罗马书 9
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
神揀選以色列人
9 我在基督裡說的是實話，並沒有撒謊，因為我的良心在聖靈裡一同為我作證； 2 我大大憂愁，心裡常常傷痛。 3 為我的同胞，就是我骨肉之親，就算自己受咒詛，與基督隔絕，我也甘心。 4 他們是以色列人：嗣子的名分、榮耀、眾約、律法、敬拜的禮儀和各樣的應許，都是他們的。 5 蒙揀選的列祖也是他們的祖宗；按肉身來說，基督也是出自他們這一族。其實，他是在萬有之上，永遠受稱頌的 神。阿們。
6 當然，這不是說 神的話落了空，因為出自以色列的，不都是以色列人； 7 也不因為他們是亞伯拉罕的後裔，就都成為他的兒女，只有“以撒生的，才可以稱為你的後裔”， 8 這就是說，肉身生的兒女並不是 神的兒女，只有憑著應許生的兒女才算是後裔。 9 因為所應許的話是這樣：“明年這個時候我要來，撒拉必定生一個兒子。” 10 不但如此，利百加也是這樣：既然從一個人，就是從我們的祖宗以撒懷了孕， 11 雙生子還沒有生下來，善惡也沒有行出來（為要堅定 神揀選人的旨意，不是由於行為，而是由於那呼召者）， 12 神就對她說：“將來大的要服事小的。” 13 正如經上所記的：
“我愛雅各，
卻惡以掃。”
14 既是這樣，我們可以說甚麼呢？ 神不公平嗎？絕對不會！ 15 因為他對摩西說：
“我要憐憫誰，就憐憫誰；
我要恩待誰，就恩待誰。”
16 這樣看來，既不是出於人意，也不是由於人為（“人為”原文作“奔走”或“奔跑”），只在於那憐憫人的 神。 17 經上有話對法老說：“我把你興起來，是要藉著你顯出我的大能，並且使我的名傳遍全地。” 18 這樣看來，他願意憐憫誰就憐憫誰，願意誰剛硬就使誰剛硬。
神顯出忿怒又施行憐憫
19 這樣，你會對我說：“那麼他為甚麼責怪人呢？有誰抗拒他的旨意呢？” 20 你這個人哪，你是誰，竟敢跟 神頂嘴呢？被造的怎麼可以對造他的說：“你為甚麼把我做成這個樣子呢？” 21 陶匠難道沒有權用同一團的泥，又做貴重的、又做卑賤的器皿嗎？ 22 如果 神有意要顯明他的忿怒，彰顯他的大能，而多多容忍那可怒、預備遭毀滅的器皿， 23 為了要使他豐盛的榮耀，彰顯在那蒙恩、早已預備要得榮耀的器皿上，這又有甚麼不可呢？ 24 這器皿就是我們這些不但從猶太人中，也從外族人中蒙召的人。 25 就如 神在何西阿書上說的：
“我要稱那不是我子民的為我的子民，
那不蒙愛的為蒙愛的；
26 從前在甚麼地方對他們說：
你們不是我的子民，
將來就在那裡稱他們為永活 神的兒子。”
27 以賽亞指著以色列人大聲說：“以色列子孫的數目雖然多如海沙，得救的不過是剩下的餘數； 28 因為主必在地上迅速而徹底地成就他的話。” 29 又如以賽亞早已說過的：
“如果不是萬軍之主給我們存留後裔，
我們早就像所多瑪
和蛾摩拉一樣了。”
以色列人因為不信而絆倒
30 既是這樣，我們還有甚麼可說的呢？那不追求義的外族人卻得了義，就是因信而得的義。 31 但以色列人追求律法的義（“律法的義”原文作“義的律法”），卻達不到律法的要求。 32 這是甚麼緣故呢？因為他們不憑信心，只靠行為。他們絆倒在那絆腳石上， 33 正如經上所記：
“看哪，我在錫安放了一塊絆腳石，
是絆倒人的磐石；
信靠他的人，
必不致失望。”
Romans 9
New Century Version
God and the Jewish People
9 I am in Christ, and I am telling you the truth; I do not lie. My conscience is ruled by the Holy Spirit, and it tells me I am not lying. 2 I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness. 3 I wish I could help my Jewish brothers and sisters, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them. 4 They are the people of Israel, God’s chosen children. They have seen the glory of God, and they have the agreements that God made between himself and his people. God gave them the law of Moses and the right way of worship and his promises. 5 They are the descendants of our great ancestors, and they are the earthly family into which Christ was born, who is God over all. Praise him forever![a] Amen.
