Romans 9
1 I am speaking the truth as one in union with Christ; it is no lie; and my conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience is testifying with me in the Holy Spirit—
2 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.
I have great sorrow and unceasing distress in my heart.
3 I could wish that I were myself accursed and severed from the Christ, for the sake of my people – my own flesh and blood.
For I keep wishing that I myself could be accursed away from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my physical relatives,
4 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.
the Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.
5 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)
The patriarchs are theirs, and from them came the Christ (the physical part), who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 Not that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites;
However, it is not as though the Word of God has failed! For not all who have descended from Israel are ‘Israel’.
7 nor, because they are Abraham’s descendants, are they all his children; but – ‘It is Isaac’s children who will be called your descendants.’
Neither are they all ‘children’ because they are Abraham's descendants; but, “in Isaac will your seed be called.”
8 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 fulfillment of the promise who are to be regarded as Abraham’s descendants.
That is, it is not the physical children who are God's ‘children’, but the children of the promise are regarded as ‘seed’.
9 For these words are the words of a promise – ‘About this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.’
For this is the word of promise: “At this season I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 Nor is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac.
Not only that, but also when Rebecca had conceived twins by our forefather Isaac
11 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,
(though they had not yet been born, not having done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
12 that the elder would be a servant to the younger.
it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”
13 The words of scripture are – ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’
As it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid!
So what shall we say, there is no injustice with God, is there? Of course not!
15 For his words to Moses are – ‘I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.’
For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”
16 So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy.
So then, it is not of him who wills nor of him who strives, but of God who shows mercy.
17 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.’
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
18 So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
So then, He has mercy on whom He wishes, and He hardens whom He wishes.
19 Perhaps you will say to me – ‘How can anyone still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?’
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has ever resisted His will?”
20 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?’
Really now, just who are you, O man, to talk back to God? What is formed will not say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?
21 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?
Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 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,
What if God, wishing to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
just in order to make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 and whom he called – even us – not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also!
even us whom He called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
25 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.
As He also says in Hosea: “I will call the ‘not my people’, ‘my people’, and the ‘not loved’ (f), ‘loved’.”
26 And in the place where it was said to them – “You are not my people”, they will be called sons of the living God.’
“And it will be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called sons of the living God.”
27 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!
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;
28 For the Lord will execute his sentence on the world, fully and without delay.’
because He is finishing and cutting short an accounting in righteousness; yes, the Lord will impose a condensed accounting upon the earth.”
29 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.’
And as Isaiah had said previously: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
30 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;
So what shall we say? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained to righteousness, namely the righteousness that comes from faith;
31 while Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.
while Israel, pursuing a standard of righteousness, did not attain to that standard.
32 And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over the stumbling-block.
Why not? Because it was not from faith, but as from works of the law. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling stone’;
33 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.’
as it is written: “Look! I am placing in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and no one who believes on Him will be put to shame.”
