Romans 9

Israel’s Rejection Considered

1 s I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures met in the Holy Spirit –2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.t3 For I could wisht that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people,t my fellow countrymen,t4 who are Israelites. To them belongt the adoption as sons,t the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship,t and the promises.

5 To them belong the patriarchs,t and from them,t by human descent,t came the Christ,t who is God over all, blessed forever!t Amen.
6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,t7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”ts8 This meanst it is not the children of the fleshts who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.9 For this is what the promise declared:t “About a year from nowtI will return and Sarah will have a son.”s10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man,t our ancestor Isaac –11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in electiont would stand, not by works but byt his calling)ts –12 s it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”s

13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”s
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!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.”s16 So then,s it does not depend on human desire or exertion,t but on God who shows mercy.17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh:s “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.”s

18 So then,s Godt has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.t
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”20 But who indeed are you – a mere human beingt – to talk back to God?tDoes what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”s21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clayt one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?t22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objectst of wratht prepared for destruction?t23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objectst of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

25 As he also says in Hosea:
“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved,t ‘My beloved.’”s

26 “And in the very placetwhere it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”s
27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the childrentof Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved,28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.”sts

29 Justt as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of armiesthad not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”s

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,31 but Israel even though pursuingt a law of righteousnesst did not attain it.t32 Why not? Because they pursuedt it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works.st They stumbled over the stumbling stone,t

33 just as it is written,
“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,t
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”s

ROMANS 9

God's Choice of Israel

1 I am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say 2 my heart is broken and I am in great sorrow. 3 I would gladly be placed under God's curse and be separated from Christ for the good of my own people. 4 t They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them.

5 They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of the Christ.t I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever!t Amen.
6 It cannot be said that God broke his promise. After all, not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God. 7-8 t In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised

9 t Sarah, “At this time next year I will return, and you will already have a son.”
10 Don't forget what happened to the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. 11-12 t Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one. The Lord said this to show he makes his own choices and it wasn't because of anything either of them had done.

13 t That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau.
14 Are we saying God is unfair? Certainly not! 15 t The Lord told Moses that he has pity and mercy on anyone he wants to. 16 Everything then depends on God's mercy and not on what people want or do. 17 t In the Scriptures the Lord says to the king of Egypt, “I let you become king, so that I could show you my power and be praised by all people on earth.”

18 Everything depends on what God decides to do, and he can either have pity on people or make them stubborn.

God's Anger and Mercy

21 t Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?”
22  t God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them. 23 He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory. 24 Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are those chosen ones,

25 t just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea,
“Although they are not
my people,
I will make them my people.
I will treat with love
those nations
that have never been loved.

26  t “Once they were told,
‘You are not my people.’
But in that very place
they will be called
children of the living God.”

27  t And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel,
“The people of Israel
are as many
as the grains of sand
along the beach.
But only a few who are left
will be saved.

28 The Lord will be quick
and sure to do on earth
what he has warned
he will do.”

29  t Isaiah also said,
“If the Lord All-Powerful
had not spared some
of our descendants,
we would have been destroyed
like the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah.”t

Israel and the Good News

33 t just as God says in the Scriptures,
“Look! I am placing in Zion
a stone to make people
stumble and fall.
But those who have faith
in that one will never
be disappointed.”