6 It is not that God failed to keep his promise to them. But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people,[b] 7 and only some of Abraham’s[c] descendants are true children of Abraham. But God said to Abraham: “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.”[d] 8 This means that not all of Abraham’s descendants are God’s true children. Abraham’s true children are those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham. 9 God’s promise to Abraham was this: “At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[e] 10 And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons had the same father, our father Isaac. 11-12 But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.”[f] This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did. 13 As the Scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”[g]
14 So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way. 15 God said to Moses, “I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.”[h] 16 So God will choose the one to whom he decides to show mercy; his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. 17 The Scripture says to the king of Egypt: “I made you king for this reason: to show my power in you so that my name will be talked about in all the earth.”[i] 18 So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy, and he makes stubborn the people he wants to make stubborn.
19 So one of you will ask me: “Then why does God blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?” 20 You are only human, and human beings have no right to question God. An object should not ask the person who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 The potter can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.
22 It is the same way with God. He wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But he patiently stayed with those people he was angry with—people who were made ready to be destroyed. 23 He waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory, 24 and we are those people whom God called. He called us not from the Jews only but also from those who are not Jews. 25 As the Scripture says in Hosea:
“I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And I will show my love
to those people I did not love.” Hosea 2:1, 23
26 “They were called,
‘You are not my people,’
but later they will be called
‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
“The people of Israel are many,
like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved,
28 because the Lord will quickly and completely punish the people on the earth.” Isaiah 10:22–23
29 It is as Isaiah said:
“The Lord All-Powerful
allowed a few of our descendants to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”[j] Isaiah 1:9
30 So what does all this mean? Those who are not Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God, but they were made right with God because of their faith. 31 The people of Israel tried to follow a law to make themselves right with God. But they did not succeed, 32 because they tried to make themselves right by the things they did instead of trusting in God to make them right. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble. 33 As it is written in the Scripture:
“I will put in Jerusalem a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
Footnotes
- 9:5 born . . . forever! This can also mean “born. May God, who rules over all things, be praised forever!”
- 9:6 God’s people Literally, “Israel,” the people God chose to bring his blessings to the world.
- 9:7 Abraham Most respected ancestor of the Jews. Every Jew hoped to see Abraham.
- 9:7 “The descendants . . . Isaac.” Quotation from Genesis 21:12.
- 9:9 “At . . . son.” Quotation from Genesis 18:10, 14.
- 9:11–12 “The older . . . younger.” Quotation from Genesis 25:23.
- 9:13 “I . . . Esau.” Quotation from Malachi 1:2–3.
- 9:15 “I . . . mercy.” Quotation from Exodus 33:19.
- 9:17 “I . . . earth.” Quotation from Exodus 9:16.
- 9:29 Sodom and Gomorrah Two cities that God destroyed because the people were so evil.
Romans 9
King James Version
9 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romanos 9
La Biblia de las Américas
La elección de Israel
9 Digo la verdad en Cristo, no miento, dándome testimonio mi conciencia(A) en el Espíritu Santo, 2 de que tengo gran tristeza y continuo dolor en mi corazón. 3 Porque desearía[a] yo mismo ser anatema[b](B), separado de Cristo(C) por amor a mis hermanos, mis parientes[c] según la carne(D), 4 que son israelitas(E), a quienes pertenece la adopción como hijos(F), y la gloria(G), los pactos(H), la promulgación de la ley(I), el culto(J) y las promesas(K), 5 de quienes son los patriarcas(L), y de quienes, según la carne, procede el Cristo[d](M), el cual está sobre todas las cosas(N), Dios(O) bendito por los siglos(P). Amén.
6 Pero no es que la palabra de Dios haya fallado(Q). Porque no todos los descendientes de Israel son Israel(R); 7 ni son todos hijos por ser descendientes[e] de Abraham(S), sino que por Isaac será llamada tu descendencia[f](T). 8 Esto es, no son los hijos de la carne los que son hijos de Dios(U), sino que los hijos de la promesa son considerados como descendientes[g](V). 9 Porque esta es una palabra de promesa: Por este tiempo volveré, y Sara tendrá un hijo(W). 10 Y no solo esto(X), sino que también Rebeca, cuando concibió mellizos de uno, nuestro padre Isaac(Y) 11 (porque cuando aún los mellizos no habían nacido, y no habían hecho nada, ni bueno ni malo, para que el propósito de Dios conforme a su elección permaneciera, no por las obras, sino por aquel que llama(Z)), 12 se le dijo a ella: El mayor servirá al menor(AA). 13 Tal como está escrito: A Jacob amé, pero a Esaú aborrecí(AB).
