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9:1  I am telling you the truth ·as a follower of Christ [or with Christ as my witness; L in Christ]; I do not lie. My conscience is ·ruled by [or guided by] the Holy Spirit, and it ·tells [testifies to] me I am not lying.
9:2  I have great sorrow and ·always feel much sadness [unceasing/constant anguish].
9:3  [L For] I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from ·Christ [or the Messiah] ·if that would help [for the sake of] my Jewish brothers and sisters, my ·people [countrymen; L relatives according to the flesh].
9:4  They are the people of Israel, God’s ·chosen [L adopted] children. They ·have seen [or have] the glory of God, and they have the ·agreements that God made between himself and his people [L covenants]. God gave them the law of Moses and the ·right way of worship [or temple worship] and his promises.
9:5  ·They are the descendants of our great ancestors [L They have the fathers/patriarchs], and ·they are the earthly family into which Christ was born [or from their descendants the Messiah came], ·who is God over all. Praise him forever [or May God, who is over all, be praised forever]! Amen.
9:6  It is not that ·God failed to keep his promise to them [L God’s word failed]. ·But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people [L Because not all those (descended) from Israel are Israel],
9:7  ·and only some of Abraham’s descendants are true children of Abraham [L nor are all of Abraham’s seed/descendants (true) children]. But God said to Abraham: “·The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac [or Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name; Gen. 21:12].”
9:8  This means that ·not all of Abraham’s descendants [L it is not the children of the flesh who] are God’s true children. [L But; Rather] ·Abraham’s true children [L Those counted as Abraham’s descendants/seed] are ·those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham [L the children of the promise].
9:9  God’s promise to Abraham was this: “·At the right time [At the appointed time; or About this time next year] I will return, and Sarah will have a son [Gen. 18:10, 14].”
9:10  And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons ·had the same father, [or were conceived at the same time by] our ·father [ancestor; forefather] Isaac.
9:11  But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger [Gen. 25:23].” This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that ·the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan [or the plan/purpose God had chosen would continue/prevail]. ·Jacob was chosen [or God’s plan continued] not because of ·anything Jacob did [L works], but because ·he was the one God wanted to call [or of the One who called him].
9:12  But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger [Gen. 25:23].” This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that ·the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan [or the plan/purpose God had chosen would continue/prevail]. ·Jacob was chosen [or God’s plan continued] not because of ·anything Jacob did [L works], but because ·he was the one God wanted to call [or of the One who called him].
9:13  As the Scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau [Mal. 1:2–3].”
9:14  So what should we say about this? Is God ·unfair [unjust]? ·In no way [Absolutely not!; May it never be!; 7:13].
9:15  [L For] God said to Moses, “I will show ·kindness [mercy] to anyone to whom I want to show ·kindness [mercy], and I will show ·compassion [pity] to anyone to whom I want to show ·compassion [pity; Ex. 33:19].”
9:16  So God’s choice does not depend on ·what people want [human desire; or human will] or ·try to do [effort; exertion], but on God’s ·mercy [kindness].
9:17  The Scripture says to ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh]: “I ·made you king [L raised you up] for this reason: to show my power in you so that my name will be ·talked about [proclaimed] in all the earth [Ex. 9:16].”
9:18  So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy, and he ·makes stubborn [hardens] the people he wants to ·make stubborn [harden].
9:19  So one of you will ask me: “Then why does God ·blame us for our sins [L blame; find fault]? Who can ·fight [resist; oppose] his will?”
9:20  ·You are only human, and human beings have no right to question God [L Who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God?]. ·An object [or A thing molded] should not ask the ·person who made it [molder], “Why did you make me like this? [Is. 29:16; 45:9]”
9:21  ·The potter can make anything he wants to make [L Doesn’t the potter have authority over the clay?]. He can use the same ·clay [L lump] to make one ·thing [vessel; pot] for ·special [honorable] use and another thing for ·daily [common; dishonorable] use.
9:22  ·It is the same way with God. He [L What if he…?] wanted to show his ·anger [wrath] and to let people see his power. But he ·patiently stayed with [endured with great patience] those ·people he was angry with [L vessels/objects of wrath]—people who were ·made ready [prepared] to be destroyed.
9:23  He waited with patience so that he could make known ·his rich glory [the riches of his glory] to the ·people who receive his [L vessels/objects of] mercy. He has prepared these people ·to have his glory [to experience his glory; L for glory],
9:24  and we are those people whom God called. He called us not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles.
9:25  As ·the Scripture [or God] says in Hosea: “I will ·say, ‘You are my people’ [call them ‘my people’] to those who were not my people. And I will ·show my love [call her ‘beloved’] to ·those people [her] I did not love [Hos. 2:1, 23; C in Hosea, a reference to apostate Israel; here applied to the Gentiles].”
9:26  “And in the same place where they were called, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God [Hos. 1:10].’”
9:27  And Isaiah cries out about Israel: “[L Though] The ·people [L children; sons] of Israel are numbered like the grains of sand ·by [or of] the sea. But only ·a few of them [the remnant] will be saved,
9:28  because the Lord will quickly and completely ·punish the people [carry out/execute his sentence; settle his account] on the earth [Is. 10:22–23].”
9:29  It is as Isaiah said: “If the Lord ·All-Powerful [of Hosts; of Heaven’s Armies] had not ·allowed a few of our descendants to live [left us offspring/seed], We would have become like Sodom and would resemble Gomorrah [Is. 1:9; C OT cities destroyed by God because of their wickedness; Gen. 19].”
9:30  ·So what does all this mean [L What, then, shall we say]? Those who are Gentiles ·were not trying to make themselves right with God [L did not pursue righteousness], but they ·were made right with God [obtained righteousness] ·because of their faith [L —that is, a righteousness that is by faith].
9:31  The people of Israel tried to ·follow [pursue] a law ·to make themselves right with God [L of righteousness]. But they did not ·succeed [reach/attain it],
9:32  [L Why?] because they tried to make themselves right by ·the things they did [works] instead of ·trusting in God to make them right [L by faith]. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble.
9:33  As it is written in the Scripture: “[L Look; T Behold] I will put in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C a poetic term for Jerusalem and symbolizing the nation Israel] a stone that causes people to stumble, a rock that makes them fall [Is. 8:14]. Anyone who ·trusts [believes; has faith] in him will never be ·disappointed [put to shame; disgraced; Is. 28:16].”