Romans 9:1–23

¹Truth I say in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing testimony with me in the Holy Spirit, ²that I have great grief and unceasing pain in my heart— ³for I was wishing, I myself, to be anathema from the Christ—for my brethren, my kindred, according to the flesh, ⁴who are Israelites, whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the promises, ⁵whose are the fathers, and of whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen.

⁶And it is not possible that the word of God hath failed; for not all who are of Israel are these Israel; ⁷nor because they are seed of Abraham are all children, but—‘in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee;’ ⁸that is, the children of the flesh—these are not children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for seed; ⁹for the word of promise is this; ‘According to this time I will come, and there shall be to Sarah a son.’ ¹⁰And not only so, but also Rebecca, having conceived by one—Isaac our father— ¹¹(for they being not yet born, neither having done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to choice, might remain; not of works, but of Him who is calling,) it was said to her— ¹²‘The greater shall serve the less;’ ¹³according as it hath been written, ‘Jacob I did love, and Esau I did hate.’

¹⁴What, then, shall we say? unrighteousness is with God? let it not be! ¹⁵for to Moses He saith, ‘I will do kindness to whom I do kindness, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion;’ ¹⁶so, then—not of him who is willing, nor of him who is running, but of God who is doing kindness: ¹⁷for the Writing saith to Pharaoh—‘For this very thing I did raise thee up, that I might shew in thee My power, and that My name might be declared in all the land;’ ¹⁸so, then, to whom He willeth, He doth kindness, and to whom He willeth, He doth harden. ¹⁹Thou wilt say, then, to me, ‘Why yet doth He find fault? for His counsel who hath resisted?’ ²⁰nay, but, O man, who art thou that art answering again to God? shall the thing formed say to Him who did form it, Why me didst thou make thus? ²¹hath not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make the one vessel to honour, and the one to dishonour? ²²And if God, willing to shew the wrath and to make known His power, did endure, in much long suffering, vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, ²³and that He might make known the riches of His glory on vessels of kindness, that He before prepared for glory, whom also He did call—us—