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14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For to Moses He says,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[a]

16 So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who strives, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up—to demonstrate My power in you, so My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” [b] 18 So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But who in the world are you, O man, who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” [c] 21 Does the potter have no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for common use? 22 Now what if God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath designed for destruction? 23 And what if He did so to make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory?

24 Even us He called—not only from the Jewish people, but also from the Gentiles— 25 as He says also in Hosea,

“I will call those who were not My people,
    ‘My people,’
    and her who was not loved,
    ‘Beloved.’
26 And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not My people,’
    there they shall be called sons of the living God.”[d]

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

“Though the number of B’nei-Israel be as the sand of the sea,
    only the remnant shall be saved.
28 For Adonai will carry out His word upon the earth,
    bringing it to an end and finishing quickly.”[e]

29 And just as Isaiah foretold,

    “Unless Adonai-Tzva’ot had left us seed,
    we would have become like Sodom and
    resembled Gomorrah.”[f]

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness—that is, a righteousness of faith. 31 But Israel, who pursued a Torah of righteousness, did not reach the Torah. 32 Why? Because they pursued it not by faith, but as if it were from works. They stumbled over the stone of stumbling, 33 just as it is written,

“Behold, I lay in Zion
    a stone of stumbling
    and a rock of offense,
and whoever believes in Him
    shall not be put to shame.”[g]

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14 What then shall we say?(A) Is God unjust? Not at all!(B) 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[a](C)

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.(D) 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.”[b](E) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(F)

19 One of you will say to me:(G) “Then why does God still blame us?(H) For who is able to resist his will?”(I) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(J) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(K) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[c](L) 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?(M)

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(N) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(O) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(P) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(Q) 24 even us, whom he also called,(R) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(S) 25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[d](T)

26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[e](U)

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(V)
    only the remnant will be saved.(W)
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[f](X)

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty(Y)
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”[g](Z)

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say?(AA) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(AB) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(AC) have not attained their goal.(AD) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(AE) 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[h](AF)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
  2. Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
  3. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
  4. Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
  5. Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
  6. Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
  7. Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
  8. Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16