⁷ It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

²² Your fathers went down to Egypt ^(A)seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you ^(B)as numerous as the stars of heaven.

^6 (A)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

¹⁰ In this is love, ^(A)not that we have loved God ^(B)but that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^(C)the propitiation for our sins.

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(A)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[a] be as the sand of the sea, ^(B)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

^21 (A)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(B)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(A)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(B)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(C)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(D)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(E)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

^32 (A)“Fear not, little ^(B)flock, for ^(C)it is your Father's good pleasure to give you ^(D)the kingdom.