Israel’s Rejection of Christ

1I speak the truth in Christa — I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy SpiritA —  2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wisha that I myself were cursedb and cut offA from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4They are Israelites,a and to them belong the adoption,b the glory,c the covenants,d the giving of the law,e the temple service,f and the promises.g 5The ancestors are theirs,a and from them, by physical descent,A came the Christ,b who is Godc over all,d praised forever.B e Amen.

God’s Gracious Election of Israel

6Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,a because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.b 7Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.a a On the contrary, your offspring will be tracedB through Isaac.b c 8That is, it is not the children by physical descentA who are God’s children,a but the children of the promiseb are considered to be the offspring. 9For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.a b 10And not only that,a but Rebekah conceived childrenb through one man, our father Isaac. 11For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might standa — 12not from works but from the one who calls — she was told, The older will serve the younger.a b 13As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.a b

God’s Selection Is Just

14What should we say then?a Is there injustice with God?b Absolutely not!c 15For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.a b 16So then, it does not depend on human will or efforta but on God who shows mercy.b 17For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.a b 18So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.a

19You will say to me,a therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?b For who resists his will? ”c 20On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?a Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this? ”b 21Or has the potter no right over the clay,a to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? 22And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patiencea objects of wrath prepared for destruction?b 23And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glorya on objects of mercyb that he prepared beforehand for gloryc —  24on us, the ones he also called,a not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?b 25As itA also says in Hosea,

I will call Not My People, My People,

and she who is Unloved, Beloved.a b

26And it will be in the place where they were told,

you are not my people,

there they will be called sons of the living God.a b

27But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

Though the number of Israelites

is like the sand of the sea,a

only the remnant will be saved;b

28since the Lord will execute his sentence

completely and decisively on the earth.a a b

29And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of HostsA had not left us offspring,a

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have been made like Gomorrah.b c

Israel’s Present State

30What should we say then?a Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness — namely the righteousness that comes from faith.b 31But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness,a has not achieved the righteousness of the law.a b 32Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.A They stumbled over the stumbling stone.a 33As it is written,

Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over

and a rock to trip over,

and the one who believes on hima

will not be put to shame.b c