Romans 9
King James Version
9 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
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 unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, 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 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 longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 9
EasyEnglish Bible
The Jews have not believed in Christ
9 What I am telling you is true. I speak as someone who belongs to Christ. I am not telling lies. God's Holy Spirit rules my thoughts and I am sure that I am right. 2 I tell you this: Deep inside myself, I am always very sad and upset because of Israel's people. 3 I belong to the same family as they do. They are my own people. I really want them to believe in Christ too. If it would help them, I would even ask God to curse me. I would ask him to make me separate from Christ.
4 They are Israelite people. God chose them to belong to him as his own children. He showed them that he is very great. He made many agreements with them and he gave his Law to them. He showed them how they should worship him. He promised many good things to them. 5 It was their ancestors that God chose to make great many years ago.[a] And Christ himself, as a man, was born to an Israelite family. Christ is God, who rules over all things. We should praise him for ever! This is true! Amen.
6 God promised good things to Israel's people. But I am not saying that what God promised did not happen. It is clear that not all of Israel's people are God's true people. 7 Not all of them are true descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham, ‘It is only Isaac that I will call the father of your descendants.’
8 This means that not all of Abraham's children are really God's children. It is only those children who were born as a result of God's promise. Only they are the people that God calls true descendants. 9 This is what God promised to Abraham: ‘At this time next year I will come back. Then Sarah, your wife, will have a son.’[b]
10 Remember this too: Later, Isaac's wife, Rebekah, gave birth to twins. Those two sons had the same father, who was our ancestor, Isaac. 11 And God spoke to Rebekah before her sons were born. God spoke before the boys had done anything either good or bad. God did this to show clearly that he himself was choosing one child. He was not choosing someone because of what that person had done. He himself decided who he would choose. 12 God said to Rebekah, ‘The older son will serve the younger son.’ 13 This is written in the Bible: ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’[c]
14 Because of this, someone might say that God is not fair. No! We should never say that! 15 Think about this. God said to Moses, ‘I will be kind to whoever I choose to be kind to. I will feel sorry for whoever I choose to feel sorry for.’[d] 16 So then, it is God who decides these things. It is not because of what people want. It is not because of what people do. It is because God chooses to be kind.
17 The Bible tells us what God said to Pharaoh: ‘This is why I caused you to be king of Egypt. My purpose was to show how powerful I am. As a result, people everywhere would know that I am great.’[e] 18 So we see this: God is kind to some people and he forgives them. But he causes some people, like Pharaoh, to turn against him. He chooses what he will do with each person.
God himself decides when he will be angry or kind
19 One of you may say to me, ‘God always does what he wants to do. Nobody can change what God makes them do. So God should not say that people have done wrong things.’ 20 But you are only human. You have no authority to speak against God like that. God has made you. A pot cannot speak against the person who made it! It cannot ask him, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ 21 Somebody who makes pots can choose to make any kind of pot. He can use the same piece of clay to make two different pots. One of the pots may be for special parties. The other pot is for dirty things.
22 What does that teach us about God? Some people are like pots that are ready for God to destroy. God is angry with people like that. He is ready to show his power against them. But he has chosen to wait patiently. He keeps his anger for later. 23 Other people are like valuable pots that God has chosen to make. God wants to be kind to people like that. He wants to use them to show people how great he is. He has prepared them to be with him for a special party in heaven. 24 We are those people! God has chosen us to be his people. It is not only Jews that he has chosen. He has also chosen Gentiles. 25 God says this in the book of Hosea:
‘I will say to people who were not my people,
“Now you are my people.”
I will say to people that I did not love,
“I love you.” ’[f]
26 ‘God had said to them,
“You are not my people.”
In the same place where he said that,
people will now call them “Children of God, who lives for ever.” ’[g]
27 Also, Isaiah, God's prophet, said this about Israel's people:
‘There are so many of Israel's people, nobody can count them.
They are as many as the bits of sand on the shore of the sea.
But God will save only a few of them.
28 The Lord God will finish his work quickly.
He has warned his people what he will do.
And he will punish them completely.’[h]
29 Isaiah had already said this:
‘The Lord of great power has let some of our children live.
If he had not done that, no descendants would remain.
We would have become like the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.’[i]
30 So, we must think about what all this means. The Gentiles were not trying to become right with God. But some of them have now become right with him. God has accepted them as right, because they have believed in Jesus Christ. 31 But Israel's people tried to find a law that would make them right with God. But they failed to become right with God. 32 They failed because they refused to believe in Christ. Instead, they were trying to do certain things so that God would accept them. Because of that they fell to the ground. Their feet hit the stone which causes people to fall. 33 It says this in the Bible:
‘Look, I am putting a special stone in Zion.
That stone will cause people to fall to the ground.
It is a rock that will make them fall down.
But anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.’[j]
Footnotes
- 9:5 The ancestors of Israel's people were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. See Genesis 12—49.
- 9:9 See Genesis 17:21; 18:10,14.
- 9:13 See Malachi 1:2-3. Later, God gave Jacob the name ‘Israel’. Jacob was the ancestor of the Israelites.
- 9:15 See Exodus 33:19.
- 9:17 See Exodus 9:16.
- 9:25 See Hosea 2:23.
- 9:26 See Hosea 1:10.
- 9:28 See Isaiah 10:22-23.
- 9:29 See Isaiah 1:9 and Genesis 19:1-29. Sodom and Gomorrah were small towns. The people who lived there refused to obey God. So God destroyed those towns.
- 9:33 See Isaiah 28:16; 8:14 and 1 Peter 2:6-8. ‘Rock’ is one of God's names for Jesus. He is God's Messiah. It is difficult for people to believe that God will accept them only if they believe in Jesus Christ. They think that they can do good things and then he will accept them. This is why Jesus is like a rock that causes people to fall to the ground.
Romans 9
English Standard Version
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,
(AK)“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 (AL)“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called (AM)‘sons of the living God.’”
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,
(AP)(AQ)“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
(AR)we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”
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,
(AX)“Behold, I am laying in Zion (AY)a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
(AZ)and whoever believes in him will not be (BA)put to shame.”
Footnotes
- Romans 9:3 Or brothers and sisters
- Romans 9:16 Greek not of him who wills or runs
- Romans 9:27 Or children of Israel
- Romans 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness
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