²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(A)for good,^[a] for ^(B)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he ^(C)foreknew he also ^(D)predestined ^(E)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(F)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(G)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(H)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(I)If God is for us, who can be^[b] against us? ^32 (J)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(K)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(L)It is God who justifies. ^34 (M)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(N)who is at the right hand of God, ^(O)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[c] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(R)conquerors through ^(S)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(T)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(U)I could wish that I myself were ^(V)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[d] my kinsmen ^(W)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(X)Israelites, and to them belong ^(Y)the adoption, ^(Z)the glory, ^(AA)the covenants, ^(AB)the giving of the law, ^(AC)the worship, and ^(AD)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(AE)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(AF)who is God over all, ^(AG)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(AH)because they are his offspring, but ^(AI)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(AJ)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(AK)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(AL)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 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 ^(AM)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(AN)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(AO)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(AP)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(AQ)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[e] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(AR)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(AS)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(AT)to answer back to God? ^(AU)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (AV)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(AW)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(AX)vessels of wrath ^(AY)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(AZ)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(BA)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(BB)has called, ^(BC)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

A Chosen People

7 “When the ^(A)Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, ^(B)the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations ^(C)more numerous and mightier than you, ^2 (D)and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must ^(E)devote them to complete destruction.^{[a] (F)}You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. ^3 (G)You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. ^(H)Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you ^(I)quickly. ⁵ But thus shall you deal with them: ^(J)you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their ^(K)pillars and chop down their ^(L)Asherim and ^(M)burn their carved images with fire.

⁶ “For ^(N)you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be ^(O)a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 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, ⁸ but ^(P)it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^(Q)the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, ^(R)the faithful God ^(S)who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, ¹⁰ and ^(T)repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. ^(U)He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. ^11 (V)You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.