Romans 9
New King James Version
Israel’s Rejection of Christ
9 I (A)tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 (B)that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For (C)I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my [a]countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, (D)to whom pertain the adoption, (E)the glory, (F)the covenants, (G)the giving of the law, (H)the service of God, and (I)the promises; 5 (J)of whom are the fathers and from (K)whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, (L)who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
Israel’s Rejection and God’s Purpose(M)
6 (N)But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For (O)they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 (P)nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, (Q)“In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but (R)the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: (S)“At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only this, but when (T)Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of (U)Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, (V)“The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, (W)“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice
14 What shall we say then? (X)Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, (Y)“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For (Z)the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, (AA)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He (AB)hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For (AC)who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? (AD)Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the (AE)potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make (AF)one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering (AG)the vessels of wrath (AH)prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known (AI)the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had (AJ)prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He (AK)called, (AL)not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea:
(AM)“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”
26 “And(AN) it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
(AO)“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
(AP)The remnant will be saved.
28 For [b]He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
(AQ)Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah said before:
(AR)“Unless the Lord of [c]Sabaoth had left us a seed,
(AS)We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Present Condition of Israel
30 What shall we say then? (AT)That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, (AU)even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, (AV)pursuing the law of righteousness, (AW)has not attained to the law [d]of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, [e]by the works of the law. For (AX)they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
(AY)“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And (AZ)whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Footnotes
- Romans 9:3 Or relatives
- Romans 9:28 NU the Lord will finish the work and cut it short upon the earth
- Romans 9:29 Lit., in Heb., Hosts
- Romans 9:31 NU omits of righteousness
- Romans 9:32 NU by works, omitting of the law
Romans 9
Easy-to-Read Version
God and the Jewish People
9 I am in Christ and I am telling you the truth. I am not lying. And my conscience, ruled by the Holy Spirit, agrees that what I say now is true. 2 I have great sorrow and always feel much sadness 3 for my own people. They are my brothers and sisters, my earthly family. I wish I could help them. I would even have a curse on me and cut myself off from Christ if that would help them. 4 They are the people of Israel, God’s chosen children. They have the glory of God and the agreements he made between himself and his people. God gave them the Law of Moses, the Temple worship, and his promises. 5 They are the descendants of our great fathers, and they are the earthly family of the Messiah, who is God over all things. Praise him forever![a] Amen.
6 I don’t mean that God failed to keep his promise to the Jewish people. But only some of the people of Israel are really God’s people.[b] 7 And only some of Abraham’s descendants are true children of Abraham. This is what God said to Abraham: “Your true descendants will be those who come through Isaac.”[c] 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 he made to Abraham. 9 Here is what God said in that promise: “About this time next year I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”[d]
10 And that is not all. Rebecca also had sons, and they had the same father. He is our father Isaac. 11-12 But before the two sons were born, God told Rebecca, “The older son will serve the younger.”[e] This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this before they were born so that the boy he wanted 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 the boys did. 13 As the Scriptures say, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”[f]
14 So what does this mean? That God is not fair? We cannot say that. 15 God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I want to show mercy to. I will show pity to anyone I choose.”[g] 16 So God will choose anyone he decides to show mercy to, and his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. 17 In the Scriptures God says to Pharaoh: “I made you king so that you could do this for me. I wanted to show my power through you. I wanted my name to be announced throughout the world.”[h] 18 So God shows mercy to those he wants to show mercy to and makes stubborn those he wants to make stubborn.
19 So one of you will ask me, “If God controls what we do, why does he blame us for our sins?” 20 Don’t ask that. You are only human and have no right to question God. A clay jar does not question the one who made it. It does not say, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 The one who makes the jar can make anything he wants. He uses the same clay to make different things. He might make one thing for special purposes and another for daily use.
22 It is the same way with what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But he patiently endured those he was angry with—people who were ready to be destroyed. 23 He waited with patience so that he could make known the riches of his glory to the people he has chosen to receive his mercy. God has already prepared them to share his glory. 24 We are those people, the ones God chose not only from the Jews but also from those who are not Jews. 25 As the Scriptures say in the book of Hosea,
“The people who are not mine—
I will say they are my people.
And the people I did not love—
I will say they are the people I love.” (A)
26 And,
“Where God said in the past,
‘You are not my people’—
there they will be called children of the living God.” (B)
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 Yes, the Lord will quickly finish judging the people on the earth.” (C)
29 It is just as Isaiah said:
“The Lord All-Powerful
allowed some of our people to live.
