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1 I speak the truth as one located within the Messiah—I am not lying; my conscience attests to this within me as attested in turn by the divine spirit— 2that grief and constant pain press down on my heart. 3 I wish that I myself was accursed and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers and sisters, those who are my compatriots in terms of our human nature, 4 the Israelites. Theirs is the original historical adoption by God, the shining glory of his presence, the many covenants, the gift of the Teachings, the gift of the temple service, and the manifold promises. 5 Theirs are the great ancestors, and from them comes the Messiah in his human nature, the one who rules over everything as divine. (May he be blessed forever! “Amen.”)
6 [Speaker 1] “But is it not the case that [according to you] the Word of God has failed? And is it not the case that all those [born] of Israel—[only] these are Israel? 7 Which is to say, is it not the case that it is all the children of Abraam who constitute the seed of Abraam?”
[Speaker 2] “Well [against this, let me state first] [as it is written in Scripture] ‘your seed will be named through Isaac.’ 8 Which is to say that it isn’t the children generated by mere human nature—these figures—who are the children who ultimately belong to God, but the children associated with the promise who are considered the ‘seed.’ 9 This is the word that promises: ‘at the right time I will come and Sarah will conceive a son.’ 10 And not only is this the case but Rebecca makes the same point. She had Isaac our father from one sexual act. 11 But before they had practiced or even conceived of anything good or evil, so that the divine purpose and call might hold, 12 not ‘by means of works’ but ‘by means of the one who calls,’ the words were spoken to her that ‘the greater will serve the lesser,’ 13 and as we also read [elsewhere in Scripture], ‘I loved Jacob but I hated Esau.’”
[Speaker 2] 14 “Well, what are we going to say about all this?”
[Speaker 1] “Surely God is not acting incorrectly in doing this?”
[Speaker 2] “Absolutely not! 15 He said to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whoever I want to have mercy on, and I will be compassionate towards whoever I want to be compassionate towards.’ 16 So it is clearly not a matter of ‘willing’ or of ‘running’ but of the mercy of God. 17 Moreover, he says to Pharaoh, as Scripture notes, ‘I will raise you up for this very thing—so that my power will be demonstrated through you and my name will be reported through all the earth.’ 18 It follows that he has mercy on whoever he wants to and he ‘hardens’ whoever he wants to.”
19 “But you are going to say back to me, [quoting Speaker 1] ‘Why then am I still faulted for doing the wrong thing? Who is able to resist his will?’ 20 “On the contrary, you mere mortal, who are you to interrogate God? ‘Will the material say to its maker, “Why have you made me like this?”’ 21 Does not the one working the clay have the right to make from the same lump different bowls—some, on the one hand, designed for a presentable use, and some designed for a less presentable purpose? 22 Hence if God, wanting to demonstrate his anger and to make his power known, nevertheless bore with great patience the vessels eliciting his anger, which were being strengthened ultimately thereby for destruction, 23 then he also—so that he might make known the riches of his glory for the vessels eliciting mercy, which were prepared beforehand for glory—can call us, 24 those who are [called] not only from the Jews but also from the pagans. 25 So as Hosea says: ‘I will call those who are not my people “my people,” and those who are not beloved I will call “beloved”; 26 and in that place where the words were spoken to them, “you are not my people”—there!—they will be called “the children of the living God.”’ 27
“But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Even though the children of Israel number as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, just a remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will effect a word that brings to an end and cuts short [judgment] on the land.” 29 Moreover, as the prophet Isaiah said before this: “If the Lord had not left seed behind for us then we would have become like Sodom, and would have become exactly like Gomorrah.”
[Speaker 2] 30 “What then are we going to say about all this?!”
[Speaker 1] “…That the pagans who are not pursuing the right sort of activity surely did not receive something right?!”
[Speaker 2] “…The right thing that is ‘through faith.’”
[Speaker 1] 31 “…But Israel, pursuing a Teaching about the right way to act, running towards that Teaching, did not receive?!”
[Speaker 2] 32 “Why? Because they did not pursue it ‘through faith’ but as if it is achieved ‘through works.’ So they stumbled over ‘the stumbling stone,’ 33 as it is written in Scripture, ‘Behold I am laying in Zion a stumbling stone and an offending rock,’ but ‘the person who believes in it will not be ashamed.’