God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(A)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 ^(B)I could wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(E)Israelites, and to them belong ^(F)the adoption, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the law, ^(J)the worship, and ^(K)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(M)who is God over all, ^(N)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 ^(O)because they are his offspring, but ^(P)“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 ^(Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(S)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 ^(T)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(U)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(X)“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,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(Y)“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 ^(Z)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(AA)to answer back to God? ^(AB)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (AC)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(AD)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 ^(AE)vessels of wrath ^(AF)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(AG)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(AH)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(AI)has called, ^(AJ)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(AN)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, ^(AO)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? ^(AS)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(AT)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel ^(AU)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{[d] (AV)}did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(AW)stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

¹⁶ In that day the Egyptians will be ^(A)like women, and ^(B)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. ¹⁷ And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

^18 (C)In that day there will be ^(D)five cities in the land of Egypt that ^(E)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.^[a]

¹⁹ In that day there will be an ^(F)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a ^(G)pillar to the Lord at its border. ^20 (H)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, ^(I)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. ^21 (J)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day ^(K)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. ^22 (L)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

^23 (M)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, ^(N)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, ^(O)a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵ whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt ^(P)my people, and Assyria ^(Q)the work of my hands, and ^(R)Israel my inheritance.”