Romans 9

I tell the truth in AL-MASIH1. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed from AL-MASIH for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Taurat, the Temple service, and the promises; 5of whom are the fathers, and from whom is AL-MASIH as concerning the flesh, who is God2 over all, blessed forever. Amen.

6But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. 7Neither, because they are Ibrahim’s seed, are they all children. But, 

“In Ishaq will your seed be called.” 3

8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as a seed. 9For this is a word of promise, 

“At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” 4 

10Not only so, but Rebecca also conceived by one, by our father Ishaq. 11For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, 12it was said to her, 

“The elder will serve the younger.” 5

13Even as it is written, 

“Yaqub I loved, but Esau I hated.” 6

14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be! 15For he said to Musa, 

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 7

16So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. 17For Al-Kitab says to Firaun, 

“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show in you my power, and that my Name might be declared in all the earth.” 8

18So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. 19You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?” 20But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?

“Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?'” 9

21Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honour, and another for dishonour? 22What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction, 23and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, 24us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the nations? 25As he says also in Hosea,

“I will call them ‘my people,’ who were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.” 10

26“It will happen that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'” 11

27Shaya cries concerning Israel,

“Though the number of Bani-Israel are as the sand of the sea, only a 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.” 12

29As Shaya has said before,

“Unless the LORD13 All-Powerful had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” 14

30What shall we say then? That the nations, who didn’t pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, that is, the righteousness which comes through faith. 31But Israel, following after the Taurat to attain righteousness, did not attain it. 32Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by obedience to the Taurat. They stumbled over the stumbling stone; 33even as it is written,

“Behold, I lay in Al-Quds15 a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” 16

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  1. 9:1 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH.  Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming.
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  2. 9:5 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
  3. 9:7 Quoting the Taurat, Genesis 21:12 which says: God said to Ibrahim, “Do not let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your maidservant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For in Ishaq will your seed be called.” ↩︎
  4. 9:9 Quoting the Taurat, Genesis 18:14 which says: “Is anything too hard for YAHWEH? At the appointed time I will come, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.” ↩︎
  5. 9:12 Quoting the Taurat, Genesis 25:23 which says: YAHWEH said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.” ↩︎
  6. 9:13 Quoting the Taurat, Malachi 1:2-3 which says: “I have loved you,” says YAHWEH. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Yaqub’s brother?” says YAHWEH, “Yet Yaqub I loved, but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.” ↩︎
  7. 9:15 Quoting the Taurat, Exodus 33:19 which says: He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the Name of YAHWEH before you. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ↩︎
  8. 9:17 Quoting the Taurat, Exodus 9:16 in which God speaks to Firaun through Prophet Musa and says: “but indeed for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show in you my power, and that my Name may be declared in all the earth.” ↩︎
  9. 9:20 See the Taurat, Shaya 29:16 which says: You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He didn’t make me?” Or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?” ↩︎
  10. 9:25 Quoting the Taurat, Hosea 2:23 which says: “I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will show love to her who was ‘not loved’; and I will tell those who were ‘not my people’, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!'” ↩︎
  11. 9:26 Quoting the Taurat, Hosea 1:10 which says: “Yet the number of Bani-Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. It will happen that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” ↩︎
  12. 9:27,28 Quoting the Taurat, Shaya 10:22,23 which says: For though your people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant shall return: a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, YAHWEH All-Powerful, make in the midst of all the earth. ↩︎
  13. 9:29 LORD, the use of all capital letters means that the original Hebrew text quoted here uses God’s Name, YAHWEH, which God-fearing Jews to this day do not say out of respect. YAHWEH is the Name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
  14. 9:29 Quoting the Taurat, Shaya 1:9 which says: Unless YAHWEH All-Powerful had left to us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. ↩︎
  15. 9:33 Al-Quds, meaning “the Holy (City).” The Greek text borrows directly from the Hebrew text which reads Zion, a synonym for Jerusalem. Zion originally referred to Mount Zion, one of the hills of Jerusalem. ↩︎
  16. 9:33 Quoting two verses together in the Taurat from Prophet Shaya. First, Shaya 28:16 which says: Therefore thus says the Lord YAHWEH, “Behold, I lay in Al-Quds for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of sure foundation: whoever believes will not be disappointed.
    Second, Shaya 8:14 which says: He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ↩︎