Romans 9
1 [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].
Mereka nokorɛ sɛ Kristoni, na mʼahonim a Honhom Kronkron di no adanseɛ kyerɛ me sɛ menni atorɔ.
2 [I tell you that] I grieve very greatly and deeply [DOU] [about my fellow Israelites].
Medi awerɛhoɔ na mete daa yea wɔ me akoma mu ma me nkurɔfoɔ.
3 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].
Wɔn enti anka mepɛ sɛ Onyankopɔn nnome ba me so na ɔte me firi Kristo ho.
4 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].
Wɔyɛ Onyankopɔn manfoɔ a wɔayi wɔn de wɔn ayɛ ne mma de wɔn asane atena nʼanimuonyam mu. Ɔne wɔn yɛɛ apam no na ɔde mmara no maa wɔn; ɔkyerɛɛ ɛkwan pa a wɔfa so som ma wɔn nsa kaa bɔhyɛ no.
5 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)
Wɔyɛ tete agyanom asefoɔ, na ɛsiane sɛ Kristo baa onipasu mu enti, ɔyɛ wɔn aseni. Ayɛyie nka Onyankopɔn a ɔyɛ adeɛ nyinaa so otumfoɔ no daadaa. Amen. (aiōn g165)
6 [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.
Mennka sɛ Onyankopɔn bɔhyɛ no amma mu, ɛfiri sɛ, ɛnyɛ Israelfoɔ nyinaa na Onyankopɔn ayi wɔn sɛ ne manfoɔ.
7 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.”
Saa ara nso na ɛnyɛ Abraham asefoɔ nyinaa na wɔyɛ Onyankopɔn mma. Onyankopɔn ka kyerɛɛ Abraham sɛ, “Ɛnam Isak so na wʼase bɛtrɛ.”
8 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.
Yei kyerɛ sɛ ɛnyɛ wɔn a wɔyɛ Abraham mma, na mmom, wɔn a wɔnam Onyankopɔn bɔhyɛ so woo wɔn no na wɔyɛ Abraham asefoɔ turodoo.
9 [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]).
Onyankopɔn nam saa bɔhyɛ nsɛm a ɛka sɛ, “Ampa ara, mɛsane aba wo nkyɛn bio ɛberɛ a ɛsɛ mu no, na wo yere Sara awo ɔba” no so na ɛhyɛɛ saa bɔ no.
10 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.
Ɛnyɛ yei nko. Rebeka mma baanu no nyinaa firi agya korɔ a ɔne yɛn agya Isak.
11 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.
Na sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a Onyankopɔn nam ɔba baako so bɛma ne pɛ ada adi no enti,
ɔka kyerɛɛ Rebeka sɛ, “Ɔpanin no bɛsom akumaa no.” Ɔkaa yei ansa na ɔrewo wɔn ama wɔayɛ papa anaa bɔne. Enti, na Onyankopɔn pɛ no gyina ne frɛ a ɔfrɛɛ wɔn no so, na ɛnyɛ wɔn nneyɛeɛ so,
13 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].”
sɛdeɛ Atwerɛsɛm no ka sɛ, “Medɔɔ Yakob na metanee Esau” no.
14 [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]!”
Afei, asɛm bɛn na yɛbɛka? Sɛ Onyankopɔn nyɛ ɔnokwafoɔ anaa? Dabi!
15 God told Moses, “I will pity and help anyone whom I choose [DOU]!”
Ɛfiri sɛ, ɔka kyerɛɛ Mose sɛ, “Deɛ mepɛ sɛ mehunu no mmɔbɔ no, mɛhunu no mmɔbɔ, na deɛ mepɛ sɛ meyɛ no adɔeɛ nso, mɛyɛ no adɔeɛ.”
16 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].
Yei kyerɛ sɛ, ɛnnyina deɛ obi pɛ so anaa ne nnwuma so, na mmom ɛgyina Onyankopɔn ahummɔborɔ so.
17 [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].”
Atwerɛsɛm no mu, Onyankopɔn ka kyerɛɛ Farao sɛ, “Yei ara enti na mesii wo ɔhene nam so daa me tumi adi, sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a, me tumi bɛda adi wɔ ewiase afanan nyinaa.”
18 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].
Ɛnneɛ Onyankopɔn hunu deɛ ɔpɛ sɛ ɔhunu no mmɔbɔ biara no mmɔbɔ, na deɛ ɔpɛ sɛ ɔma no yɛ asoɔden nso ɔma no yɛ saa.
