New Living Translation

Greek Study Bible

1With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.

1Ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ οὐ ψεύδομαι συμμαρτυρούσης μοι τῆς συνειδήσεώς μου ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ

2My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief

2ὅτι λύπη μοί ἐστιν μεγάλη καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ὀδύνη τῇ καρδίᾳ μου

3for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.

3ηὐχόμην γὰρ ἀνάθεμα εἶναι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου κατὰ σάρκα

4They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

4οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται ὧν ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ αἱ διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι

5Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

5ὧν οἱ πατέρες καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἀμήν

6Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!

6Οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ

7Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.

7οὐδ’ ὅτι εἰσὶν σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ πάντες τέκνα ἀλλ’ Ἐν Ἰσαὰκ κληθήσεταί σοι σπέρμα

8This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

8τοῦτ’ ἔστιν οὐ τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκὸς ταῦτα τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα

9For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

9ἐπαγγελίας γὰρ ὁ λόγος οὗτος Κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐλεύσομαι καὶ ἔσται τῇ Σάρρᾳ υἱός

10This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.

10Οὐ μόνον δέ ἀλλὰ καὶ Ῥεβέκκα ἐξ ἑνὸς κοίτην ἔχουσα Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν

11But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes;

11μήπω γὰρ γεννηθέντων μηδὲ πραξάντων τι ἀγαθὸν ἢ φαῦλον ἵνα ἡ κατ’ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις τοῦ Θεοῦ μένῃ

12he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”

12οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦντος ἐρρέθη αὐτῇ ὅτι Ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι

13In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

13καθὼς* γέγραπται Τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἠγάπησα τὸν δὲ Ἠσαῦ ἐμίσησα

14Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!

14Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν μὴ ἀδικία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ μὴ γένοιτο

15For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

15τῷ Μωϋσεῖ γὰρ λέγει Ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω* ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω*

16So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

16Ἄρα οὖν οὐ τοῦ θέλοντος οὐδὲ τοῦ τρέχοντος ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλεῶντος Θεοῦ

17For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”

17λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ τῷ Φαραὼ ὅτι Εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρά σε ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ

18So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

18ἄρα οὖν ὃν θέλει ἐλεεῖ ὃν δὲ θέλει σκληρύνει

19Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

19Ἐρεῖς μοι οὖν Τί ‹οὖν› ἔτι μέμφεται τῷ γὰρ βουλήματι αὐτοῦ τίς ἀνθέστηκεν

20No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

20ὦ ἄνθρωπε μενοῦνγε σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ Θεῷ μὴ ἐρεῖ τὸ πλάσμα τῷ πλάσαντι Τί με ἐποίησας οὕτως

21When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?

21ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν

22In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.

22Εἰ δὲ θέλων ὁ Θεὸς ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ γνωρίσαι τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτοῦ ἤνεγκεν ἐν πολλῇ μακροθυμίᾳ σκεύη ὀργῆς κατηρτισμένα εἰς ἀπώλειαν

23He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

23καὶ ἵνα γνωρίσῃ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σκεύη ἐλέους ἃ προητοίμασεν εἰς δόξαν

24And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

24οὓς καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς οὐ μόνον ἐξ Ἰουδαίων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἐθνῶν

25Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.”

25ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Ὡσηὲ λέγει Καλέσω τὸν οὐ λαόν μου λαόν μου καὶ τὴν οὐκ ἠγαπημένην ἠγαπημένην

26And, “Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

26Καὶ Ἔσται ἐν τῷ τόπῳ οὗ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖς Οὐ λαός μου ὑμεῖς ἐκεῖ κληθήσονται Υἱοὶ Θεοῦ ζῶντος

27And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.

27Ἠσαΐας δὲ κράζει ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ Ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης τὸ ὑπόλειμμα σωθήσεται

28For the LORD will carry out his sentence upon the earth quickly and with finality.”

28λόγον γὰρ συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ποιήσει Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

29And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.” Israel’s Unbelief

29Καὶ καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἠσαΐας Εἰ μὴ Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν

30What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.

30Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ἔθνη τὰ μὴ διώκοντα δικαιοσύνην κατέλαβεν δικαιοσύνην δικαιοσύνην δὲ τὴν ἐκ πίστεως

31But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.

31Ἰσραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόμον δικαιοσύνης εἰς νόμον οὐκ ἔφθασεν

32Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.

32διὰ τί ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως ἀλλ’ ὡς ἐξ ἔργων προσέκοψαν τῷ λίθῳ τοῦ προσκόμματος

33God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

33καθὼς γέγραπται Ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον προσκόμματος καὶ πέτραν σκανδάλου καὶ ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Greek and Hebrew Study Bible courtesy Bible Hub and the Discovery Bible team.