^9:6It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,¹⁵^9:7nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”¹⁶^9:8This means¹⁷ it is not the children of the flesh¹⁸ who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. ^9:9For this is what the promise declared:¹⁹ “About a year from now²⁰ I will return and Sarah will have a son.”²¹^9:10Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man,²² our ancestor Isaac—^9:11even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election²³ would stand, not by works but by²⁴ his calling)²⁵—^9:12²⁶ it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”²⁷^9:13just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”²⁸

^9:14What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! ^9:15For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”²⁹^9:16So then,³⁰ it does not depend on human desire or exertion,³¹ but on God who shows mercy. ^9:17For the scripture says to Pharaoh:³² “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”³³^9:18So then,³⁴ God³⁵ has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.³⁶

^9:19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” ^9:20But who indeed are you—a mere human being³⁷—to talk back to God?³⁸ Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”³⁹^9:21Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay⁴⁰ one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?⁴¹^9:22But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects⁴² of wrath⁴³ prepared for destruction?⁴⁴^9:23And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects⁴⁵ of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory—

Read in Logos

Romans 9:16: So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Footnotes

15 Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”
16 Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael. A quotation from Gen 21:12.
17 Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
18 Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation. The expression the children of the flesh refers to the natural offspring.
19 Grk “For this is the word of promise.”
20 Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.
21 A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.
22 Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (), 579.
23 Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”
24 Or “not based on works but based on …”
25 Grk “by the one who calls.” The entire clause is something of a parenthetical remark.
26 Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (/, , , , ). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (, , , , ). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.
27 A quotation from Gen 25:23.
28 A quotation from Mal 1:2–3.
29 A quotation from Exod 33:19.
30 There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
31 Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”
32 Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.
33 A quotation from Exod 9:16.
34 There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
35 Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”
37 Grk “O man.”
38 Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”
39 A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.
40 Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”
41 Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”
42 Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.
43 Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orgēs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.
44 Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizō) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.
45 Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.