Romans 9
New International Version
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,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[f](AE)
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:
“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,”[i](AV)
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.’”[j](AW)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(AX)
only the remnant will be saved.(AY)
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[k](AZ)
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty(BA)
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”[l](BB)
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What then shall we say?(BC) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(BD) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(BE) have not attained their goal.(BF) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(BG) 33 As it is written:
Footnotes
- Romans 9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!
- Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
- Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14
- Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
- Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3
- Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
- Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
- 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
Psalm 101
New International Version
Psalm 101
Of David. A psalm.
1 I will sing of your love(A) and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life(B)—
when will you come to me?
I will conduct the affairs(C) of my house
with a blameless heart.
3 I will not look with approval
on anything that is vile.(D)
I hate what faithless people do;(E)
I will have no part in it.
4 The perverse of heart(F) shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with what is evil.
5 Whoever slanders their neighbor(G) in secret,
I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes(H) and a proud heart,
I will not tolerate.
6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless(I)
will minister to me.
7 No one who practices deceit
will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
will stand in my presence.
Proverbs 18-20
New International Version
18 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.(A)
3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.
4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,(B)
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.(E)
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.(H)
9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.(I)
11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;(L)
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.
12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.(M)
13 To answer before listening—
that is folly and shame.(N)
14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?(O)
15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,(P)
for the ears of the wise seek it out.
16 A gift(Q) opens the way
and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.
17 In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right,
until someone comes forward and cross-examines.
18 Casting the lot settles disputes(R)
and keeps strong opponents apart.
19 A brother wronged(S) is more unyielding than a fortified city;
disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.
20 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.(T)
23 The poor plead for mercy,
but the rich answer harshly.
24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.(Y)
19 Better the poor whose walk is blameless
than a fool whose lips are perverse.(Z)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good—
how much more will hasty feet miss the way!(AA)
4 Wealth attracts many friends,
but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.(AD)
7 The poor are shunned by all their relatives—
how much more do their friends avoid them!(AJ)
Though the poor pursue them with pleading,
they are nowhere to be found.[a](AK)
8 The one who gets wisdom loves life;
the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.(AL)
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever pours out lies will perish.(AM)
10 It is not fitting for a fool(AN) to live in luxury—
how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!(AO)
11 A person’s wisdom yields patience;(AP)
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,(AT)
and a quarrelsome wife is like
the constant dripping of a leaky roof.(AU)
15 Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the shiftless go hungry.(AX)
16 Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life,
but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.(AY)
17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,(AZ)
and he will reward them for what they have done.(BA)
18 Discipline your children, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to their death.(BB)
19 A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty;
rescue them, and you will have to do it again.
20 Listen to advice and accept discipline,(BC)
and at the end you will be counted among the wise.(BD)
21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.(BE)
22 What a person desires is unfailing love[b];
better to be poor than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;
then one rests content, untouched by trouble.(BF)
24 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth!(BG)
25 Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
rebuke the discerning,(BH) and they will gain knowledge.(BI)
26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother(BJ)
is a child who brings shame and disgrace.
27 Stop listening to instruction, my son,(BK)
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.(BL)
29 Penalties are prepared for mockers,
and beatings for the backs of fools.(BM)
2 A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion;(BR)
those who anger him forfeit their lives.(BS)
5 The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,(BX)
but one who has insight draws them out.
6 Many claim to have unfailing love,
but a faithful person who can find?(BY)
10 Differing weights and differing measures—
the Lord detests them both.(CF)
11 Even small children are known by their actions,
so is their conduct really pure(CG) and upright?
12 Ears that hear and eyes that see—
the Lord has made them both.(CH)
13 Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;(CI)
stay awake and you will have food to spare.
14 “It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer—
then goes off and boasts about the purchase.
15 Gold there is, and rubies in abundance,
but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.
16 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge(CJ) if it is done for an outsider.(CK)
18 Plans are established by seeking advice;
so if you wage war, obtain guidance.(CN)
19 A gossip betrays a confidence;(CO)
so avoid anyone who talks too much.
20 If someone curses their father or mother,(CP)
their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.(CQ)
21 An inheritance claimed too soon
will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!”(CR)
Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you.(CS)
23 The Lord detests differing weights,
and dishonest scales do not please him.(CT)
24 A person’s steps are directed(CU) by the Lord.(CV)
How then can anyone understand their own way?(CW)
25 It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s vows.(CX)
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked;
he drives the threshing wheel over them.(CY)
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
gray hair the splendor of the old.(DD)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 19:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Proverbs 19:22 Or Greed is a person’s shame
- Proverbs 20:27 Or A person’s words are
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