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 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 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.
when I declare that I have deep grief and unceasing anguish of 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 could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.
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.
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 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)
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 Not that God’s Word has failed. For it is not all who are descended from Israel who are true Israelites;
Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as 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.’
nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "Through Isaac shall your posterity be reckoned."
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.
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 For these words are the words of a promise – ‘About this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.’
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 Nor is that all. There is also the case of Rebecca, when she was about to bear children to our ancestor Isaac.
Nor is that all: later on there was Rebecca too. She was soon to bear two children to her husband, 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,
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 that the elder would be a servant to the younger.
"The elder of them will be bondservant to the younger."
13 The words of scripture are – ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’
This agrees with the other Scripture which says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
14 What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid!
What then are we to infer? That there is injustice in God?
15 For his words to Moses are – ‘I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.’
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 So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God’s mercy.
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 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.’
"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 So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
This is a proof that wherever He chooses He shows mercy, and wherever he chooses He hardens the heart.
19 Perhaps you will say to me – ‘How can anyone still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?’
"Why then does God still find fault?" you will ask; "for who is resisting 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?’
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 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 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 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,
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 so as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
in order to make known His infinite goodness towards the subjects of His mercy whom He has prepared beforehand for glory,
24 and whom he called – even us – not only from among the Jews but from among the Gentiles also!
even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among 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.
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 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 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 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 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 For the Lord will execute his sentence on the world, fully and without delay.’
for the Lord will hold a reckoning upon the earth, making it efficacious and brief."
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.’
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 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;
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 while Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.
while the descendants of Israel, who were in pursuit of a Law that could give righteousness, have not arrived at one.
32 And why? Because they looked to obedience, and not to faith, to secure it. They stumbled over the stumbling-block.
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 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.’
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."
