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¹I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.[ † ]2 Corinthians 1:23 ²I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.[ † ]Romans 10:1 ³For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,[ † ]Exodus 32:32 ⁴the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.[ † ]Exodus 4:22Romans 8:151 Samuel 4:21Genesis 17:2Deuteronomy 29:14Luke 1:72Acts 3:25Deuteronomy 4:13Psalms 147:19Hebrews 9:1-6Acts 2:39Acts 13:32Ephesians 2:12 ⁵Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.[ † ]Deuteronomy 10:15Luke 1:34-35Luke 3:23Jeremiah 23:6

⁶It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.[ † ]Numbers 23:19John 8:39Galatians 6:16 ⁷Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”[ † ]John 8:33-39Galatians 4:23Genesis 21:12Hebrews 11:18 ⁸So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.[ † ]Galatians 4:28 ⁹For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[ † ]Genesis 18:10-14Hebrews 11:11

¹⁰Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.[ † ]Genesis 25:21 ¹¹Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,[ † ]Romans 4:17Romans 8:28 ¹²not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[ † ]Genesis 25:23 ¹³So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[ † ]Malachi 1:2-3

¹⁴What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not![ † ]Deuteronomy 32:4

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[ † ]Galatians 3:8Exodus 9:16 ¹⁸Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.[ † ]Exodus 4:21Deuteronomy 2:30Joshua 11:20John 12:40Romans 11:7-25

¹⁹One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”[ † ]2 Chronicles 20:6Job 9:12Daniel 4:35 ²⁰But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”[ † ]Isaiah 29:16Jeremiah 18:6Romans 9:222 Timothy 2:20 ²¹Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?[ † ]Proverbs 16:42 Timothy 2:20

²²What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?[ † ]1 Thessalonians 5:9Proverbs 16:41 Peter 2:8 ²³What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—[ † ]Colossians 1:27Romans 8:28-30 ²⁴including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?[ † ]Romans 8:28Isaiah 42:6-7Isaiah 49:6Luke 2:32Romans 3:29

³⁰What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;[ † ]Romans 4:11Romans 1:17Romans 3:21Romans 10:6Galatians 2:16Galatians 3:24Philippians 3:9Hebrews 11:7 ³¹but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.[ † ]Romans 10:2-4Galatians 5:4 ³²Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,[ † ]Luke 2:341 Corinthians 1:23