Romans 9:16-33

16So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift].

17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, to display My power in [dealing with] you, and so that My name would be proclaimed in all the earth.”

18So then, He has mercy on whom He wills (chooses), and He hardens [the heart of] whom He wills.

19You will say to me then, “Why does He still blame me [for sinning]? For who [including myself] has [ever] resisted His will and purpose?”

20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers [arrogantly] back to God and dares to defy Him? Will the thing which is formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

21Does the potter not have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump [of clay] one object for honorable use [something beautiful or distinctive] and another for common use [something ordinary or menial]?

22What if God, although willing to show His [terrible] wrath and to make His power known, has tolerated with great patience the objects of His wrath [which are] prepared for destruction?

23And what if He has done so to make known the riches of His glory to the objects of His mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory,

24including us, whom He also called, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles?

25Just as He says in [the writings of the prophet] Hosea: “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And [I will call] her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’ ”

26“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

27And Isaiah calls out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is only the remnant [a small believing minority] that will be saved [from God’s judgment];

28For the Lord will execute His word upon the earth [He will conclude His dealings with mankind] completely and without delay.”

29It is as Isaiah foretold, “If the Lord of Hosts had not left us seed [future generations from which a believing remnant of Israelites came], We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah [totally rejected and destroyed]!”

30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness [who did not seek salvation and a right relationship with God, nevertheless] obtained righteousness, that is, the righteousness which is produced by faith;

31whereas Israel, [though always] pursuing the law of righteousness, did not succeed in fulfilling the law.

32And why not? Because it was not by faith [that they pursued it], but as though it were by works [relying on the merit of their works instead of their faith]. They stumbled over the stumbling Stone [Jesus Christ].

33As it is written and forever remains written, “Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense; And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].”