9 ¹ I AM SPEAKING the truth as a Christian, and my own conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, assures me it is no lie: 9 ² in my heart there is great grief and unceasing sorrow. 9 ³ For I could even pray to be outcast from Christ myself for the sake of my brothers, my natural kinsfolk. 9 ⁴ They are Israelites: they were made God's sons, theirs is the splendour of the divine presence, theirs the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 9 ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, in natural descent, sprang the Messiah. Greek: Christ. May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen. Or: sprang the Messiah, supreme above all, God blessed for ever; Or: sprang the Messiah, who is supreme above all. Blessed be God for ever!

9 ⁶ It is impossible that the word of God should have proved false. For not all descendants of Israel are truly Israel, nor, 9 ^{7 [ Gn.21.12. ]} because they are Abraham's offspring, are they all his true children; Or: all children of God. but, in the words of Scripture, 'Through the line of Isaac your posterity shall be traced.' Or: God's call shall be for your descendants in the line of Isaac. 9 ⁸ That is to say, it is not those born in the course of nature who are children of God; it is the children born through God's promise who are reckoned as Abraham's descendants. 9 ^{9 [ Gn.18.10-14. ]} For the promise runs: 'At the time fixed I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.'
9 ¹⁰ But that is not all, for Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our ancestor Isaac; 9 ¹¹ and yet, in order that God's selective purpose might stand, based not upon men's deeds but upon the call of God, 9 ^{12 [ Gn.25.23. ]} she was told, even before they were born, when they had as yet done nothing, good or ill, 'The elder shall be servant to the younger'; 9 ^{13 [ Mal.1.2-3. ]} and that accords with the text of Scripture, 'Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.'

9 ¹⁴ What shall we say to that? Is God to be charged with injustice? By no means. 9 ^{15 [ Ex.33.19. ]} For he says to Moses, 'Where I show mercy, I will show mercy, and where I pity, I will pity.' 9 ¹⁶ Thus it does not depend on man's will or effort, but on God's mercy. 9 ^{17 [ Ex.9.16. ]} For Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'I have raised you up for this very purpose, to exhibit my power in my dealings with you, and to spread my fame over all the world.' 9 ¹⁸ Thus he not only shows mercy as he chooses, but also makes men stubborn as he chooses.