Ndjambi notjiwaṋa tje Israel
1 Ami me hungire ouatjiri; owami owa Kristus, nu hi nokukora ovizeze. Nomeritjiviro wandje womomutima nge nanwa i Ombepo Ondjapuke, wina ma e hongonona puna ami kutja hi nokukora ovizeze, 2 tji me tja mbi noruhoze orunene, nokutja mbi nomuhihamwatima 3 kovakwetu, imba womuhoko wandje omuini. Ami etje zera kutja mbi sengwe i Ndjambi nokuporwa ku Kristus andakuzu ma rire ondjamo ku wo. 4 Owo Ovaisrael, otjiwaṋa otjitoororwa tja Ndjambi; we ve isa po ovanatje ne ve vandururire ounene we; eye wa tjita omerikutiropamwe omengi na wo, nu we ve pere Omatwako wa Moses; owo va perwe omerikotameneno watjiri nomakwizikiro wa Ndjambi; 5 owo va zire mozondekurona za Abraham na Isak na Jakob; nu wina Kristus, ongaro ye otja omundu, wa zire momuhoko wawo. Nu Ndjambi ngu honaparera avihe nga hivirikwe aruhe nga aruhe! Amen.
6 Ami hi nakutja omakwizikiro wa Ndjambi kaye toṋene, orondu kava Israel avehe mbe ri ovotjiwaṋa tja Ndjambi. 7 Nu wina kazondekurona azehe za Abraham nḓe ri ovanatje Ndjambi mba kwizikira Abraham. Ndjambi wa tjere ku Abraham: “Mu Isak ove mo munu mo ozondekurona nḓu mbe ku kwizikira.” 8 Ihi matji hee kutja ovanatje, mba kwatwa komuhingo wovandu owo kavanatje va Ndjambi; nungwari ovanatje mba mba kwatwa otja komakwizikiro wa Ndjambi owo ombe varwa otja ozondekurona za Abraham. 9 Orondu omakwizikiro wa Ndjambi ya yenenisiwa momambo nga: “Moruveze tjingero ndwi mombura ndji mai yende ami me kotoka, nu tjandje Sara u nomuatje omuzandu.”
10 Nu kapuwo! Ovanatje ovazandu vevari va Rebeka va ri ovaihe imwe, ingwi tate mukururume Isak. 11-12 Nungwari kokutja omatoororero womuzandu umwe ye yenenisiwe otja kombango ya Ndjambi omuini, Ndjambi otja tja ku Rebeka: “Omuatje ingwi erumbi ma karere ingwi omuangu.” Eye wa hungira omambo nga owo ngunda ave hiya kwatwa, nu ngunda ave hiya tjita ouwa poo ouvi; komuhingo mbwi omatoororero wa Ndjambi ya ri otja komaisaneno we, nu kaya ri otja ku imbi owo mbi va tjita. 13 Otja omatjangwa punga amaye hee: “Ami mba suvera Jakob, nungwari mba tonda Esau.”
14 Nu ngatu tje vi? Ndjambi omuhasemba? Kako ka tjiperi! 15 Orondu eye wa tjere ku Moses: “Ami me tjariparere ingwi ngu me vanga okutjariparera, nu me ṱire ondjenda ingwi ngu me vanga okuṱira ondjenda.” 16 Oviṋa avihe otji vi ha kara otja omundu punga ama vanga poo punga ama tjiti, nungwari vi kara otja kombango ya Ndjambi ngu notjari. 17 Momatjangwa Ndjambi ma tja kombara ya Engipte: “Ami mbe ku zika okurira ombara kokutja mbi raise omasa wandje move, nokutja ena randje ri zuvarisiwe mouye auhe.” 18 Ndjambi otje tjariparera ngamwa auhe eye ngu ma vanga, notje kukutisa omutima wangamwa auhe eye ngu ma vanga.
Ndjambi u toorora ngamwa ngu ma vanga
19 Nove motja nai ku ami: Nu tji pe ri nao, Ndjambi me ku pere tjike ondjo? Owaṋi ngu ma sora okupirukira ombango ye? 20 Nungwari, mundu, oovyaṋi ngu movanga okupatasana na Ndjambi? Otjiungurwa matji sora vi okutja nai komutjiungure: “Ove we ndji ungurira tjike nai?” 21 Nomuungure wozonyungu indu ke nouvara are okuungurisa omunoko otja puma vanga? Eye ke nokuyenena okuungura ozonyungu mbari pomunoko umwe are, imwe onanḓengu na imwe yakauriri?
