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16 So then [it is] not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shews mercy.

17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very thing I have raised thee up from amongst [men], that I might thus shew in thee my power, and so that my name should be declared in all the earth.

18 So then, to whom he will he shews mercy, and whom he will he hardens.

19 Thou wilt say to me then, Why does he yet find fault? for who resists his purpose?

20 Aye, but thou, O man, who art *thou* that answerest again to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that has formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?

22 And if God, minded to shew his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction;

23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory,

24 us, whom he has also called, not only from amongst [the] Jews, but also from amongst [the] nations?

25 As he says also in Hosea, I will call not-my-people My people; and the-not-beloved Beloved.

26 And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them, *Ye* [are] not my people, there shall they be called Sons of [the] living God.

27 But Esaias cries concerning Israel, Should the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved:

28 for [he] is bringing the matter to an end, and [cutting [it] short in righteousness; because] a cutting short of the matter will [the] Lord accomplish upon the earth.

29 And according as Esaias said before, Unless [the] Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and made like even as Gomorrha.

30 What then shall we say? That [they of the] nations, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, but [the] righteousness that is on the principle of faith.

31 But Israel, pursuing after a law of righteousness, has not attained to [that] law.

32 Wherefore? Because [it was] not on the principle of faith, but as of works. They have stumbled at the stumblingstone,

33 according as it is written, Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and rock of offence: and he that believes on him shall not be ashamed.

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16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.(A) 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.”[a](B) 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.(C)

19 One of you will say to me:(D) “Then why does God still blame us?(E) For who is able to resist his will?”(F) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(G) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(H) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[b](I) 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?(J)

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(K) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(L) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(M) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(N) 24 even us, whom he also called,(O) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(P) 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,”[c](Q)

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.’”[d](R)

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(S)
    only the remnant will be saved.(T)
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[e](U)

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty(V)
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”[f](W)

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say?(X) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;(Y) 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,(Z) have not attained their goal.(AA) 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.(AB) 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[g](AC)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
  2. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
  3. Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
  4. Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
  5. Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
  6. Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
  7. Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16