19 [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]”
Afei, obi bɛbisa sɛ, “Sɛ yɛntumi nsi Onyankopɔn pɛ ho ɛkwan a, adɛn enti na ɔbɔ yɛn soboɔ?”
20 [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]
Onua, wone hwan a wobɛtumi akasa akyerɛ Onyankopɔn? Kukuo mmisa ne nwomfoɔ sɛ, “Adɛn enti na wonwonoo me sei?”
21 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].
Ɔnwomfoɔ no wɔ ho ɛkwan sɛ ɔde dɔteɛ no nwono deɛ ɔpɛ biara. Ɔtumi nwono nkukuo mmienu firi dɔteɛ mu, na ɔde mu baako adi dwuma titire bi, na ɔde baako no nso ayɛ deɛ ɔpɛ biara.
22 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).
Saa ara na adeɛ biara a Onyankopɔn ayɛ no teɛ. Ɔpɛɛ sɛ ɔda nʼabufuo adi na ɔma wɔhunu ne tumi. Nanso ɔtɔɔ ne bo ase maa wɔn a anka ɔfiri nʼabufuhyeɛ mu rebɛsɛe wɔn.
23 [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].
Ɔyɛɛ yei de kyerɛɛ sɛdeɛ nʼanimuonyam no teɛ, ɛberɛ a ɔnyaa ayamhyehyeɛ maa wɔn a wayi wɔn dada sɛ wɔmmɛyɛ nʼanimuonyam no fafafoɔ.
24 That means us whom he chose—not only [us] Jews but also non-Jews.
Ɛnyɛ wɔn a wɔfrɛɛ wɔn firii Yudafoɔ mu nkoa, na mmom, amanamanmufoɔ nso.
25 [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.
Wɔka wɔ Hosea nwoma mu sɛ, “Mɛfrɛ wɔn a wɔnyɛ me nkurɔfoɔ no ‘me nkurɔfoɔ’, na deɛ ɔnyɛ me dɔfoɔ no mɛfrɛ no ‘me dɔfoɔ,’”
26 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.
na “Beaeɛ korɔ no ara a wɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ, ‘Monnyɛ me nkurɔfoɔ’ no, ɛhɔ ara na wɔbɛfrɛ wɔn sɛ ‘Onyankopɔn teasefoɔ no mma.’”
27 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},
Na Yesaia dii Israelfoɔ ho yea sɛ, “Sɛ Israelfoɔ dɔɔso sɛ mpoano anwea mpo a, wɔn mu kakra bi na wɔbɛgye wɔn nkwa.
28 because the Lord will punish completely and speedily the [people who live on] this earth, as he said that he would do.
Ɛfiri sɛ Awurade bɛyɛ ntɛm, na sɛdeɛ ɛteɛ biara, ɔbɛyɛ deɛ wabɔ ho kɔkɔ sɛ ɔbɛyɛ wɔ asase so no.”
29 [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.
Yesaia nso kaa sɛ, “Sɛ Awurade Otumfoɔ no annya yɛn asefoɔ a, anka yɛayɛ sɛ Sodom, na yɛadane ayɛ sɛ Gomora.”
30 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].
Afei, asɛm bɛn na yɛbɛka bio? Yɛbɛka sɛ amanamanmufoɔ a wɔanhwehwɛ tenenee akyiri kwan no nam gyidie so yɛɛ ateneneefoɔ;
31 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].
Nanso, Israelfoɔ a wɔpɛɛ sɛ wɔnam mmara so die so bɛsɔ Onyankopɔn ani no mpo, Onyankopɔn annye wɔn anto mu.
32 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.
Adɛn enti na ɛbaa saa? Ɛfiri sɛ, wɔpɛɛ sɛ wɔnam mmara so die so sɔ Onyankopɔn ani, nanso, mmom anka ɛsɛ sɛ wɔnya gyidie wɔ Onyankopɔn mu. Wɔsuntii “suntiboɔ” no.
33 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.
Sɛdeɛ wɔatwerɛ sɛ, “Hwɛ, Mede ɛboɔ a ɛma nnipa sunti ato Sion ne ɔbotan a ɛma wɔhwe ase, na deɛ ɔde ne ho to no soɔ no anim rengu ase da.”
