Psalm 43^[a]

The Altar of Burnt Offering^(A)

38 They^[a] built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits^[b] high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.^{[c] 2} They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.^{(B) 3} They made all its utensils^(C) of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. ⁴ They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. ⁵ They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. ⁶ They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷ They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The Basin for Washing

⁸ They made the bronze basin^(D) and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women^(E) who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard^(F)

⁹ Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits^[d] long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, ¹⁰ with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹¹ The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

¹² The west end was fifty cubits^[e] wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹³ The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. ¹⁴ Curtains fifteen cubits^[f] long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, ¹⁵ and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. ¹⁶ All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

¹⁸ The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits^[g] long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits^[h] high, ¹⁹ with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs^(G) of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

Paul’s Anguish Over Israel

9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,^(A) my conscience confirms^(B) it through the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself^(C) were cursed^(D) and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,^(E) those of my own race,^{(F) 4} the people of Israel.^(G) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;^(H) theirs the divine glory,^(I) the covenants,^(J) the receiving of the law,^(K) the temple worship^(L) and the promises.^{(M) 5} Theirs are the patriarchs,^(N) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,^(O) who is God over all,^(P) forever praised!^[a](Q) Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(R) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{(S) 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](T) 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,^(U) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.^{(V) 9} For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”^[c](W)

¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.^{(X) 11} Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad^(Y)—in order that God’s purpose^(Z) in election might stand: ¹² not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”^{[d](AA) 13} Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^[e](AB)

¹⁴ What then shall we say?^(AC) Is God unjust? Not at all!^{(AD) 15} For he says to Moses,

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.^{(AF) 17} For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[g](AG) 18} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(AH)

¹⁹ One of you will say to me:^(AI) “Then why does God still blame us?^(AJ) For who is able to resist his will?”^{(AK) 20} But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^(AL) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,^(AM) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”^{[h](AN) 21} Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?^(AO)

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(AP) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(AQ) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(AR) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(AS)— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called,^(AT) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^{(AU) 25} As he says in Hosea:

²⁶ and,

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously: