Romans 9

1 I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.

1 我在基督里说真话，绝无谎言。我被圣灵感动的良心可以作证，

2 I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

2 我心里极为忧愁，痛苦不堪！

3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

3 为了我的弟兄——我的同胞以色列人，即使我自己被咒诅、与基督隔绝，我也愿意！

4 the 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.

4 身为以色列人，他们拥有上帝儿子的名分、上帝的荣耀、诸约、律法、敬拜礼仪和各种应许。

5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

5 蒙拣选的族长是他们的先祖，基督降世为人也是做以色列人。祂是至大至尊，永远当受称颂的上帝。阿们！

6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

6 当然，这并不表示上帝的话落了空，因为从以色列生的，并不都是以色列人，

7 Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

7 亚伯拉罕的后裔并不都是亚伯拉罕的儿女，圣经上说：“以撒生的才可算为你的后裔。”

8 So 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.

8 这话的意思是：凭血气所生的儿女并不是上帝的儿女，只有凭应许所生的才算是后裔。

9 For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

9 因为上帝曾这样应许他：“明年这时候，我会再来，撒拉必生一个儿子。”

10 Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.

10 后来，利百加和我们的先祖以撒结婚，怀了双胞胎。

11 Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,

11 在这对孩子还未出生，还没有显出谁善谁恶之时，上帝为了显明自己拣选人并不是按人的行为，而是按祂自己的旨意，

12 not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

12 便对利百加说：“将来大的要服侍小的。”

13 So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

13 正如圣经上说：“我爱雅各，厌恶以扫。”

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!

14 这样看来，我们该怎么说呢？难道上帝不公平吗？当然不是！

15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

15 祂曾对摩西说： “我要怜悯谁就怜悯谁， 要恩待谁就恩待谁。”

16 So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

16 可见这并不在于人的意志和努力，而在于祂的怜悯。

17 For 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.”

17 圣经记载着上帝对法老说的话：“我使你兴起是为了在你身上彰显我的权能，使我的名传遍天下。”

18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.

18 总之，上帝要怜悯谁，就怜悯谁；要叫谁顽固，就叫谁顽固。

19 One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”

19 这样，你肯定会对我说：“为什么上帝还指责人呢？谁能抗拒祂的旨意呢？”

20 But 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?”

20 你这个人啊！你是谁啊？竟敢顶撞上帝！受造之物怎能对造物的说：“你为什么把我造成这样？”

21 Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

21 陶匠难道不可从一团泥中拿一部分造贵重的器皿，又拿一部分造平凡的器皿吗？

22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

22 倘若上帝想要显示祂的烈怒和权能，就尽量容忍祂预备要发烈怒来毁灭的器皿，

23 What 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—

23 以便在祂预备施怜悯、赐荣耀的器皿上彰显祂丰盛的荣耀，又有何不可？

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

24 那些蒙祂怜悯的器皿就是我们这些从犹太人和外族人中被上帝呼召的人。

25 As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”

25 正如上帝在《何西阿书》上说： “本来不是我子民的， 我要称他们为‘我的子民’ ； 本来不是我所爱的， 我要称他们为‘我所爱的’。

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

26 从前我在什么地方对他们说， ‘你们不是我的子民。’ 将来也要在那里对他们说， ‘你们是永活上帝的儿女。’”

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.

27 关于以色列人，以赛亚先知曾疾呼： “以色列人虽多如海沙， 但得救的只是剩余的人，

28 For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.”

28 因为上帝要在世上迅速、 彻底地执行祂的判决。”

29 It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”

29 正如以赛亚先前所言： “若不是万军之主给我们存留后裔， 我们早就像所多玛和蛾摩拉一样灭亡了。”

30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

30 这样看来，我们该怎么说呢？本来不追求义的外族人却得到了义，就是因信而得的义。

31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.

31 以色列人靠遵行律法追求义，却徒劳无功。

32 Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

32 为什么会这样呢？因为他们不凭信心、只靠自己的行为去追求义，结果被那块绊脚石绊倒了，

33 as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

33 正如圣经上说： “看啊！我在锡安放了一块绊脚石， 一块使人跌倒的磐石。 但信靠祂的人必不会蒙羞。”