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 Catholic Bible
The Lot of the Jewish People[a]
Chapter 9
Paul’s Love for Israel. 1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying, as my conscience bears witness for me through the Holy Spirit 2 that I have great sorrow and unending anguish in my heart. 3 I would even be willing to be accursed, cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren who are my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites[b] who have the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the Law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, God forever, who is over all.[c] Amen.
The Word of God Has Not Proved False. 6 It is not as though the word of God has proved false. For not all who were Israelites truly belong to Israel, 7 and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that descendants will bear your name.”
8 In other words, it is not through physical descent that people are regarded as children of God. Rather, the children of the promise are those who are counted as descendants. 9 For this is how the promise was worded: “About this time next year I shall return, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 And not only that, but Rebekah became pregnant by one man, her husband Isaac. 11 Yet even before her children had been born or done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might prevail, 12 dependent not on human works but on his call, she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written,
“I loved Jacob,
but Esau I hated.”[d]
14 Has God Been Unjust?[e]What then are we to say to that? Has God been unjust? Of course not! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy
on whomever I will have mercy,
and I will have pity
on whomever I will have pity.”
16 Therefore, it does not depend on anyone’s will or exertion but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.” 18 Consequently, he shows mercy to whomever he wills, and he hardens the hearts of whomever he wills.
19 In response, you will say to me, “Why then does he still find fault? Who can resist his will?” 20 But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Can something that is made say to its maker, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 Surely, the potter can mold the clay as he wishes. Does he not have the right to make out of the same lump of clay one vessel for a noble purpose and another for ordinary use?
22 What if God, although wishing to show his wrath and to make known his power, nevertheless with great patience endured the objects of his wrath[f] destined for destruction? 23 He did so in order to make known the riches of his glory to the recipients of his mercy whom he prepared long ago for glory. 24 We are the ones whom he has called not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
25 Witness of the Old Testament. As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people
I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved
I will call ‘beloved.’
26 And in the very place
where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called
children of the living God.”
27 And Isaiah cries out in regard to Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will be saved.
28 For the sentence of the Lord on the earth
will be executed quickly and with finality.”
29 Isaiah had foretold previously:
“If the Lord of hosts
had not left us any descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and been made like Gomorrah.”
30 A Misguided Zeal. What then shall we say? That the Gentiles who did not strive for righteousness have achieved it, that is, righteousness based on faith, 31 but that Israel, who did strive for righteousness based on the Law, did not succeed in attaining it? 32 Why did this happen? Because they did not pursue it by faith but on the basis of works. They tripped over the stone that causes one to stumble, 33 as it is written:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion
a stone that will make people stumble
and a rock that will cause them to fall.
But the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[g]
Footnotes
- Romans 9:1 Paul was born a Jew. In his eyes, Christianity was the historical fulfillment of the destiny and hope of Israel, the authentic conclusion of the Old Covenant, which was destined to shine out brightly in the New Covenant that was inaugurated by the Passover of Christ. But reality confronts him with agonizing problems. It had been necessary to make Jewish Christians understand that the salvation given by Jesus Christ caused a break from the Jewish religious system (see 2 Cor 3; Gal 3; Rom 7). An even more serious problem: Israel had officially rejected Jesus and now rejected the Gospel and the young Church. Paul’s reflections are organized in three stages: first, he stresses the fidelity of God (Rom 9:6-29); he then points out Israel’s responsibility (Rom 9:31—10:21); finally, with the entire plan of God in view, he insists that the infidelity of Israel is only provisional and partial (Rom 11:1-32). A hymn to the wisdom of God (Rom 11:33-36) ends these difficult pages.
- Romans 9:4 Israelites: descendants of Jacob, who was named Israel by God (see Gen 32:28). The name originally designated the whole nation of Israel (see Jdg 5:7), but after the division into two kingdoms it was given to the northern kingdom alone. In New Testament times, Palestinian Jews used the term “Israelites” to indicate that they were God’s chosen people.
Paul shows that God’s promises to them are still in effect: adoption, i.e., as God’s children (see Ex 4:22f; Jer 31:9; Hos 1:1); glory, i.e., God’s presence among them (see Ex 16:7, 10; Lev 9:6, 23; Num 16:19); covenants, e.g., the Abrahamic (see Gen 15:17-21; 17:1-8), the Mosaic (see Ex 19:5; 24:1-10); the Levitical (Num 25:12f; Jer 33:21; Mal 2:4f), the Davidic (see 2 Sam 7; 23:5; Pss 89:4f, 29f; 132:11f), and the New Covenant (prophesied in Jer 31:31-40); and the promises, especially those made to Abraham (see Gen 12:7; 13:14-17; 17:4-8; 22:16-18) and the Messianic promises (e.g., 2 Sam 7:12, 16; Isa 9:6f; Jer 23:5; 31:31-34; Ezek 34:23f; 37:24-28). - Romans 9:5 Came the Christ, God forever, who is over all: another possible translation is: “came the Christ. God who is over all be praised.”
- Romans 9:13 Hated: in the Biblical sense of the word, that is, “I preferred Jacob.”
- Romans 9:14 Paul thinks with astonishment of the unforeseeable calls of God, who chooses individuals and people from the midst of a sinful world. The image of the potter signifies in the Bible the sovereign freedom of God that defies all expectations. The texts from Hosea (2:25 and 11:10) spoke of the conversion of Israel; Paul interprets them as proclamations of an unprecedented initiative of God: the call of the Gentiles.
- Romans 9:22 Objects of his wrath: human beings who by sinning incur God’s anger.
- Romans 9:33 This verse uses a combination of two texts from Isaiah that was apparently in common use by the early Christians to defend Christ’s Messiahship (see 1 Pet 2:4, 6-8; see also Ps 118:22; Lk 20:17f).
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