If he had not done that,
we would now be like Sodom,
and we would be like Gomorrah.” (D)
30 So what does all this mean? It means that people who are not Jews were made right with God because of their faith, even though they were not trying to make themselves right. 31 And the people of Israel, who tried to make themselves right with God by following the law, did not succeed. 32 They failed 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 makes people fall. 33 The Scriptures talk about that stone:
“Look, I put in Zion a stone that will make people stumble.
It is a rock that will make people fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disappointed.” (E)
Footnotes
- Romans 9:5 Messiah, who is … forever! Or “Messiah. May God, who rules over all things, be praised forever!”
- Romans 9:6 God’s people Literally, “Israel,” the people God chose to bring his blessings to the world.
- Romans 9:7
Quote from Gen. 21:12. - Romans 9:9
Quote from Gen. 18:10, 14. - Romans 9:11
Quote from Gen. 25:23. - Romans 9:13
Quote from Mal. 1:2-3. - Romans 9:15
Quote from Ex. 33:19. - Romans 9:17
Quote from Ex. 9:16.
Romans 9
Common English Bible
The tragedy of Israel’s unbelief
9 I’m speaking the truth in Christ—I’m not lying, as my conscience assures me with the Holy Spirit: 2 I have great sadness and constant pain in my heart. 3 I wish I could be cursed, cut off from Christ if it helped my brothers and sisters, who are my flesh-and-blood relatives. 4 They are Israelites. The adoption as God’s children, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises belong to them. 5 The Jewish ancestors are theirs, and the Christ descended from those ancestors. He is the one who rules over all things, who is God, and who is blessed forever. Amen.
Israel and God’s choice
6 But it’s not as though God’s word has failed. Not all who are descended from Israel are part of Israel. 7 Not all of Abraham’s children are called Abraham’s descendants, but instead your descendants will be named through Isaac.[a] 8 That means it isn’t the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children from the promise who are counted as descendants. 9 The words in the promise were: A year from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.[b]
10 Not only that, but also Rebecca conceived children with one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 When they hadn’t been born yet and when they hadn’t yet done anything good or bad, it was shown that God’s purpose would continue because it was based on his choice. 12 It wasn’t because of what was done but because of God’s call. This was said to her: The older child will be a slave to the younger one.[c] 13 As it is written, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.[d]
14 So what are we going to say? Isn’t this unfair on God’s part? Absolutely not! 15 He says to Moses, I’ll have mercy on whomever I choose to have mercy, and I’ll show compassion to whomever I choose to show compassion.[e] 16 So then, it doesn’t depend on a person’s desire or effort. It depends entirely on God, who shows mercy. 17 Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have put you in this position for this very thing: so I can show my power in you and so that my name can be spread through the entire earth.[f] 18 So then, God has mercy on whomever he wants to, but he makes resistant whomever he wants to.
19 So you are going to say to me, “Then why does he still blame people? Who has ever resisted his will?” 20 You are only a human being. Who do you think you are to talk back to God? Does the clay say to the potter, “Why did you make me like this?”[g] 21 Doesn’t the potter have the power over the clay to make one pot for special purposes and another for garbage from the same lump of clay? 22 What if God very patiently puts up with pots made for wrath that were designed for destruction, because he wanted to show his wrath and to make his power known? 23 What if he did this to make the wealth of his glory known toward pots made for mercy, which he prepared in advance for glory? 24 We are the ones God has called. We don’t come only from the Jews but we also come from the Gentiles. 25 As it says also in Hosea,
I will call “my people” those who aren’t my people,
and the one who isn’t well loved, I will call “loved one.”[h]
26 And in the place where it was said to them,
“You aren’t my people,”
there they will be called “the living God’s children.”[i]
27 But Isaiah cries out for Israel,
Though the number of Israel’s children will be like the sand of the sea,
only a remaining part will be saved,
28 because the Lord does what he says completely and quickly.[j]
29 As Isaiah prophesied,
If the Lord of the heavenly forces had not left descendants for us,
we would have been like Sodom,
and we would have become like Gomorrah.[k]
Israel and God’s righteousness
30 So what are we going to say? Gentiles who weren’t striving for righteousness achieved righteousness, the righteousness that comes from faith. 31 But though Israel was striving for a Law of righteousness, they didn’t arrive. 32 Why? It’s because they didn’t go for it by faith but they went for it as if it could be reached by doing something. They have tripped over a stumbling block. 33 As it is written:
Look! I’m putting a stumbling block in Zion,
which is a rock that offends people.
And the one who has faith in him will not be put to shame.[l]
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible