| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, | 1I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit-- |
| 2That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. | 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. |
| 3For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: | 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, |
| 4Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; | 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. |
| 5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. | 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. |
| 6Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: | 6It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. |
| 7Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. | 7Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." |
| 8That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. | 8In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. |
| 9For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. | 9For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son." |
| 10And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; | 10Not only that, but Rebekah's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. |
| 11(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) | 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: |
| 12It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. | 12not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." |
| 13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. | 13Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." |
| 14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. | 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! |
| 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. | 15For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." |
| 16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. | 16It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. |
| 17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. | 17For 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." |
| 18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. | 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. |
| 19Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? | 19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?" |
| 20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? | 20But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" |
| 21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? | 21Does 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? |
| 22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: | 22What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? |
| 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, | 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- |
| 24Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? | 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? |
| 25As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. | 25As 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," |
| 26And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. | 26and, "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.'" |
| 27Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: | 27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. |
| 28For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. | 28For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality." |
| 29And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. | 29It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." |
| 30What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. | 30What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; |
| 31But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. | 31but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. |
| 32Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; | 32Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. |
| 33As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. | 33As 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." |
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