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Romans 9:19-33
New Living Translation
Romans 9:19-33
New Living Translation
19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”
20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,
“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”[a]
26 And,
“Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”[b]
27 And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,
“Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”[c]
29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:
“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.”[d]
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law[e] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem[f] that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”[g]
Romans 9:19-33
New International Version
Romans 9:19-33
New International Version
19 One of you will say to me:(A) “Then why does God still blame us?(B) For who is able to resist his will?”(C) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(D) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(E) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[a](F) 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?(G)
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(H) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(I) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(J) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(K)— 24 even us, whom he also called,(L) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(M) 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,”[b](N)
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.’”[c](O)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(P)
only the remnant will be saved.(Q)
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[d](R)
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty(S)
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”[e](T)
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What then shall we say?(U) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(V) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(W) have not attained their goal.(X) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(Y) 33 As it is written:
Footnotes
- Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
- Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
- Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
- Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
- Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
- Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.