^aI am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For ^aI could ¹wish that I myself were ^baccursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen ^caccording to the flesh, 4 who are ^aIsraelites, to whom belongs ^bthe adoption as sons, and ^cthe glory and ^dthe covenants and ^ethe giving of the Law and ^fthe temple service and ^gthe promises, 5 whose are ^athe fathers, and ^bfrom whom is ¹the Christ according to the flesh, ^cwho is over all, ^dGod ^eblessed ²forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though ^athe word of God has failed. ^bFor they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children ^abecause they are Abraham’s ¹descendants, but: “^2bTHROUGH ISAAC YOUR ³DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are ^achildren of God, but the ^bchildren of the promise are regarded as ¹descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: “^aAT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” 10 ^aAnd not only this, but there was ^bRebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that ^aGod’s purpose according to His choice would ¹stand, not ²because of works but ³because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “^aTHE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13 Just as it is written, “^aJACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

14 ^aWhat shall we say then? ^bThere is no injustice with God, is there? ^cMay it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “^aI WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who ^aruns, but on ^bGod who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “^aFOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED ¹THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He ^ahardens whom He desires.

19 ^aYou will say to me then, “^bWhy does He still find fault? For ^cwho resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, ^aO man, who ^banswers back to God? ^cThe thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel ¹for honorable use and another ²for common use? 22 ¹What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much ^apatience vessels of wrath ^bprepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known ^athe riches of His glory upon ^bvessels of mercy, which He ^cprepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also ^acalled, ^bnot from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25 As He says also in Hosea,“^aI WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’”

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “^aTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE ^bLIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS ^cTHE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; 28 ^aFOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, ¹THOROUGHLY AND ²QUICKLY.” 29 And just as Isaiah foretold,“^aUNLESS ^bTHE LORD OF ¹SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A ²POSTERITY,^cWE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE ³RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”

30 ^aWhat shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even ^bthe righteousness which is ¹by faith; 31 but Israel, ^apursuing a law of righteousness, did not ^barrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it ¹by faith, but as though it were ²by works. They stumbled over ^athe stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written,“^aBEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION ^bA STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE,^cAND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM ^dWILL NOT BE ¹DISAPPOINTED.”