| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing 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 continual grief in my heart. | 2that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. |
| 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen 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. |
| 4who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, 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. |
| 5of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. 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 that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, | 6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. |
| 7nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” | 7Neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants. On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. |
| 8That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. | 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 the word of promise: “At this time I will come 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 this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac | 10And not only that, but also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant by one man, our ancestor Isaac. |
| 11(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but 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-- |
| 12it was said to her, “The older shall 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 have loved, but Esau I have hated.” | 13As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. |
| 14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! | 14What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! |
| 15For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will 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 is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. | 16So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. |
| 17For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared 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. |
| 18Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. | 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 has resisted His will?” | 19You will say to me, therefore, "Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?" |
| 20But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “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?" |
| 21Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? | 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, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the 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? |
| 23and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had 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 called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? | 24on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? |
| 25As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” | 25As He also says in Hosea: I will call Not My People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved. |
| 26“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall 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. |
| 27Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant 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 He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” | 28for the Lord will execute His sentence completely and decisively on the earth. |
| 29And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made 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 to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; | 30What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness--namely the righteousness that comes from faith. |
| 31but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. | 31But Israel, pursuing the law for righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. |
| 32Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that 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 lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on 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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