New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Romans 9
1
I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My mind tells me that what I say is true. It is guided by the Holy Spirit.
Reference
Parallel theme
Galatians 1:20
1 Timothy 1:5
References Christ
Philippians 1:8
2 Corinthians 12:19
Spirit
Romans 1:9
Romans 8:16
Truth
1 Timothy 2:7
2 Corinthians 11:10
Witness
2 Corinthians 1:12
1 Thessalonians 2:5
3
I am so concerned about my people, who are members of my own race. I am ready to be cursed, if that would help them. I am even willing to be separated from Christ.
Reference
Curse
Galatians 3:10
1 Corinthians 12:3
Parallel theme
Exodus 32:32
Romans 11:14
Esther 8:6
Acts 13:26
References Christ
1 Corinthians 16:22
4
They are the people of Israel. They have been adopted as God's children. God's glory belongs to them. So do the covenants. They received the law. They were taught to worship in the temple. They were given the promises.
Reference
Covenant
Ephesians 2:12
Genesis 17:2
Acts 2:39
Hebrews 9:1
Psalm 89:3
Glory
1 Kings 8:11
References God
Deuteronomy 7:6
References Israel
Exodus 4:22
Word
Psalm 147:19
Romans 9:6
5
The founders of our nation belong to them. Christ comes from their family line. He is God over all. May he always be praised! Amen.
Reference
Blessing
Romans 1:25
Psalm 106:48
Parallel theme
John 10:30
Revelation 1:18
Isaiah 11:1
Revelation 22:16
Isaiah 7:14
References Christ
1 John 5:20
Romans 1:3
References God
1 Timothy 3:16
6
Their condition does not mean that God's word has failed. Not everyone in the family line of Israel really belongs to Israel.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Timothy 2:13
References God
Galatians 6:16
Romans 3:3
Numbers 23:19
References Israel
John 1:47
Word
Isaiah 55:11
Matthew 24:35
John 10:35
7
Not everyone in Abraham's family line is really his child. Not at all! Scripture says, "Your family line will continue through Isaac."--(Genesis 21:12)
Reference
8
In other words, God's children are not just Abraham's natural children. Instead, they are the children God promised to him. They are the ones considered to be Abraham's children.
Reference
9
God promised, "I will return at the appointed time. Sarah will have a son."--(Genesis 18:10,14)
Reference
10
And that's not all. Rebekah's children had the same father. He was our father Isaac.
11
Here is what happened. Rebekah's twins had not even been born. They hadn't done anything good or bad yet. So they show that God's purpose is based firmly on his free choice.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Peter 1:10
2 Timothy 1:9
Revelation 17:14
Isaiah 14:24
Titus 3:5
Psalm 51:5
References God
Romans 4:17
1 Peter 5:10
12
It was not because of anything they did but because of God's choice. So Rebekah was told, "The older son will serve the younger one."--(Genesis 25:23)
13
It is written, "I chose Jacob instead of Esau."--(Malachi 1:2,3)
Reference
Love
Deuteronomy 21:15
14
What should we say then? Is God unfair? Not at all!
Reference
References God
2 Chronicles 19:7
Righteousness
Psalm 145:17
Deuteronomy 32:4
Revelation 16:7
Psalm 92:15
Job 8:3
Genesis 18:25
Job 35:2
Jeremiah 12:1
Romans 2:5
15
He said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. I will show love to those I love." --(Exodus 33:19)
Reference
16
So it doesn't depend on what we want or do. It depends on God's mercy.
Reference
Grace
Ephesians 2:8
Parallel theme
James 1:18
Isaiah 65:1
Luke 10:21
John 3:8
References God
Philippians 2:13
Romans 9:11
17
In Scripture, God says to Pharaoh, "I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to use you to show my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth."--(Exodus 9:16)
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 16:4
John 17:26
Joshua 9:9
Isaiah 37:20
1 Samuel 4:8
Romans 11:4
Resurrection
Exodus 9:16
Esther 4:14
Word
Galatians 3:22
Galatians 4:30
18
So God does what he wants to do. He shows mercy to one person and makes another stubborn.
Reference
19
One of you will say to me, "Then why does God still blame us? Who can oppose what he wants to do?"
Reference
20
But you are a mere man. So who are you to talk back to God? Scripture says, "Can what is made say to the one who made it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "--(Isaiah 29:16; 45:9)
Reference
Creation
Isaiah 29:16
1 Corinthians 1:20
Parallel theme
Isaiah 64:8
Job 33:13
Job 16:3
Matthew 20:15
Job 40:8
Job 36:23
References God
Job 40:2
1 Timothy 6:5
21
Isn't the potter free to make different kinds of pots out of the same lump of clay? Some are for special purposes. Others are for ordinary use.
