Digo la verdad en Cristo, no miento, dándome testimonio mi conciencia^a en el Espíritu Santo, 2 de que tengo gran tristeza y continuo dolor en mi corazón. 3 Porque desearía¹ yo mismo ser anatema^2a, separado de Cristo^b por amor a mis hermanos, mis parientes³ según la carne^c, 4 que son israelitas^a, a quienes pertenece la adopción como hijos^b, y la gloria^c, los pactos^d, la promulgación de la ley^e, el culto^f y las promesas^g, 5 de quienes son los patriarcas^a, y de quienes, según la carne, procede el Cristo^1b, el cual está sobre todas las cosas^c, Dios^d bendito por los siglos^e. Amén.

6 Pero no es que la palabra de Dios haya fallado^a. Porque no todos los descendientes de Israel son Israel^b; 7 ni son todos hijos por ser descendientes¹ de Abraham^a, sino que POR ISAAC SERÁ LLAMADA TU DESCENDENCIA^2b. 8 Esto es, no son los hijos de la carne los que son hijos de Dios^a, sino que los hijos de la promesa son considerados como descendientes^1b. 9 Porque esta es una palabra de promesa: POR ESTE TIEMPO VOLVERÉ, Y SARA TENDRÁ UN HIJO^a. 10 Y nosolo esto^a, sino que también Rebeca, cuando concibió mellizos de uno, nuestro padre Isaac^b 11 (porque cuando aún los mellizos no habían nacido, y no habían hecho nada, ni bueno ni malo, para que el propósito de Dios conforme a su elección permaneciera, no por las obras, sino por aquel que llama^a), 12 se le dijo a ella: EL MAYOR SERVIRÁ AL MENOR^a. 13 Tal como está escrito: A JACOB AMÉ, PERO A ESAÚ ABORRECÍ^a.

14 ¿Qué diremos entonces^a? ¿Que hay injusticia en Dios^b? ¡De ningún modo^c! 15 Porque Él dice a Moisés: TENDRÉ MISERICORDIA DEL QUE YO TENGA MISERICORDIA, Y TENDRÉ COMPASIÓN DEL QUE YO TENGA COMPASIÓN^a. 16 Así que no depende del que quiere ni del que corre^a, sino de Dios que tiene misericordia^b. 17 Porque la Escritura dice a Faraón: PARA ESTO MISMO TE HE LEVANTADO, PARA DEMOSTRAR MI PODER EN TI, Y PARA QUE MI NOMBRE SEA PROCLAMADO POR¹ TODA LA TIERRA^a. 18 Así que del que quiere tiene misericordia, y al que quiere endurece^a.

19 Me dirás entonces^a: ¿Por qué, pues, todavía reprocha¹ Dios^b? Porque ¿quién resiste a su voluntad^c? 20 Al contrario, ¿quién eres tú, oh hombre, que le contestas a Dios^a? ¿Dirá acaso el objeto modelado al que lo modela: Por qué me hiciste así^b? 21 ¿O no tiene el alfarero derecho sobre el barro de hacer de la misma masa un vaso para uso honorable¹ y otro para uso ordinario²? 22 ¿Y qué, si Dios, aunque dispuesto a demostrar su ira y hacer notorio su poder, soportó con mucha paciencia^a a los vasos de ira preparados para destrucción^b? 23 Lo hizo para dar a conocer las riquezas de su gloria^a sobre los vasos de misericordia^b, que de antemano Él preparó para gloria^c, 24 es decir, nosotros, a quienes también llamó^a, nosolo de entre los judíos, sino también de entre los gentiles^b. 25 Como también dice en Oseas:A LOS QUE NO ERAN MI PUEBLO, LLAMARÉ: «PUEBLO MÍO»,Y A LA QUE NO ERA AMADA: «AMADA mía^a».

27 Isaías también exclama en cuanto a Israel: AUNQUE EL NÚMERO DE LOS HIJOS DE ISRAEL SEA COMO LA ARENA DEL MAR,solo EL REMANENTE^a SERÁ SALVO^b; 28 PORQUE EL SEÑOR EJECUTARÁ SU PALABRA SOBRE LA TIERRA CABALMENTE¹ Y CON BREVEDAD^2a. 29 Y como Isaías predijo:SI EL SEÑOR DE LOS EJÉRCITOS^a NO NOS HUBIERA DEJADO DESCENDENCIA¹,HUBIÉRAMOS LLEGADO A SER COMO SODOMA, Y HECHOS SEMEJANTES A GOMORRA^b.

