19 You will say to me,(A) therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?(B) For who resists his will?” (C) 20 On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(D) Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” (E) 21 Or has the potter no right over the clay,(F) 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(G) objects of wrath prepared for destruction?(H) 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory(I) on objects of mercy(J) that he prepared beforehand for glory(K) 24 on us, the ones he also called,(L) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(M)

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19 Therefore you will say to me, “Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted[a] his will? 20 On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this”?[b] 21 Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that is for honorable use[c] and one that is for ordinary use[d]? 22 And what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And he did so[e] in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, 24 us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:19 Or “who resists”
  2. Romans 9:20 A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9
  3. Romans 9:21 Literally “honor”
  4. Romans 9:21 Literally “dishonor”
  5. Romans 9:23 The words “he did so” are not in the Greek text, but are an understood repetition from the previous clause