Romanos 9
1 Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior: testimonium mihi perhibente conscientia mea in Spiritu Sancto:
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 quoniam tristitia mihi magna est, et continuus dolor cordi meo.
when I declare that I have deep grief and unceasing anguish of heart.
3 Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis, qui sunt cognati mei secundum carnem,
For I could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.
4 qui sunt Israelitæ, quorum adoptio est filiorum, et gloria, et testamentum, et legislatio, et obsequium, et promissa:
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 quorum patres, et ex quibus est Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in sæcula. 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 Non autem quod exciderit verbum Dei. Non enim omnes qui ex Israel sunt, ii sunt Israelitæ:
Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel,
7 neque qui semen sunt Abrahæ, omnes filii: sed in Isaac vocabitur tibi semen:
nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "Through Isaac shall your posterity be reckoned."
8 id est, non qui filii carnis, hi filii Dei: sed qui filii sunt promissionis, æstimantur in semine.
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 Promissionis enim verbum hoc est: Secundum hoc tempus veniam: et erit Saræ filius.
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 Non solum autem illa: sed et Rebecca ex uno concubitu habens, Isaac patris nostri.
Nor is that all: later on there was Rebecca too. She was soon to bear two children to her husband, our forefather Isaac--
11 Cum enim nondum nati fuissent, aut aliquid boni egissent, aut mali, (ut secundum electionem propositum Dei maneret)
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 non ex operibus, sed ex vocante dictum est ei: Quia maior serviet minori,
"The elder of them will be bondservant to the younger."
13 sicut scriptum est: Iacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui.
This agrees with the other Scripture which says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
14 Quid ergo dicemus? Numquid iniquitas apud Deum? Absit.
What then are we to infer? That there is injustice in God?
15 Moysi enim dicit: Miserebor cuius misereor: et misericordiam præstabo cuius miserebor.
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 Igitur non volentis, neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei.
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 Dicit enim Scriptura Pharaoni: Quia in hoc ipsum excitavi te, ut ostendam in te virtutem meam: et ut annuncietur nomen meum in universa terra.
"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 Ergo cuius vult miseretur, et quem vult indurat.
This is a proof that wherever He chooses He shows mercy, and wherever he chooses He hardens the heart.
19 Dicis itaque mihi: Quid adhuc queritur? Voluntati enim eius quis resistit?
"Why then does God still find fault?" you will ask; "for who is resisting His will?"
20 O homo, tu quis es, qui respondeas Deo? Numquid dicit figmentum ei, qui se finxit: Quid me fecisti sic?
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 An non habet potestatem figulus luti ex eadem massa facere aliud quidem vas in honorem, aliud vero in contumeliam?
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 Quod si Deus volens ostendere iram, et notum facere potentiam suam, sustinuit in multa patientia vasa iræ, apta in interitum,
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 ut ostenderet divitias gloriæ suæ in vasa misericordiæ, quæ præparavit in gloriam.
in order to make known His infinite goodness towards the subjects of His mercy whom He has prepared beforehand for glory,
24 Quos et vocavit nos non solum ex Iudæis, sed etiam in Gentibus,
even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?
25 sicut in Osee dicit: Vocabo non plebem meam, plebem meam: et non dilectam, dilectam: et non misericordiam consecutam, misericordiam consecutam.
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 Et erit: in loco, ubi dictum est eis: Non plebs mea vos: ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi.
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 Isaias autem clamat pro Israel: Si fuerit numerus filiorum Israel tamquam arena maris, reliquiæ salvæ fient.
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 Verbum enim consummans, et abbrevians in æquitate: quia verbum breviatum faciet Dominus super terram:
for the Lord will hold a reckoning upon the earth, making it efficacious and brief."
29 et sicut prædixit Isaias: Nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen, sicut Sodoma facti essemus, et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus.
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 Quid ergo dicemus? Quod gentes, quæ non sectabantur iustitiam, apprehenderunt iustitiam: iustitiam autem, quæ ex fide est.
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 Israel vero sectando legem iustitiæ, in legem iustitiæ non pervenit.
while the descendants of Israel, who were in pursuit of a Law that could give righteousness, have not arrived at one.
32 Quare? Quia non ex fide, sed quasi ex operibus: offenderunt enim in lapidem offensionis,
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 sicut scriptum est: Ecce pono in Sion lapidem offensionis, et petram scandali: et omnis, qui credit in eum, non confundetur.
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."
