Romans 9:1–23

God’s Election of Israel

⁹I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit^*—²I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.^{* 4}They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;^{* 5}to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever.^c Amen.^*

⁶It is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those descended from Israel are Israelites,^{* 7}and not all of Abraham’s children are his descendants, but “it is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”^{* 8}This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. ⁹For the word of the promise is this: “About this time I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”^{* 10}Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac:^{* 11}even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, ¹²not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger.”^{* 13}As it is written,

“I have loved Jacob,

but I have hated Esau.”^*

¹⁴What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!^{* 15}For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”^*

¹⁶So it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{* 18}So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.

God’s Wrath and Mercy

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”^{* 20}But who indeed are you, a human, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?”^{* 21}Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?^{* 22}What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction,^{* 23}and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—