Romans 9:15–24

¹⁵For 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—²⁴including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the gentiles?