Reference
22
What if God chose to show his great anger? What if he chose to make his power known? That is why he put up with people he was angry with. They had been made to be destroyed.
Reference
Judgment
1 Thessalonians 2:16
Psalm 90:11
2 Peter 2:3
Parallel theme
Proverbs 16:4
Romans 9:21
1 Peter 2:8
2 Timothy 2:20
Exodus 9:16
Romans 9:17
References God
Jude 1:4
23
What if he did that to show the riches of his glory to others? Those are the people he shows his mercy to. He had prepared them to receive his glory.
Reference
24
We are those people. He has chosen us. We do not come only from the Jewish race. Many of us are not Jews.
Reference
Parallel theme
Colossians 3:11
25
God says in Hosea, "I will call those who are not my people 'my people.' I will call the one who is not my loved one 'my loved one.' " --(Hosea 2:23)
Reference
26
He also says, "Once it was said to them, 'You are not my people.' In that very place they will be called 'children of the living God.' " --(Hosea 1:10)
Reference
27
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. He says, "The number of people from Israel may be like the sand by the sea. But only a few of them will be saved.
Reference
28
The Lord will carry out his sentence. He will be quick to carry it out on earth, once and for all." --(Isaiah 10:22,23)
Reference
29
Earlier Isaiah had said, "The Lord who rules over all left us children and grandchildren. If he hadn't, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah." --(Isaiah 1:9)
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 13:19
2 Peter 2:6
Jude 1:7
References Lord
Isaiah 1:9
James 5:4
Amos 4:11
Jeremiah 50:40
Jeremiah 49:18
Deuteronomy 29:23
30
What should we say then? Those who aren't Jews did not look for a way to be right with God. But they found it by having faith.
Reference
Faith
Hebrews 11:7
Philippians 3:9
Romans 4:11
Galatians 2:16
Romans 10:6
Parallel theme
Ephesians 2:12
Romans 10:20
Righteousness
Isaiah 51:1
Romans 9:14
31
Israel did look for a law that could make them right with God. But they didn't find it.
Reference
32
Why not? Because they didn't look for it by faith. They tried to get it by working for it. They tripped over the stone that causes people to trip and fall.
Reference
Faith
Romans 4:16
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 1:23
Luke 7:23
Luke 2:34
Romans 10:3
Romans 11:11
Matthew 13:57
Word
1 Peter 2:8
33
It is written, "Look! In Zion I am laying a stone that causes people to trip. It is a rock that makes them fall. The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." --(Isaiah 8:14; 28:16)
Reference
Faith
Isaiah 28:16
Romans 10:11
Psalm 25:20
Parallel theme
Psalm 118:22
Romans 5:5
Isaiah 45:17
1 John 2:28
Philippians 1:20
Isaiah 54:4
Matthew 21:42
Summary of Romans 9
Romans 9 addresses the painful question of why many Israelites have not accepted Christ even though Israel received God's promises, covenants, Law, worship, and Scriptures, and Paul begins by expressing deep personal sorrow for his people while explaining that God's word has not failed because His saving purpose has never depended simply on physical ancestry.
Paul uses Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, and Pharaoh to show that God's purposes operate according to His own wisdom and mercy rather than simply according to human effort, family position, or personal achievement, while his comparison of the potter and clay emphasizes the difference between the Creator and His creatures.
The chapter then shows that God's mercy is not limited to Israel, because He has also called Gentiles who were once outside God's covenant people, while the prophets had already spoken about both the inclusion of outsiders and the survival of a faithful remnant within Israel.
Paul concludes that many Gentiles received righteousness through faith even though they had not been pursuing the Jewish Law, while many Israelites did not receive righteousness because they tried to achieve it through works and stumbled over Christ, the "stone" God had provided.
The central message is that God's promises have not failed, because His saving plan is based on His mercy and purpose rather than human ancestry or achievement, and the chapter prepares for Paul's deeper explanation of Israel's situation and God's plan in the following chapters.
Historical Context
Romans 9 is especially important because the early Christian movement grew out of Jewish faith and Scripture, yet by Paul's time large numbers of Gentiles were becoming followers of Jesus while many Jews did not accept Him as the Messiah.
Paul himself was Jewish, so his discussion is not simply an outside criticism of Israel; he begins the chapter by expressing deep sorrow for his fellow Israelites and by listing the extraordinary privileges God had given them.
The references to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, and Pharaoh take Paul's readers back through major events in Israel's history, allowing him to argue that God's relationship with Israel has always involved God's calling and purpose rather than simple physical ancestry.
