Font Size
Romans 9
New International Version
Romans 9
New International Version
Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,(A) my conscience confirms(B) it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself(C) were cursed(D) and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people,(E) those of my own race,(F) 4 the people of Israel.(G) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;(H) theirs the divine glory,(I) the covenants,(J) the receiving of the law,(K) the temple worship(L) and the promises.(M) 5 Theirs are the patriarchs,(N) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,(O) who is God over all,(P) forever praised Amen.
God’s Sovereign Choice
6 It is not as though God’s word(R) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(S) 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[b](T) 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children,(U) but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.(V) 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[c](W)
10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac.(X) 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad(Y)—in order that God’s purpose(Z) in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[d](AA) 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[e](AB)
14 What then shall we say?(AC) Is God unjust? Not at all!(AD) 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[f](AE)
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.(AF) 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[g](AG) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(AH)
19 One of you will say to me:(AI) “Then why does God still blame us?(AJ) For who is able to resist his will?”(AK) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(AL) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(AM) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[h](AN) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?(AO)
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(AP) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(AQ) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(AR) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(AS)— 24 even us, whom he also called,(AT) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(AU) 25 As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[i](AV)
26 and,
“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[j](AW)
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(AX)
only the remnant will be saved.(AY)
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[k](AZ)
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty(BA)
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”[l](BB)
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What then shall we say?(BC) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(BD) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(BE) have not attained their goal.(BF) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(BG) 33 As it is written:
Footnotes
- Romans 9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!
- Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
- Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14
- Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
- Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3
- Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
- Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
- Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
- Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
- Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
- Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
- Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
- Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
Romans 9
Good News Translation
Romans 9
Good News Translation
God and His People
9 I am speaking the truth; I belong to Christ and I do not lie. My conscience, ruled by the Holy Spirit, also assures me that I am not lying 2 when I say how great is my sorrow, how endless the pain in my heart 3 for my people, my own flesh and blood! For their sake I could wish that I myself were under God's curse and separated from Christ. 4 (A)They are God's people; he made them his children and revealed his glory to them; he made his covenants[a] with them and gave them the Law; they have the true worship; they have received God's promises; 5 they are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors; and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised forever![b] Amen.
6 I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God. 7 (B)Nor are all of Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, “It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you.” 8 This means that the children born in the usual way[c] are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants. 9 (C)For God's promise was made in these words: “At the right time[d] I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac. 11-12 (D)But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done. 13 (E)As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
14 Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. 15 (F)For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.” 16 So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy. 17 (G)For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.” 18 So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.
God's Anger and Mercy
19 But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” 20 (H)But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 (I)After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.
22 (J)And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. 23 And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory. 24 For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. 25 (K)This is what he says in the book of Hosea:
“The people who were not mine
I will call ‘My People.’
The nation that I did not love
I will call ‘My Beloved.’
26 (L)And in the very place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called the children of the living God.”
27 (M)And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: “Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will quickly settle his full account with the world.” 29 (N)It is as Isaiah had said before, “If the Lord Almighty had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
Israel and the Gospel
30 So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God, were put right with him through faith; 31 while God's people, who were seeking a law that would put them right with God, did not find it. 32 And why not? Because they did not depend on faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the “stumbling stone” 33 (O)that the scripture speaks of:
“Look, I place in Zion a stone
that will make people stumble,
a rock that will make them fall.
But whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
Footnotes
- Romans 9:4 covenants; some manuscripts have covenant.
- Romans 9:5 May God, who rules over all, be praised forever!; or And may he, who is God ruling over all, be praised forever!
- Romans 9:8 This refers to the descendants Abraham had through Ishmael, his son by Hagar (see Ga 4.22-23).
- Romans 9:9 At the right time; or At this time next year.
Romans 9
Common English Bible
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]
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible