| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— | 1I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit-- |
| 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. | 2that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. |
| 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. | 3For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. |
| 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. | 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. |
| 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. | 5The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever. Amen. |
| 6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, | 6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. |
| 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” | 7Neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. |
| 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. | 8That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring. |
| 9For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” | 9For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son. |
| 10And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, | 10And not only that, but also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant by one man, our ancestor Isaac. |
| 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— | 11For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand-- |
| 12she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” | 12not from works but from the One who calls--she was told: The older will serve the younger. |
| 13As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” | 13As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. |
| 14What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! | 14What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! |
| 15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” | 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. |
| 16So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. | 16So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. |
| 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” | 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 all the earth. |
| 18So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. | 18So then, He shows mercy to those He wants to, and He hardens those He wants to harden. |
| 19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” | 19You will say to me, therefore, "Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?" |
| 20But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” | 20But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" |
| 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? | 21Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? |
| 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, | 22And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction? |
| 23in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— | 23And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory-- |
| 24even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? | 24on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? |
| 25As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” | 25As He also says in Hosea: I will call Not My People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved. |
| 26“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” | 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. |
| 27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, | 27But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Though the number of Israel's sons is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved; |
| 28for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” | 28for the Lord will execute His sentence completely and decisively on the earth. |
| 29And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” | 29And just as Isaiah predicted: If the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah. |
| 30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; | 30What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness--namely the righteousness that comes from faith. |
| 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. | 31But Israel, pursuing the law for righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. |
| 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, | 32Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. |
| 33as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” | 33As it is written: Look! I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, yet the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame. |
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