30 ¿Qué diremos entonces^a? Que los gentiles, que no iban tras la justicia, alcanzaron justicia, es decir, la justicia que es por¹ fe^b; 31 pero Israel, que iba tras una ley de justicia^a, no alcanzó esa ley^b. 32 ¿Por qué? Porque no iban tras ella por¹ fe, sino como por² obras. Tropezaron en la piedra de tropiezo^a, 33 tal como está escrito:HE AQUÍ, PONGO EN SIÓN UNA PIEDRA DE TROPIEZO Y ROCA DE ESCÁNDALO^a;Y EL QUE CREA EN ÉL NO SERÁ AVERGONZADO^b.

^aI am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me enlightened and prompted by the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For if it were possible ^aI would wish that I myself were ^baccursed, separated, banished from Christ for the sake of the salvation of my brothers, my ^cnatural kinsmen, Ex 32:32 4 who are ^aIsraelites, to whom belongs ^bthe adoption as sons, ^cthe glory (¹Shekinah) , ^dthe special covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, ^ethe giving of the Law, ^fthe system of temple worship, and ^gthe original promises. Ex 4:22; Hos 11:1 5 To them belong ^athe patriarchs, and ^bfrom them, according to His natural descent, came the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) , He ^cwho is exalted and supreme over all, ^dGod ^eblessed forever. Amen.

6 However, it is not as though ^aGod’s word has failed coming to nothing. ^bFor not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are the true Israel; 7 and they are not all the children of Abraham ^abecause they are his descendants by blood, but the promise was: “^bYOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED THROUGH ISAAC” though Abraham had other sons. Gen 21:9-12 8 That is, it is not the children of the body Abraham’s natural descendants who are ^aGod’s children, but it is the ^bchildren of the promise who are counted as Abraham’s true descendants. 9 For this is what the promise said: “^aABOUT THIS TIME next year I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” Gen 18:10 10 ^aAnd not only that, but this too: ^bRebekah conceived twin sons by one man under the same circumstances, by our father Isaac; 11 and though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything either good or bad, so that ^aGod’s purpose His choice, His election would stand, not because of works done by either child, but because of the plan of Him who calls them, 12 it was said to her, “^aTHE ¹OLDER (Esau) WILL SERVE THE ²YOUNGER (Jacob) .” Gen 25:21-23 13 As it is written and forever remains written, “^1aJACOB I LOVED (chose, protected, blessed) , BUT ²ESAU I HATED (held in disregard compared to Jacob) .” Mal 1:2, 3

14 ^aWhat shall we say then? ^bIs there injustice with God? ^cCertainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “^aI WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I HAVE COMPASSION.” Ex 33:19 16 So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human ^aeffort the totality of human striving, but on ^bGod who shows mercy to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “^aI RAISED YOU UP FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE, TO DISPLAY MY POWER IN dealing with YOU, AND SO THAT MY NAME WOULD BE PROCLAIMED IN ALL THE EARTH.” Ex 9:16 18 So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses) , and He ^ahardens the heart of whom He wills.

19 ^aYou will say to me then, “^bWhy does He still blame me for sinning? For ^cwho including myself has ever resisted His will and purpose?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, ^aO man, who ^banswers arrogantly back to God and dares to defy Him? ^cWill the thing which is formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Is 29:16; 45:9 21 Does the potter not have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump of clay one object for honorable use something beautiful or distinctive and another for common use something ordinary or menial? 22 What if God, although willing to show His terrible wrath and to make His power known, has tolerated with great ^apatience the objects of His wrath which are ^bprepared for destruction? Prov 16:4 23 And what if He has done so to make known ^athe riches of His glory to the ^bobjects of His mercy, which He has ^cprepared beforehand for glory, 24 including us, whom He also ^acalled, ^bnot only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles? 25 Just as He says in the writings of the prophet Hosea:“^aI WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’AND I will call HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’” Hos 2:23

27 And Isaiah calls out concerning Israel: “^aTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE ^bLIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS ONLY ^cTHE REMNANT a small believing minority THAT WILL BE SAVED from God’s judgment; 28 ^aFOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD UPON THE EARTH He will conclude His dealings with mankind COMPLETELY AND WITHOUT DELAY.” Is 10:22, 23 29 It is as Isaiah foretold,“^aIF ^bTHE LORD OF HOSTS HAD NOT LEFT US SEED future generations from which a believing remnant of Israelites came,^cWE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH totally rejected and destroyed!” Is 1:9

30 ^aWhat shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness who did not seek salvation and a right relationship with God, nevertheless obtained righteousness, that is, ^bthe righteousness which is produced by faith; 31 whereas Israel, though always ^apursuing the law of righteousness, did not ^bsucceed in fulfilling the law. Is 51:1 32 And why not? Because it was not by faith that they pursued it, but as though it were by works relying on the merit of their works instead of their faith. They stumbled over ^athe stumbling Stone Jesus Christ. Is 8:14; 28:16 33 As it is written and forever remains written,“^aBEHOLD I AM LAYING IN ZION ^bA STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE;^cAND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him ^dWILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED in his expectations.” Is 28:16