Romans 9
Expanded Bible
God and the Jewish People
9 I am telling you the truth ·as a follower of Christ [or with Christ as my witness; L in Christ]; I do not lie. My conscience is ·ruled by [or guided by] the Holy Spirit, and it ·tells [testifies to] me I am not lying. 2 I have great sorrow and ·always feel much sadness [unceasing/constant anguish]. 3 [L For] I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from ·Christ [or the Messiah] ·if that would help [for the sake of] my Jewish brothers and sisters, my ·people [countrymen; L relatives according to the flesh]. 4 They are the people of Israel, God’s ·chosen [L adopted] children. They ·have seen [or have] the glory of God, and they have the ·agreements that God made between himself and his people [L covenants]. God gave them the law of Moses and the ·right way of worship [or temple worship] and his promises. 5 ·They are the descendants of our great ancestors [L They have the fathers/patriarchs], and ·they are the earthly family into which Christ was born [or from their descendants the Messiah came], ·who is God over all. Praise him forever [or May God, who is over all, be praised forever]! Amen.
6 It is not that ·God failed to keep his promise to them [L God’s word failed]. ·But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people [L Because not all those (descended) from Israel are Israel], 7 ·and only some of Abraham’s descendants are true children of Abraham [L nor are all of Abraham’s seed/descendants (true) children]. But God said to Abraham: “·The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac [or Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name; Gen. 21:12].” 8 This means that ·not all of Abraham’s descendants [L it is not the children of the flesh who] are God’s true children. [L But; Rather] ·Abraham’s true children [L Those counted as Abraham’s descendants/seed] are ·those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham [L the children of the promise]. 9 God’s promise to Abraham was this: “·At the right time [At the appointed time; or About this time next year] I will return, and Sarah will have a son [Gen. 18:10, 14].” 10 And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons ·had the same father, [or were conceived at the same time by] our ·father [ancestor; forefather] Isaac.
14 So what should we say about this? Is God ·unfair [unjust]? ·In no way [Absolutely not!; May it never be!; 7:13]. 15 [L For] God said to Moses, “I will show ·kindness [mercy] to anyone to whom I want to show ·kindness [mercy], and I will show ·compassion [pity] to anyone to whom I want to show ·compassion [pity; Ex. 33:19].” 16 So God’s choice does not depend on ·what people want [human desire; or human will] or ·try to do [effort; exertion], but on God’s ·mercy [kindness]. 17 The Scripture says to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh]: “I ·made you king [L raised you up] for this reason: to show my power in you so that my name will be ·talked about [proclaimed] in all the earth [Ex. 9:16].” 18 So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy, and he ·makes stubborn [hardens] the people he wants to ·make stubborn [harden].
19 So one of you will ask me: “Then why does God ·blame us for our sins [L blame; find fault]? Who can ·fight [resist; oppose] his will?” 20 ·You are only human, and human beings have no right to question God [L Who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God?]. ·An object [or A thing molded] should not ask the ·person who made it [molder], “Why did you make me like this? [Is. 29:16; 45:9]” 21 ·The potter can make anything he wants to make [L Doesn’t the potter have authority over the clay?]. He can use the same ·clay [L lump] to make one ·thing [vessel; pot] for ·special [honorable] use and another thing for ·daily [common; dishonorable] use.
22 ·It is the same way with God. He [L What if he…?] wanted to show his ·anger [wrath] and to let people see his power. But he ·patiently stayed with [endured with great patience] those ·people he was angry with [L vessels/objects of wrath]—people who were ·made ready [prepared] to be destroyed. 23 He waited with patience so that he could make known ·his rich glory [the riches of his glory] to the ·people who receive his [L vessels/objects of] mercy. He has prepared these people ·to have his glory [to experience his glory; L for glory], 24 and we are those people whom God called. He called us not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles. 25 As ·the Scripture [or God] says in Hosea:
“I will ·say, ‘You are my people’ [call them ‘my people’]
to those who were not my people.
And I will ·show my love [call her ‘beloved’]
to ·those people [her] I did not love [Hos. 2:1, 23; C in Hosea, a reference to apostate Israel; here applied to the Gentiles].”
26 “And in the same place where they were called,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God [Hos. 1:10].’”
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
“[L Though] The ·people [L children; sons] of Israel are numbered
like the grains of sand ·by [or of] the sea.
But only ·a few of them [the remnant] will be saved,
28 because the Lord will quickly and completely ·punish the people [carry out/execute his sentence; settle his account] on the earth [Is. 10:22–23].”
29 It is as Isaiah said:
“If the Lord ·All-Powerful [of Hosts; of Heaven’s Armies]
had not ·allowed a few of our descendants to live [left us offspring/seed],
We would have become like Sodom
and would resemble Gomorrah [Is. 1:9; C OT cities destroyed by God because of their wickedness; Gen. 19].”
30 ·So what does all this mean [L What, then, shall we say]? Those who are Gentiles ·were not trying to make themselves right with God [L did not pursue righteousness], but they ·were made right with God [obtained righteousness] ·because of their faith [L —that is, a righteousness that is by faith]. 31 The people of Israel tried to ·follow [pursue] a law ·to make themselves right with God [L of righteousness]. But they did not ·succeed [reach/attain it], 32 [L Why?] because they tried to make themselves right by ·the things they did [works] instead of ·trusting in God to make them right [L by faith]. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble. 33 As it is written in the Scripture:
“[L Look; T Behold] I will put in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C a poetic term for Jerusalem and symbolizing the nation Israel] a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that makes them fall [Is. 8:14].
Anyone who ·trusts [believes; has faith] in him will never be ·disappointed [put to shame; disgraced; Is. 28:16].”
Romans 9
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
9 I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost:
2 That I have great sadness, and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh,
4 Who are Israelites, to whom belongeth the adoption as of children, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises:
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath miscarried. For all are not Israelites that are of Israel:
7 Neither are all they that are the seed of Abraham, children; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
8 That is to say, not they that are the children of the flesh, are the children of God; but they, that are the children of the promise, are accounted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise: According to this time will I come; and Sara shall have a son.
10 And not only she. But when Rebecca also had conceived at once, of Isaac our father.
11 For when the children were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil (that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand,)
12 Not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said to her: The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith to Pharao: To this purpose have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will; and whom he will, he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say therefore to me: Why doth he then find fault? for who resisteth his will?
20 O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Or hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction,
23 That he might shew the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath prepared unto glory?
24 Even us, whom also he hath called, nor only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles.
25 As in Osee he saith: I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved; and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy.
26 And it shall be, in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people; there they shall be called the sons of the living God.
27 And Isaias crieth out concerning Israel: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.
28 For he shall finish his word, and cut it short in justice; because a short word shall the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Isaias foretold: Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been made as Sodom, and we had been like unto Gomorrha.
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who followed not after justice, have attained to justice, even the justice that is of faith.
31 But Israel, by following after the law of justice, is not come unto the law of justice.
32 Why so? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were of works. For they stumbled at the stumblingstone.
33 As it is written: Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded.
Romanos 9
Reina Valera Contemporánea
La elección de Israel
9 Digo la verdad en Cristo, no miento. Mi conciencia me da testimonio en el Espíritu Santo: 2 tengo una gran tristeza y un continuo dolor en mi corazón. 3 Porque desearía ser yo mismo maldecido y separado de Cristo, por amor a mis hermanos, por los de mi propia raza, 4 que son israelitas. De ellos son la adopción, la gloria, el pacto, la promulgación de la ley, el culto y las promesas. 5 De ellos son los patriarcas, y de ellos, desde el punto de vista humano, vino Cristo, el cual es Dios sobre todas las cosas. ¡Bendito sea por siempre! Amén.
6 Ahora bien, no estoy diciendo que la palabra de Dios haya fallado, porque no todos los que descienden de Israel son israelitas; 7 ni todos los descendientes de Abrahán son verdaderamente sus hijos, pues dice: «Tu descendencia vendrá por medio de Isaac.»(A) 8 Esto significa que los hijos de Dios no son los descendientes naturales, sino aquellos que son considerados descendientes según la promesa. 9 La promesa dice así: «Por este tiempo vendré, y Sara tendrá un hijo.»(B) 10 Y no sólo esto. También sucedió cuando Rebeca concibió de un solo hombre, de nuestro antepasado Isaac, 11 aunque sus hijos todavía no habían nacido ni habían hecho algo bueno o malo; y para confirmar que el propósito de Dios no está basado en las obras sino en el que llama, 12 se le dijo: «El mayor servirá al menor.»(C) 13 Como está escrito: «A Jacob amé, pero a Esaú aborrecí.»(D)
14 Entonces, ¿qué diremos? ¿Que Dios es injusto? ¡De ninguna manera! 15 Porque Dios dijo a Moisés: «Tendré misericordia del que yo quiera, y me compadeceré del que yo quiera.»(E) 16 Así pues, no depende de que el hombre quiera o se esfuerce, sino de que Dios tenga misericordia. 17 Porque la Escritura le dice a Faraón: «Te he levantado precisamente para mostrar en ti mi poder, y para que mi nombre sea anunciado por toda la tierra.»(F) 18 De manera que Dios tiene misericordia de quien él quiere tenerla y endurece a quien él quiere endurecer.
19 Entonces me dirás: ¿Por qué Dios todavía nos echa la culpa? ¿Quién puede oponerse a su voluntad? 20 Pero tú, hombre, ¿quién eres para discutir con Dios? ¿Acaso el vaso de barro le dirá al que lo formó por qué lo hizo así?(G) 21 ¿Qué, no tiene derecho el alfarero de hacer del mismo barro un vaso para honra y otro para deshonra? 22 ¿Y qué si Dios, queriendo mostrar su ira y dar a conocer su poder, soportó con mucha paciencia los vasos de ira que estaban preparados para destrucción? 23 ¿Y qué si, para dar a conocer las riquezas de su gloria, se las mostró a los vasos de misericordia que él de antemano preparó para esa gloria? 24 Esos somos nosotros, a quienes Dios llamó, no sólo de entre los judíos, sino también de entre los no judíos. 25 Como también se dice en Oseas:
«Llamaré “pueblo mío” al que no era mi pueblo,
Y llamaré “amada mía” a la que no era mi amada.(H)
26 Y en el lugar donde se les dijo: “Ustedes no son mi pueblo”,
Allí serán llamados “hijos del Dios viviente”.»(I)
27 También Isaías clama, en referencia a Israel: «Aunque los descendientes de Israel sean tan numerosos como la arena del mar, tan sólo el remanente será salvo; 28 porque el Señor ejecutará su sentencia sobre la tierra con justicia y prontitud.»(J) 29 Y como antes dijo Isaías:
«Si el Señor de los ejércitos no nos hubiera dejado descendencia,
Ya seríamos como Sodoma, y nos pareceríamos a Gomorra.»(K)
La justicia que es por fe
30 Entonces, ¿qué diremos? Que los no judíos, que no buscaban la justicia, la han alcanzado; es decir, la justicia que viene por medio de la fe. 31 Pero Israel, que buscaba una ley de justicia, no la alcanzó. 32 ¿Por qué? Porque no la buscaba a partir de la fe, sino a partir de las obras de la ley; y tropezaron en la piedra de tropiezo, 33 como está escrito:
«Yo pongo en Sión una piedra de tropiezo y una roca de caída;
pero el que crea en él, no será avergonzado.»(L)
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