Dios no es injusto
14 ¿Qué diremos entonces(AC)? ¿Que hay injusticia en Dios(AD)? ¡De ningún modo(AE)! 15 Porque Él dice a Moisés: Tendré misericordia del que yo tenga misericordia, y tendré compasión del que yo tenga compasión(AF). 16 Así que no depende del que quiere ni del que corre(AG), sino de Dios que tiene misericordia(AH). 17 Porque la Escritura dice a Faraón: Para esto mismo te he levantado, para demostrar mi poder en ti, y para que mi nombre sea proclamado por[h] toda la tierra(AI). 18 Así que del que quiere tiene misericordia, y al que quiere endurece(AJ).
19 Me dirás entonces(AK): ¿Por qué, pues, todavía reprocha[i] Dios(AL)? Porque ¿quién resiste a su voluntad(AM)? 20 Al contrario, ¿quién eres tú, oh hombre, que le contestas a Dios(AN)? ¿Dirá acaso el objeto modelado al que lo modela: Por qué me hiciste así(AO)? 21 ¿O no tiene el alfarero derecho sobre el barro de hacer de la misma masa un vaso para uso honorable[j] y otro para uso ordinario[k]? 22 ¿Y qué, si Dios, aunque dispuesto a demostrar su ira y hacer notorio su poder, soportó con mucha paciencia(AP) a los vasos de ira preparados para destrucción(AQ)? 23 Lo hizo para dar a conocer las riquezas de su gloria(AR) sobre los vasos de misericordia(AS), que de antemano Él preparó para gloria(AT), 24 es decir, nosotros, a quienes también llamó(AU), no solo de entre los judíos, sino también de entre los gentiles(AV). 25 Como también dice en Oseas:
A los que no eran mi pueblo, llamaré: «pueblo mío»,
y a la que no era amada: «amada mía(AW)».
26 Y acontecerá que en el lugar donde les fue dicho: «Vosotros no sois mi pueblo»,
allí serán llamados hijos del Dios viviente(AX).
27 Isaías también exclama en cuanto a Israel: Aunque el número de los hijos de Israel sea como la arena del mar, solo el remanente(AY) será salvo(AZ); 28 porque el Señor ejecutará su palabra sobre la tierra cabalmente[l] y con brevedad[m](BA). 29 Y como Isaías predijo:
Si el Señor de los ejércitos(BB) no nos hubiera dejado descendencia[n],
hubiéramos llegado a ser como Sodoma, y hechos semejantes a Gomorra(BC).
Razón del tropiezo de Israel
30 ¿Qué diremos entonces(BD)? Que los gentiles, que no iban tras la justicia, alcanzaron justicia, es decir, la justicia que es por[o] fe(BE); 31 pero Israel, que iba tras una ley de justicia(BF), no alcanzó esa ley(BG). 32 ¿Por qué? Porque no iban tras ella por[p] fe, sino como por[q] obras. Tropezaron en la piedra de tropiezo(BH), 33 tal como está escrito:
He aquí, pongo en Sión una piedra de tropiezo y roca de escandalo(BI);
y el que crea en Él no será avergonzado(BJ).
Footnotes
- Romanos 9:3 Lit., oraría
- Romanos 9:3 I.e., maldito
- Romanos 9:3 O, los de mi raza
- Romanos 9:5 I.e., el Mesías
- Romanos 9:7 Lit., simiente
- Romanos 9:7 Lit., simiente
- Romanos 9:8 Lit., simiente
- Romanos 9:17 Lit., en
- Romanos 9:19 O, halla faltas
- Romanos 9:21 Lit., para honra
- Romanos 9:21 Lit., para deshonra
- Romanos 9:28 Lit., terminándola
- Romanos 9:28 Lit., abreviándola
- Romanos 9:29 Lit., simiente
- Romanos 9:30 Lit., de
- Romanos 9:32 Lit., de
- Romanos 9:32 Lit., de
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
