Romanos 9

¹ I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience witnessing with me in the Holy Spirit,

² that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.

³ For I could wish that I myself to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brothers, my countrymen according to the flesh,

⁴ who are Israelites, of whom are the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the worship, and the promises;

⁵ of whom are the fathers and from whom Christ [came], according to the flesh, He who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all those of Israel [are of] Israel,

⁷ nor [are they] all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."

⁸ That is, those who are the children of the flesh are not the children of God; but [it is ]the children of the promise that are regarded as descendants.

⁹ For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son."

¹⁰ And not only this, but also Rebecca having conception from one [man], our father Isaac;

¹¹ for [the children] not yet being born, nor having done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might abide, not of works but of Him who calls,

¹² it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger."

¹³ As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

¹⁴ What shall we say then? [Is ]there unrighteousness with God? By no means!

¹⁵ For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."

¹⁶ So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy.

¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, 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 whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?"

²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to [be ]answering back against God? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"

²¹ Or does not the potter have the right over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and the other for dishonor?

²² But what if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

²³ and so that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴ even us whom He called, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵ As also in Hosea He says: "I will call those My people who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved."

²⁶ "And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God."

²⁷ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel were as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved;

²⁸ For He is finishing and cutting short an account in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short account upon the earth."

²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold: "If the LORD of hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah."

³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;

³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness.

³² Why? Because [they did] not [seek it] by faith, but rather by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stone of stumbling.

³³ Just as it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and rock of offense, and everyone believing on Him will not be put to shame."