The example of Jacob and Esau would have been particularly striking because the older son normally had special status and inheritance rights in the ancient Near East, yet God chose Jacob as the person through whom the covenant promise would continue.
The reference to Pharaoh comes from the Exodus story, when Pharaoh resisted Moses and the Israelites before the Israelites eventually left Egypt.
Paul also quotes Hosea and Isaiah, two important prophets from Israel's history, to show that the Old Testament itself already contained ideas about God's mercy reaching unexpected people and about a faithful remnant surviving within Israel.
The chapter therefore does not treat the situation of Israel and the Gentiles as something that suddenly appeared in Paul's generation; instead, Paul argues that these developments fit within the larger story of God's work throughout Israel's history.
The central message of Romans 9 is that God's saving purpose depends on His mercy and calling rather than human ancestry, effort, or religious achievement.
Paul does not say that Israel's history was meaningless; instead, he emphasizes that Israel received extraordinary privileges and that God's promises remain trustworthy even though many Israelites rejected Christ.
At the same time, Gentiles who were previously outside Israel's covenant community are now being welcomed through faith, showing that God's mercy reaches beyond ethnic and national boundaries.
The chapter ends by explaining that faith is the dividing line, because Gentiles who trusted Christ received righteousness while many Israelites who tried to establish righteousness through the Law stumbled over Christ.
Romans 9 therefore combines God's sovereignty, human responsibility, Israel's history, Gentile inclusion, and faith in Christ, while preparing the reader for Paul's continued explanation of Israel's place in God's plan in Romans 10 and 11.
Paul uses Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, and Pharaoh to show that God's purposes operate according to His own wisdom and mercy rather than simply according to human effort, family position, or personal achievement, while his comparison of the potter and clay emphasizes the difference between the Creator and His creatures.
The chapter then shows that God's mercy is not limited to Israel, because He has also called Gentiles who were once outside God's covenant people, while the prophets had already spoken about both the inclusion of outsiders and the survival of a faithful remnant within Israel.
Paul concludes that many Gentiles received righteousness through faith even though they had not been pursuing the Jewish Law, while many Israelites did not receive righteousness because they tried to achieve it through works and stumbled over Christ, the "stone" God had provided.
The central message is that God's promises have not failed, because His saving plan is based on His mercy and purpose rather than human ancestry or achievement, and the chapter prepares for Paul's deeper explanation of Israel's situation and God's plan in the following chapters.
Historical Context
Romans 9 is especially important because the early Christian movement grew out of Jewish faith and Scripture, yet by Paul's time large numbers of Gentiles were becoming followers of Jesus while many Jews did not accept Him as the Messiah.
Paul himself was Jewish, so his discussion is not simply an outside criticism of Israel; he begins the chapter by expressing deep sorrow for his fellow Israelites and by listing the extraordinary privileges God had given them.
The references to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Moses, and Pharaoh take Paul's readers back through major events in Israel's history, allowing him to argue that God's relationship with Israel has always involved God's calling and purpose rather than simple physical ancestry.
The example of Jacob and Esau would have been particularly striking because the older son normally had special status and inheritance rights in the ancient Near East, yet God chose Jacob as the person through whom the covenant promise would continue.
The reference to Pharaoh comes from the Exodus story, when Pharaoh resisted Moses and the Israelites before the Israelites eventually left Egypt.
Paul also quotes Hosea and Isaiah, two important prophets from Israel's history, to show that the Old Testament itself already contained ideas about God's mercy reaching unexpected people and about a faithful remnant surviving within Israel.
The chapter therefore does not treat the situation of Israel and the Gentiles as something that suddenly appeared in Paul's generation; instead, Paul argues that these developments fit within the larger story of God's work throughout Israel's history.
The central message of Romans 9 is that God's saving purpose depends on His mercy and calling rather than human ancestry, effort, or religious achievement.
Paul does not say that Israel's history was meaningless; instead, he emphasizes that Israel received extraordinary privileges and that God's promises remain trustworthy even though many Israelites rejected Christ.
At the same time, Gentiles who were previously outside Israel's covenant community are now being welcomed through faith, showing that God's mercy reaches beyond ethnic and national boundaries.
The chapter ends by explaining that faith is the dividing line, because Gentiles who trusted Christ received righteousness while many Israelites who tried to establish righteousness through the Law stumbled over Christ.
Romans 9 therefore combines God's sovereignty, human responsibility, Israel's history, Gentile inclusion, and faith in Christ, while preparing the reader for Paul's continued explanation of Israel's place in God's plan in Romans 10 and 11.