Romans 9 (Lexham English Bible)

Israel’s Rejection

1 I am telling the truth in Christ--[I am] not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit-- 2 that my grief is great and [there is] constant distress in my heart. 3 For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, [to] whom [belong] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the [temple] service, and the promises, 5 [to] whom [belong] the patriarchs, and from whom [is] the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed {forever}^a! Amen. 6 But [it is] not as if the word of God had failed. For not all those [who are descended] from Israel [are truly] Israel, 7 nor [are they] all children because they are descendants of Abraham, but "In Isaac will your descendants be named."^b 8 That is, [it is] not the children {by human descent}^c [who are] children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. 9 For the statement of the promise [is] this: "At this time I will return and {Sarah will have}^d a son."^e 10 And not only [this], but also [when]^f Rebecca conceived children by one [man],^g Isaac our father-- 11 for [although they]^h had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain, 12 not by works but by the one who calls--it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger,"ⁱ 13 just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."^j

God’s Sovereign Choice to Show Mercy

14 What then shall we say? [There is] no injustice with God, [is there]?^k May it never be! 15 For to Moses he says, "I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion."^l 16 Consequently therefore, {it does not depend on the}^m one who wills or on the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very [reason] I have raised you up, so that I may demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."ⁿ 18 Consequently therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wishes, and he hardens whomever he wishes. 19 Therefore you will say to me, "Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted^o his will? 20 On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded [it], "Why did you make me like this"?^p 21 Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that [is] for {honorable use}^q and [one] that [is] for {ordinary use}^r? 22 And [what] if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And [he did so]^s in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, 24 us whom he also 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 those [who were] not loved, 'Loved.' 26 And it will be in the place where it was said to them, 'You [are] not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"^t 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "[Even] if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved, 28 {for the Lord will execute his sentence thoroughly and decisively}^u upon the earth."^v 29 And just as Isaiah foretold, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom and would have resembled Gomorrah." 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness--even the righteousness [that is] by faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law. 32 Why that? Because [they did] not [pursue it] by faith, but as [if] by works. They stumbled over the {stone that causes people to stumble}^w, 33 just as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion {a stone that causes people to stumble}, and {a rock that causes them to fall}, and the one who believes in him will not be put to shame."