9I am in Christ, and I am telling you the truth; I do not lie. My conscience is ruled by the Holy Spirit, and it tells me I am not lying. ²I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness. ³I wish I could help my Jewish brothers and sisters, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them. ⁴They are the people of Israel, God’s chosen children. They have seen the glory of God, and they have the agreements that God made between himself and his people. God gave them the law of Moses and the right way of worship and his promises. ⁵They are the descendants of our great ancestors, and they are the earthly family into which Christ was born, who is God over all. Praise him forever! ⁿ Amen.

⁶It is not that God failed to keep his promise to them. But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people, ⁿ ⁷and only some of Abraham’s ⁿ descendants are true children of Abraham. But God said to Abraham: “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.” ⁿ ⁸This means that not all of Abraham’s descendants are God’s true children. Abraham’s true children are those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham. ⁹God’s promise to Abraham was this: “At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” ⁿ ¹⁰And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons had the same father, our father Isaac. ^11–12But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.” ⁿ This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did. ¹³As the Scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.” ⁿ

¹⁴So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way. ¹⁵God said to Moses, “I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.” ⁿ ¹⁶So God will choose the one to whom he decides to show mercy; his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. ¹⁷The Scripture says to the king of Egypt: “I made you king for this reason: to show my power in you so that my name will be talked about in all the earth.” ⁿ ¹⁸So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy, and he makes stubborn the people he wants to make stubborn.

¹⁹So one of you will ask me: “Then why does God blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?” ²⁰You are only human, and human beings have no right to question God. An object should not ask the person who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” ²¹The potter can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.

²²It is the same way with God. He wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But he patiently stayed with those people he was angry with—people who were made ready to be destroyed. ²³He waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory,

Read in Logos

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

Footnotes

nborn … forever! This can also mean “born. May God, who rules over all things, be praised forever!”
nGod’s people Literally, “Israel,” the people God chose to bring his blessings to the world.
nAbraham Most respected ancestor of the Jews. Every Jew hoped to see Abraham.
n“The descendants … Isaac.” Quotation from Genesis 21:12.
n“At … son.” Quotation from Genesis 18:10, 14.
n“The older … younger.” Quotation from Genesis 25:23.
n“I … Esau.” Quotation from Malachi 1:2–3.
n“I … mercy.” Quotation from Exodus 33:19.
n“I … earth.” Quotation from Exodus 9:16.