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Romans 9
Christian Standard Bible

Israel’s Rejection of Christ

9 I speak the truth in Christ(A)—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit[a]— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish(B) that I myself were cursed(C) and cut off[b] from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites,(D) and to them belong the adoption,(E) the glory,(F) the covenants,(G) the giving of the law,(H) the temple service,(I) and the promises.(J) 5 The ancestors are theirs,(K) and from them, by physical descent,[c] came the Christ,(L) who is God(M) over all,(N) praised forever.[d](O) Amen.

God’s Gracious Election of Israel

6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,(P) because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(Q) 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.[e](R) On the contrary, your offspring will be traced[f] through Isaac.[g](S) 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent[h] who are God’s children,(T) but the children of the promise(U) are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.[i](V) 10 And not only that,(W) but Rebekah conceived children(X) through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand(Y)— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.[j](Z) 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[k](AA)

God’s Selection Is Just

14 What should we say then?(AB) Is there injustice with God?(AC) Absolutely not!(AD) 15 For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.[l](AE) 16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort(AF) but on God who shows mercy.(AG) 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.[m](AH) 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(AI)

19 You will say to me,(AJ) therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?(AK) For who resists his will?” (AL) 20 On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(AM) Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” (AN) 21 Or has the potter no right over the clay,(AO) to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? 22 And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience(AP) objects of wrath prepared for destruction?(AQ) 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory(AR) on objects of mercy(AS) that he prepared beforehand for glory(AT)— 24 on us, the ones he also called,(AU) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(AV) 25 As it[n] also says in Hosea,

I will call Not My People, My People,
and she who is Unloved, Beloved.[o](AW)
26 And it will be in the place where they were told,
you are not my people,
there they will be called sons of the living God.[p](AX)

27 But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

Though the number of Israelites
is like the sand of the sea,(AY)
only the remnant will be saved;(AZ)
28 since the Lord will execute his sentence
completely and decisively on the earth.[q][r] (BA)

29 And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of Armies had not left us offspring,(BB)
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have been made like Gomorrah.[s](BC)

Israel’s Present State

30 What should we say then?(BD) Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.(BE) 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness,(BF) has not achieved the righteousness of the law.[t](BG) 32 Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.[u] They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(BH) 33 As it is written,

Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and the one who believes on him(BI)
will not be put to shame.[v](BJ)

Footnotes

  1. 9:1 Or testifying with me by the Holy Spirit
  2. 9:3 Lit to be anathema
  3. 9:5 Lit them, according to the flesh
  4. 9:5 Or the Messiah, the one who is over all, the God who is blessed forever, or Messiah. God, who is over all, be blessed forever
  5. 9:7 Lit seed
  6. 9:7 Lit called
  7. 9:7 Gn 21:12
  8. 9:8 Lit children of the flesh
  9. 9:9 Gn 18:10,14
  10. 9:12 Gn 25:23
  11. 9:13 Mal 1:2–3
  12. 9:15 Ex 33:19
  13. 9:17 Ex 9:16
  14. 9:25 Or he
  15. 9:25 Hs 2:23
  16. 9:26 Hs 1:10
  17. 9:28 Or land
  18. 9:27–28 Is 10:22–23; 28:22; Hs 1:10
  19. 9:29 Is 1:9
  20. 9:31 Other mss read the law for righteousness
  21. 9:32 Other mss add of the law
  22. 9:33 Is 8:14; 28:16
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Romans 9
International Children’s Bible

God and the Jewish People

9 I am in Christ, and I am telling you the truth. I do not lie. My feelings are ruled by the Holy Spirit, and they tell me that I am not lying. 2 I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness for the Jewish people. 3 I wish I could help my Jewish brothers, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them. 4 They are the people of Israel. They were God’s chosen children. They have the glory of God and the agreements that God made between himself and his people. God gave them the law of Moses and the right way of worship. And God gave his promises to them. 5 They are the descendants of our great ancestors, and they are the earthly family of Christ. Christ is God over all. Praise him forever![a] Amen.

6 I do not mean that God failed to keep his promise to them. But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people.[b] 7 And only some of Abraham’s[c] descendants are true children of Abraham. But God said to Abraham: “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.”[d] 8 This means that not all of Abraham’s descendants are God’s true children. Abraham’s true children are those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham. 9 God’s promise to Abraham was this: “At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[e] 10 And that is not all. Rebekah also had sons. And those sons had the same father, our father Isaac. 11-12 But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.”[f] This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this before they were born so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did. 13 As the Scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”[g]

14 So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way. 15 God said to Moses, “I will show kindness to anyone I want to show kindness. I will show mercy to anyone I want to show mercy.”[h] 16 So God will choose the one he decides to show mercy to. And his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. 17 The Scripture says to the king of Egypt: “I made you king so I might show my power in you. In this way my name will be talked about in all the earth.”[i] 18 So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy. And he makes stubborn the people he wants to make stubborn.

19 So one of you will ask me: “If God controls the things we do, then why does he blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?” 20 Do not ask that. You are only human. And human beings have no right to question God. An object cannot tell the person who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 The man who makes a jar can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make different things. He can make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.

22 It is the same way with what God has done. God wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But God patiently stayed with those people he was angry with—people who were ready to be destroyed. 23 God waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory. He wanted to give that glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory, and 24 we are those people whom God called. He called us from the Jews and from the non-Jews. 25 As the Scripture says in Hosea:

“I will say, ‘You are my people’
    to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And I will show my love
    to those people I did not love.” Hosea 2:1, 23
26 “Now it is said to Israel,
    ‘You are not my people.’
But later they will be called
    ‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10

27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:

“There are so many people of Israel.
    They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved.
28     For the Lord will quickly and completely punish the people on the earth.” Isaiah 10:22-23

29 It is as Isaiah said:

“The Lord of heaven’s armies
    allowed a few of our descendants to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
    like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”[j] Isaiah 1:9

30 So what does all this mean? It means this: the non-Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God. But they were made right with God because of their faith. 31 And the people of Israel tried to follow a law to make themselves right with God. But they did not succeed, 32 because they tried to make themselves right by the things they did. They did not trust in God to make them right. They fell over the stone that causes people to fall. 33 As it is written in the Scripture:

“I will put in Jerusalem a stone that causes people to stumble.
    It is a rock that makes them fall.
Anyone who trusts in him will not be disappointed.” Isaiah 8:14; 28:16

Footnotes

  1. 9:5 Christ . . . forever! This can also mean, “May God, who rules over all things, be praised forever!”
  2. 9:6 God’s people Literally, “Israel,” the people God chose to bring his blessings to the world.
  3. 9:7 Abraham Most respected ancestor of the Jews. Every Jew hoped to see Abraham.
  4. 9:7 “The descendants . . . Isaac.” Quotation from Genesis 21:12.
  5. 9:9 “At . . . son.” Quotation from Genesis 18:10, 14.
  6. 9:11-12 “The older . . . younger.” Quotation from Genesis 25:23.
  7. 9:13 “I . . . Esau.” Quotation from Malachi 1:2–3.
  8. 9:15 “I . . . mercy.” Quotation from Exodus 33:19.
  9. 9:17 “I . . . earth.” Quotation from Exodus 9:16.
  10. 9:29 Sodom and Gomorrah Two cities that God destroyed because the people were so evil.
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