He shows mercy, and wherever he chooses He hardens the heart.
19 Khita mla ya u khi tere ade ni tuge ani son toh joku? Ahi ihan yi ni ya kukri ni gbegble u tuma.
"Why then does God still find fault?" you will ask; "for who is resisting His will?"
20 Khi ta ya i u idi u hi han wa u san yun ni Irji? Ko idi u me a ani ya miye idi u me de ge sa a me wawu naki?
Nay, but who are you, a mere man, that you should cavil against GOD? Shall the thing moulded say to him who moulded it, "Why have you made me thus?"
21 U idi u me iri ana he ni gbegbegle ni tu itama iri wa ani meri iri u dedema iriri a hi u daraja, iriri a hi u tidu mege?
Or has not the potter rightful power over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for more honourable and another for less honourable uses?
22 U ida Irji ani so tsoro ifu ma ni gbegble mba toh, ssai a vu sonron gbugbuu ni mba iri u fu wa mlati is gbi sutu mba.
And what if God, while choosing to make manifest the terrors of His anger and to show what is possible with Him, has yet borne with long-forbearing patience with the subjects of His anger who stand ready for destruction,
23 E ati naki da tsoro gbira san ma gbugbu wa a he nimi dede u ma, wa a mla ti du mba gbirasan?
in order to make known His infinite goodness towards the subjects of His mercy whom He has prepared beforehand for glory,
24 Amma tie wa ni tu mbuyi ita wa aye ta'a, ana Yahudawa ni nklen mba megyen na u ni bi kohra ngame.
even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?
25 Towa a tre ni mi nvunvu u Yunusa a, “Ani yo ndji wa bana bimu na ndi ndji mu, ni biwa ana son ba naa, biwa mi son ba.”
So also in Hosea He says, "I will call that nation My People which was not My People, and I will call her beloved who was not beloved.
26 Ani he naki wa mba na tre “ndi ba hi indi mana, u mba yo mba imiri Irji be sisairi.”
And in the place where it was said to them, 'No people of Mine are you,' there shall they be called sons of the everliving God."
27 Ishaya a yi kpokpo djur rah nitu Israila. “Mba ta ni tere a de imiri Israila mba bra na kpabru u kosan ba u mbari mba ba nawo.
And Isaiah cries aloud concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sands of the sea, only a remnant of them shall be saved;
28 U Irji a toh a de wawu a ni kle nyun ma ni gbugbugblu pyipyi me bani wuton mba.
for the Lord will hold a reckoning upon the earth, making it efficacious and brief."
29 Na wa Ishaya a han ni sei u Irji a de na ka grji do ni ta wu na khi de na he na Sadumawa u khi dena kwma ti na Gomarata.
Even as Isaiah says in an earlier place, "Were it not that the Lord, the God of Hosts, had left us some few descendants, we should have become like Sodom, and have come to resemble Gomorrah."
30 U ziza khi tere a de ge? U be kora, be wa bana son tsa-tsara na mba kpa dede ni dedema u kpa kyem.
To what conclusion does this bring us? Why, that the Gentiles, who were not in pursuit of righteousness, have overtaken it--a righteousness, however, which arises from faith;
31 U Israila be wa mba na wa ituron u tsa-tsara na u mba na he ni mi turon na.
while the descendants of Israel, who were in pursuit of a Law that could give righteousness, have not arrived at one.
32 Nitu ge? ni tu mba na wa ni njanji na. u a he nitu idu na. Mba za ni tu tita wa ni du yi za ni kbu za.
And why? Because they were pursuing a righteousness which should arise not from faith, but from what they regarded as merit. They stuck their foot against the stone which lay in their way;
33 Towa ba nhaa, “To Mi ka tita u kbu za sizi ni mi Sihiyona mba ni haan u latre. U wa a kpanyme ni wu'a ana tie shan na.
in agreement with the statement of Scripture, "See, I am placing on Mount Zion a stone for people to stumble at, and a rock for them to trip over, and yet he whose faith rests upon it shall never have reason to feel ashamed."