22 Notjinga ape ri nao wina ku imbi Ndjambi mbya tjita. Ndjambi wa vanga okuraisa omazenge we nokutjiukisa omasa we. Nungwari eye wa ri nomuretima tjinene novandu mba mbaa ve mu pindikisa, imba ovandu mba pwira onyoneno. 23 Eye wina wa tjita nao kokutja a tjiukise ohivirikiro ye onenenene ku imba eye mba vanga okutjariparera, eṱe mba eye mba ṱunina okumuna ohivirikiro ye okuza ku rukuru. 24 Orondu oweṱe mbu tu ri otjiwaṋa eye tja isana, nu kakutja omokati kOvajuda aveyerike, nungwari wina omokati kaimba mbe he ri Ovajuda. 25 Nu imbi ombya hungira membo romuprofete Hosea:
“Kotjiwaṋa tji tji ha ri otjandje
me tja ‘Tjiwaṋa tjandje’.
Nu komuhoko mbu mbi ha ri amba suvera
me tja ‘Musuverwa wandje!’
26 Nu poṋa tjingepo mba owo pu va raerwa nai:
‘Eṋe kaweṋe otjiwaṋa tjandje’,
opu pe ri po mba pu mave
isanewa ovanatje va Ndjambi omunamuinyo.”
27 Nu Jesaja wa ravaera ohunga na Israel na tja: “Nandarire otjivarero tjOvaisrael tji tja ṱeki peheke romukuro wokuvare, ma rire ouṱiṱi uriri mokati kawo mbu mave hupisiwa komuinyo; 28 orondu Muhona tjimanga ma pangura ovandu avehe kombanda yehi.” 29 Nu Jesaja otjinga a tjere nao komeho rukuru: “Muhona, Omunamasaaehe, andakuzu ke tu esirire ozondekurona tjiva, itjatu sasanekwa na Sodom, nu itjatu kara otja Gomora.”
Paulus ma kumbire Israel
30 Nambano ngatu tje vi? Ovandu mba mbe he ri Ovajuda kave kondjere okuvarwa otja ovasemba komurungu wa Ndjambi, nungwari Ndjambi we ve vara otja ovasemba komurungu we mena rongamburiro. 31 Nungwari otjiwaṋa tja Israel tjaa tji teza etwako ndatjari ve varisa otja ovasemba komurungu wa Ndjambi kave ri vazere ko. 32 Nokutjavi tji ve ha varerwe otja ovasemba komurungu wa Ndjambi? Omena rokutja owo kave pahere ousemba wawo otja mbu za mongamburiro, nungwari ve u paha otja mbu za moviungura vyawo. Nowo otji va putara mewe romaputarero. 33 Nomatjangwa ya hungira ewe ndi aye tja:
“Tara, ami me ziki mOsion ewe
ndi mari putarisa ovandu,
noruuwa ndu maru ve wisa;
nungwari auhe ngu ma kambura mu ye,
ke nakuṱisiwa ohoṋi.”
God's Choice of Israel
1 I am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say 2 my heart is broken and I am in great sorrow. 3 I would gladly be placed under God's curse and be separated from Christ for the good of my own people. 4 They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them. 5 They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of the Christ. I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever! Amen.
6 It cannot be said that God broke his promise. After all, not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God. 7-8 In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised 9 Sarah, “At this time next year I will return, and you will already have a son.”
10 Don't forget what happened to the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. 11-12 Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one. The Lord said this to show he makes his own choices and it wasn't because of anything either of them had done. 13 That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau.
14 Are we saying God is unfair? Certainly not! 15 The Lord told Moses that he has pity and mercy on anyone he wants to. 16 Everything then depends on God's mercy and not on what people want or do. 17 In the Scriptures the Lord says to the king of Egypt, “I let you become king, so that I could show you my power and be praised by all people on earth.” 18 Everything depends on what God decides to do, and he can either have pity on people or make them stubborn.
God's Anger and Mercy
19 Someone may ask, “How can God blame us, if he makes us behave in the way he wants us to?” 20 But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did? 21 Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?”
22 God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them. 23 He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory. 24 Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are those chosen ones, 25 just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea,
“Although they are not
my people,
I will make them my people.
I will treat with love
those nations
that have never been loved.
26 “Once they were told,
‘You are not my people.’
But in that very place
they will be called
children of the living God.”
27 And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel,
“The people of Israel
are as many
as the grains of sand
along the beach.
But only a few who are left
will be saved.
28 The Lord will be quick
and sure to do on earth
what he has warned
he will do.”
29 Isaiah also said,
“If the Lord All-Powerful
had not spared some
of our descendants,
we would have been destroyed
like the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah.”
Israel and the Good News
30 What does all of this mean? It means that the Gentiles were not trying to be acceptable to God, but they found that he would accept them if they had faith. 31-32 It also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God. The people of Israel fell over the stone that makes people stumble, 33 just as God says in the Scriptures,
“Look! I am placing in Zion
a stone to make people
stumble and fall.
But those who have faith
in that one will never
be disappointed.”
