Greek: New Testament (NAS)
English: John Barach
English: John Barach
Chapter 9
Paul’s Sorrow and God’s Sovereign Choice
| 1 Ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐ ψεύδομαι, συμμαρτυρούσης μοι τῆς συνειδήσεώς μου ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, 2 ὅτι λύπη μοί ἐστιν μεγάλη καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ὀδύνη τῇ καρδίᾳ μου. 3 ηὐχόμην γὰρ ἀνάθεμα εἶναι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου κατὰ σάρκα, 4 οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται, ὧν ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ αἱ διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι, 5 ὧν οἱ πατέρες καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν. |
| 1I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great grief and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed, cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from them—according to the flesh—comes the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. |
| 6 Οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ· 7 οὐδ' ὅτι εἰσὶν σπέρμα Ἀβραὰμ πάντες τέκνα, ἀλλ', Ἐν Ἰσαὰκ κληθήσεταί σοι σπέρμα. {Genesis 21:12} 8 τοῦτ' ἔστιν, οὐ τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκὸς ταῦτα τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα. 9 ἐπαγγελίας γὰρ ὁ λόγος οὗτος, Κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐλεύσομαι καὶ ἔσται τῇ Σάρρᾳ υἱός. {Genesis 18:10,14} 10 οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ῥεβέκκα ἐξ ἑνὸς κοίτην ἔχουσα, Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν· 11 μήπω γὰρ γεννηθέντων μηδὲ πραξάντων τι ἀγαθὸν ἢ φαῦλον, ἵνα ἡ κατ' ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις τοῦ θεοῦ μένῃ, 12 οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦντος, ἐρρέθη αὐτῇ ὅτι Ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι, {Genesis 25:23} 13 καθὼς γέγραπται, |
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6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are “Israel.”
7Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed; rather, “Through Isaac shall your seed be named.”
{Genesis 21:12}
8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
9For this is the word of the promise: “At this set time I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
{Genesis 18:10,14}
10And not only this, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac—
11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand,
12not because of works but because of the One who calls—it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”
{Genesis 25:23}
13Just as it is written:
“Jacob I loved,
but Esau I hated.” {Malachi 1:2-3} |
| 14 Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; μὴ ἀδικία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ; μὴ γένοιτο. 15 τῷ Μωϋσεῖ γὰρ λέγει, 16 ἄρα οὖν οὐ τοῦ θέλοντος οὐδὲ τοῦ τρέχοντος ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλεῶντος θεοῦ. 17 λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ τῷ Φαραὼ ὅτι Εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρά σε ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοί τὴν δύναμίν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ. {Exodus 9:16} 18 ἄρα οὖν ὃν θέλει ἐλεεῖ, ὃν δὲ θέλει σκληρύνει. |
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14What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? May it never be!
15For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
16So then, it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.
17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, so that I might demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
{Exodus 9:16}
18So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” {Exodus 33:19} |
The Potter’s Right and the Stumbling Stone
| 19 Ἐρεῖς μοι οὖν, Τί [οὖν] ἔτι μέμφεται; τῷ γὰρ βουλήματι αὐτοῦ τίς ἀνθέστηκεν; 20 ὦ ἄνθρωπε, μενοῦνγε σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ θεῷ; μὴ ἐρεῖ τὸ πλάσμα τῷ πλάσαντι, Τί με ἐποίησας οὕτως; 21 ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν; 22 εἰ δὲ θέλων ὁ θεὸς ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ γνωρίσαι τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτοῦ ἤνεγκεν ἐν πολλῇ μακροθυμίᾳ σκεύη ὀργῆς κατηρτισμένα εἰς ἀπώλειαν, 23 καὶ ἵνα γνωρίσῃ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σκεύη ἐλέους ἃ προητοίμασεν εἰς δόξαν; 24 οὓς καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς οὐ μόνον ἐξ Ἰουδαίων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, |
| 19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will?” 20On the contrary, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Will the thing molded say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this?” 21Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22And what if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23and did so in order to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory? 24These are us, whom he also called—not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. |
| 25 ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Ὡσηὲ λέγει, |
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25 As he also says in Hosea:
“I will call those who were ‘Not My People,’‘My People,’
And her who was ‘Not Beloved,’ ‘Beloved.’” {Hosea 2:23}
26“And it shall be in the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” {Hosea 1:10} |
| 27 Ἠσαΐας δὲ κράζει ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ ὑπόλειμμα σωθήσεται· 28 λόγον γὰρ συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ποιήσει κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. {Isaiah 10:22-23} 29 καὶ καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἠσαΐας, |
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27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Even if the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;
28for the Lord will carry out his word on the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.”
{Isaiah 10:22-23}
29And just as Isaiah predicted:
“Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed,
we would have become like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.” {Isaiah 1:9} |
| 30 Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ὅτι ἔθνη τὰ μὴ διώκοντα δικαιοσύνην κατέλαβεν δικαιοσύνην, δικαιοσύνην δὲ τὴν ἐκ πίστεως, 31 Ἰσραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόμον δικαιοσύνης εἰς νόμον οὐκ ἔφθασεν. 32 διὰ τί; ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ ἔργων· προσέκοψαν τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος, 33 καθὼς γέγραπται, |
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30What then shall we say? That Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have overtaken righteousness—that is, the righteousness that is by faith;
31but Israel, while pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain to that law.
32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
33just as it is written:
“Behold, I am placing in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” {Isaiah 28:16} |