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

I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit,

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

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

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.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh,

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.

who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;

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).

of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

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.

But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.

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.

Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”

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.

That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.

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

For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”

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

Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac.

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,

For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,

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

it was said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.”

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).

Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

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

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!

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.

For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

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

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

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.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

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.

So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.

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?

You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?”

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?

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”

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?

Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?

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?

What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction,

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,

and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,

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

us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the 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.

As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.”

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.

“It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ There they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

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]!

Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;

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

for He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”

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.

As Isaiah has said before, “Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.”

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

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith;

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.

but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness.

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

Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone;

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.

even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”