1 I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying; my conscience by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me

Verdad digo en Cristo, no miento, y mi conciencia me da testimonio en el Espíritu Santo,

2 T hat I have bitter grief and incessant anguish in my heart.

que tengo gran tristeza y continuo dolor en mi corazón.

3 F or I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off and banished from Christ for the sake of my brethren and instead of them, my natural kinsmen and my fellow countrymen.

Porque deseara yo mismo ser anatema, separado de Cristo, por amor a mis hermanos, los que son mis parientes según la carne;

4 F or they are Israelites, and to them belong God’s adoption and the glorious Presence (Shekinah). With them were the special covenants made, to them was the Law given. To them worship was revealed and promises announced.

que son israelitas, de los cuales son la adopción, la gloria, el pacto, la promulgación de la ley, el culto y las promesas;

5 T o them belong the patriarchs, and as far as His natural descent was concerned, from them is the Christ, Who is exalted and supreme over all, God, blessed forever! Amen (so let it be).

de quienes son los patriarcas, y de los cuales, según la carne, vino Cristo, el cual es Dios sobre todas las cosas, bendito por los siglos. Amén.

6 H owever, it is not as though God’s Word had failed. For it is not everybody who is a descendant of Jacob (Israel) who belongs to Israel.

No que la palabra de Dios haya fallado; porque no todos los que descienden de Israel son israelitas,

7 A nd they are not all the children of Abraham because they are by blood his descendants. No, Your descendants will be called and counted through the line of Isaac.

ni por ser descendientes de Abraham, son todos hijos; sino: En Isaac te será llamada descendencia.

8 T hat is to say, it is not the children of the body who are made God’s children, but it is the offspring to whom the promise applies that shall be counted descendants.

Esto es: No los que son hijos según la carne son los hijos de Dios, sino que los que son hijos según la promesa son contados como descendientes.

9 F or this is what the promise said, About this time will I return and Sarah shall have a son.

Porque la palabra de la promesa es esta: Por este tiempo vendré, y Sara tendrá un hijo.

10 A nd not only that, but this too: Rebecca conceived by our forefather Isaac,

Y no sólo esto, sino también cuando Rebeca concibió de uno, de Isaac nuestro padre

11 A nd the children were yet unborn and had so far done nothing either good or evil. Even so, in order further to carry out God’s purpose of selection (election, choice), which depends not on works or what men can do, but on Him Who calls,

(pues no habían aún nacido, ni habían hecho aún ni bien ni mal, para que el propósito de Dios conforme a la elección permaneciese, no por las obras sino por el que llama),

12 I t was said to her that the elder should serve the younger.

se le dijo: El mayor servirá al menor.

13 A s it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (held in relative disregard in comparison with My feeling for Jacob).

Como está escrito: A Jacob amé, mas a Esaú aborrecí.

14 W hat shall we conclude then? Is there injustice upon God’s part? Certainly not!

¿Qué, pues, diremos? ¿Que hay injusticia en Dios? En ninguna manera.

15 F or He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion (pity) on whom I will have compassion.

Pues a Moisés dice: Tendré misericordia del que yo tenga misericordia, y me compadeceré del que yo me compadezca.

16 S o then is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy.

Así que no depende del que quiere, ni del que corre, sino de Dios que tiene misericordia.

17 F or the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose of displaying My power in you, so that My name may be proclaimed the whole world over.

Porque la Escritura dice a Faraón: Para esto mismo te he levantado, para mostrar en ti mi poder, y para que mi nombre sea anunciado por toda la tierra.

18 S o then He has mercy on whomever He wills (chooses) and He hardens (makes stubborn and unyielding the heart of) whomever He wills.

De manera que de quien quiere, tiene misericordia, y al que quiere endurecer, endurece.

19 Y ou will say to me, Why then does He still find fault and blame us ? For who can resist and withstand His will?

Pero me dirás: ¿Por qué, pues, inculpa? porque ¿quién ha resistido a su voluntad?

20 B ut who are you, a mere man, to criticize and contradict and answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus?

Mas antes, oh hombre, ¿quién eres tú, para que alterques con Dios? ¿Dirá el vaso de barro al que lo formó: ¿Por qué me has hecho así?

21 H as the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same mass (lump) one vessel for beauty and distinction and honorable use, and another for menial or ignoble and dishonorable use?

¿O no tiene potestad el alfarero sobre el barro, para hacer de la misma masa un vaso para honra y otro para deshonra?

22 W hat if God, although fully intending to show His wrath and to make known His power and authority, has tolerated with much patience the vessels (objects) of anger which are ripe for destruction?

¿Y qué, si Dios, queriendo mostrar su ira y hacer notorio su poder, soportó con mucha paciencia los vasos de ira preparados para destrucción,

23 A nd He thus purposes to make known and show the wealth of His glory in the vessels (objects) of His mercy which He has prepared beforehand for glory,

y para hacer notorias las riquezas de su gloria, las mostró para con los vasos de misericordia que él preparó de antemano para gloria,

24 E ven including ourselves whom He has called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles (heathen)?

a los cuales también ha llamado, esto es, a nosotros, no sólo de los judíos, sino también de los gentiles?

25 J ust as He says in Hosea, Those who were not My people I will call My people, and her who was not beloved My beloved.

Como también en Oseas dice: Llamaré pueblo mío al que no era mi pueblo, Y a la no amada, amada.

26 A nd it shall be that in the very place where it was said to them, You are not My people, they shall be called sons of the living God.

Y en el lugar donde se les dijo: Vosotros no sois pueblo mío, Allí serán llamados hijos del Dios viviente.

27 A nd Isaiah calls out (solemnly cries aloud) over Israel: Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant (a small part of them) will be saved '> from perdition, condemnation, judgment]!

También Isaías clama tocante a Israel: Si fuere el número de los hijos de Israel como la arena del mar, tan sólo el remanente será salvo;

28 F or the Lord will execute His sentence upon the earth, rigorously cutting it short in His justice.

porque el Señor ejecutará su sentencia sobre la tierra en justicia y con prontitud.

29 I t is as Isaiah predicted, If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, we would have fared like Sodom and have been made like Gomorrah.

Y como antes dijo Isaías: Si el Señor de los ejércitos no nos hubiera dejado descendencia, Como Sodoma habríamos venido a ser, y a Gomorra seríamos semejantes. La justicia que es por fe

30 W hat shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not follow after righteousness have attained it by faith,

¿Qué, pues, diremos? Que los gentiles, que no iban tras la justicia, han alcanzado la justicia, es decir, la justicia que es por fe;

31 W hereas Israel, though ever in pursuit of a law of righteousness (right standing with God), actually did not succeed in fulfilling the Law.

mas Israel, que iba tras una ley de justicia, no la alcanzó.

32 F or what reason? Because not through faith, relying on the merit of their works. They have stumbled over the Stumbling Stone.

¿Por qué? Porque iban tras ella no por fe, sino como por obras de la ley, pues tropezaron en la piedra de tropiezo,

33 A s it is written, Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone that will make men stumble, a Rock that will make them fall; but he who believes in Him shall not be put to shame nor be disappointed in his expectations.

como está escrito: He aquí pongo en Sion piedra de tropiezo y roca de caída; Y el que creyere en él, no será avergonzado.