Romans 9

₁I am speaking the truth; I belong to Christ and I do not lie. My conscience, ruled by the Holy Spirit, also assures me that I am not lying ₂when I say how great is my sorrow, how endless the pain in my heart ₃for my people, my own flesh and blood! For their sake I could wish that I myself were under God's curse and separated from Christ. ₄They are God's people; he made them his children and revealed his glory to them; he made his covenants with them and gave them the Law; they have the true worship; they have received God's promises; ₅they are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors; and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised for ever! Amen.

₆I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God. ₇Nor are all Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, “It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you.” ₈This means that the children born in the usual way are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants. ₉For God's promise was made in these words: “At the right time I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”

₁₀And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac. _11-12But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.” He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done. ₁₃As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”

₁₄Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. ₁₅For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.” ₁₆So then, everything depends, not on what human beings want or do, but only on God's mercy. ₁₇For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.” ₁₈So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.

₁₉But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” ₂₀But who are you, my friend, to answer God back? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” ₂₁After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.

₂₂And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. ₂₃And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory. ₂₄For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. ₂₅This is what he says in the book of Hosea:

₃₀So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God, were put right with him through faith; ₃₁while God's people, who were seeking a law that would put them right with God, did not find it. ₃₂And why not? Because they did not depend on faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the “stumbling stone” ₃₃that the scripture speaks of: