Romans 9

ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF CHRIST

9I speak the truth in Christ^h—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit^B—²that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wishⁱ that I myself were cursed^j and cut off^C from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. ⁴They are Israelites,^k and to them belong the adoption,^l the glory,^m the covenants,ⁿ the giving of the law,^o the temple service,^p and the promises.^{q 5}The ancestors are theirs,^r and from them, by physical descent,^D came the Christ,^s who is God^t over all,^u praised forever.^Ev Amen.

GOD’S GRACIOUS ELECTION OF ISRAEL

⁶Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,^w because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{x 7}Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.^Fy On the contrary, your offspring will be traced^G through Isaac.^{Hz 8}That is, it is not the children by physical descent^I who are God’s children,^aa but the children of the promise^ab are considered to be the offspring. ⁹For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.^{Jac 10}And not only that,^ad but Rebekah conceived children^ae through one man, our father Isaac. ¹¹For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand^af—¹²not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.^{Aag 13}As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.^Bah

GOD’S SELECTION IS JUST

¹⁴What should we say then?^ai Is there injustice with God?^aj Absolutely not!^{ak 15}For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.^{Cal 16}So then, it does not depend on human will or effort^am but on God who shows mercy.^{an 17}For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.^{Dao 18}So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^ap

¹⁹You will say to me,^aq therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?^ar For who resists his will?”^{as 20}On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^at Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”^{au 21}Or has the potter no right over the clay,^av to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? ²²And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience^aw objects of wrath prepared for destruction?^{ax 23}And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory^ay on objects of mercy^az that he prepared beforehand for glory^ba—²⁴on us, the ones he also called,^bb not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^{bc 25}As it^E also says in Hosea,

I will call Not my People, My People,

and she who is Unloved, Beloved.^Fbd

²⁶And it will be in the place where they were told,

you are not my people,

there they will be called sons of the living God.^Gbe

²⁷But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

Though the number of Israelites

is like the sand of the sea,^bf

only the remnant will be saved;^bg

²⁸since the Lord will execute his sentence

completely and decisively on the earth.^HIbh

²⁹And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of Hosts^s had not left us offspring,^bi

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have been made like Gomorrah.^Ja

ISRAEL’S PRESENT STATE

³⁰What should we say then?^b Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.^{c 31}But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness,^d has not achieved the righteousness of the law.^{Ke 32}Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.^L They stumbled over the stumbling stone.^{f 33}As it is written,

Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over

and a rock to trip over,

and the one who believes on him^g

will not be put to shame.^Ah