Romans 9:22-10:13

Contemporary English Version

²²^(A) God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them. ²³He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory. ²⁴Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are those chosen ones, ²⁵^(B) just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea,

“Although they are not
my people,
I will make them my people.
I will treat with love
those nations
that have never been loved.

²⁶^(C) “Once they were told,
‘You are not my people.’
But in that very place
they will be called
children of the living God.”

²⁷^(D) And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel,

“The people of Israel
    are as many
as the grains of sand
    along the beach.
But only a few who are left
    will be saved.
²⁸The Lord will be quick
    and sure to do on earth
what he has warned
    he will do.”

²⁹^(E) Isaiah also said,

“If the Lord All-Powerful
had not spared some
of our descendants,
we would have been destroyed
like the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah.”^[a]

Israel and the Good News

³⁰What does all of this mean? It means that the Gentiles were not trying to be acceptable to God, but they found that he would accept them if they had faith. ^31-32It also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying^[b] to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God. The people of Israel fell over the stone that makes people stumble, ³³^(F) just as God says in the Scriptures,

“Look! I am placing in Zion
a stone to make people
stumble and fall.
But those who have faith
in that one will never
be disappointed.”

10 Dear friends, my greatest wish and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. ²I know they love God, but they don't understand ³what makes people acceptable to him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the Law. ⁴But Christ makes the Law no longer necessary^[c] for those who become acceptable to God by faith.

Anyone Can Be Saved

⁵^(G) Moses said a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, “If you want to live, you must do all the Law commands.”

⁶^(H) But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?” ⁷Neither will they ask, “Who will go down into the world of the dead to raise him to life?”

⁸All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, “The message is as near as your mouth or your heart.” And this is the same message we preach about faith. ⁹So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. ¹⁰God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

¹¹^(I) The Scriptures say no one who has faith will be disappointed, ¹²no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help. ¹³^(J) All who call out to the Lord will be saved.

Footnotes

9.29 Sodom and Gomorrah: During the time of Abraham the Lord destroyed these two cities because their people were so sinful.
9.31,32 because they were trying: Or “while they were trying” or “even though they were trying.”
10.4 But Christ makes the Law no longer necessary: Or “But Christ gives the full meaning to the Law.”