⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs,^(A) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,^(B) who is God over all,^(C) forever praised!^[a](D) Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(E) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{(F) 7} Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[b](G) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(H) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^{(I) 9} For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”^[c](J)