Rom 9, Eph 1 | ESV | STEP | I am speaking the truth in Christ —I am not lying ; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit

1 ^aI am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For ^bI could wish that I myself were ^caccursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters} my kinsmen ^eaccording to the flesh. 4 They are ^fIsraelites, and to them belong ^gthe adoption, ^hthe glory, ⁱthe covenants, ^jthe giving of the law, ^kthe worship, and ^lthe promises. 5 To them belong ^mthe patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ⁿwho is God over all, ^oblessed forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham ^pbecause they are his offspring, but ^q“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^rthe children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: ^s“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but ^talso when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^uhim who calls— 12 she was told, ^v“The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, ^w“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What shall we say then? ^xIs there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, ^y“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, ^{▼▼Greek not of him who wills or runs} but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^aa“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^abwho can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, ^acto answer back to God? ^adWill what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 ^aeHas the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^afone vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^agvessels of wrath ^ahprepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known ^aithe riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^ajhas prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he ^akhas called, ^alnot from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

^am“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 ^an“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ^ao‘sons of the living God.’”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^ap“Though the number of the sons of Israel ^{▼▼Or children of Israel} be as the sand of the sea, ^aronly a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,

^as, ^at“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
^auwe would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What shall we say, then? ^avThat Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^awa righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel ^axwho pursued a law that would lead to righteousness ^{▼▼Greek a law of righteousness} ^azdid not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^bastumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

^bb“Behold, I am laying in Zion ^bca stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
^bdand whoever believes in him will not be ^beput to shame.”

Ephesians 1

Greeting

1 Paul, ^bfan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bgby the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and ^bhare faithful ^{▼▼Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)} in Christ Jesus:

2 ^bjGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3 ^bkBlessed be ^blthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing ^bmin the heavenly places, 4 ^bneven as he ^bochose us in him ^bpbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be ^bqholy and blameless before him. In love 5 ^brhe predestined us ^{▼▼Or before him in love, having predestined us} for ^btadoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, ^buaccording to the purpose of his will, 6 ^bvto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in ^bwthe Beloved. 7 ^bxIn him we have ^byredemption ^bzthrough his blood, ^cathe forgiveness of our trespasses, ^cbaccording to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 ^ccmaking known ^{▼▼Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known . . .} to us the mystery of his will, ^ceaccording to his purpose, which he ^cfset forth in Christ 10 as a plan for ^cgthe fullness of time, ^chto unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained ^cian inheritance, ^cjhaving been predestined ^ckaccording to the purpose of him who works all things according to ^clthe counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be ^cmto the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard ^cnthe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, ^cowere sealed with the ^cppromised Holy Spirit, 14 who is ^cqthe guarantee ^{▼▼Or down payment} of our ^csinheritance until ^ctwe acquire ^cupossession of it, ^{▼▼Or until God redeems his possession} ^cwto the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, ^cxbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit your love} toward all the saints, 16 I ^czdo not cease to give thanks for you, ^daremembering you in my prayers, 17 that ^dbthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^dcmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 ^ddhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is ^dethe hope to which he has called you, what are ^dfthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^dgaccording to the working of ^dhhis great might 20 that he worked in Christ ^diwhen he raised him from the dead and ^djseated him at his right hand ^dkin the heavenly places, 21 ^dlfar above ^dmall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above ^dnevery name that is named, not only in ^dothis age but also in the one to come. 22 And ^dphe put all things under his feet and gave him as ^dqhead over all things to the church, 23 ^drwhich is his body, ^dsthe fullness of him ^dtwho fills ^duall in all.