Elob tsî ǁîb di ǁhûiǂuisa ǁaes
1 Xristub* ǃnâ ta ra amaba ǃhoa, ǂhumi tama ta hâ. ǃAnu Gagab ge ti ǃnâ hâ ǂgaoǂans ǀkha ra ǀhûǃkhō-am, 2 kai ǃoab tsî toa tama tsûaǂgaob tita ǀkha hâsa. 3 Tita ǂûta ǀâxarexūhe tsî ta ga Xristuba xu ti ǀaokhoen di ǃgâib ǃaroma ǀgorahesa gere ǁkhore xui-ao. 4 ǁÎn ge Israelǁîna, ǁîb ge ǁîna ǁîb ôase ǃkhōǃoa tsî ǁîb ǂkhaisiba ǂhaiǂhaiba, ǃgaeǀhaode ǁîn ǀkha dī tsî Moseb ǂhanuba* ǁîna mā, ǁîn ge ama ǀgoreǀîsa ūhâ, Elob mîmâiden ge ǃkhōǃoa, 5 kai aboxagu di suriba xun ge hā, tsîb ge Xristuba khoeb ase ǁîna xu ge ǃnae. Ab ǁîb, hoan ǂama a Eloba, ǀamose karehe! Amen.*
6 Elob ge ǁîb di mîmâis ǃnâ ǃgâiǃgâ tama i ti ī ǃkhais ose, hoa khoen Israela xu ra hān ama Israelǁî tama xui-ao. 7 Tsîn ge ǁkhāti Abrahammi suriba xu hân hoana Elob ôa tama hâ. Elob ge Abrahammi ǃoa “Isaki ǃnâ-ub ge sa suriba nî ǂgaihe” ti mî xui-ao. 8 ǁNās ge ǀgôan ǁnaetisa ǀgaub ai ra ǃnaen Elob di ôa tama; xawe Elob mîmâis ǃnâ-u ra ǃnaen ama surib Abrahammi dib ase ra ǃgôahe ti ra ǂâibasen. 9 Mîmâis Elob dis ge nēti ge hâ i: “Nē ǁaeb ǁkhāb ai ta ge ǁkhawa nî hā, os ge Sarasa ǀgôaba nî ūhâ.”
10 Tsî nēs ǀgui tamas. Rebekas ôakha, ǀgui ǁgûb, sada îb Isaki dikha, 11-12 noxopa ǃnae tsî ǃgâi-i tamas ka io ǂkhaba-i xare-e dī tama hîas ge ǁîsa ǀnai Elob xa “Kaib ge ǂkhamma nî ǃoaba” ti ge mîbahe. Elob di ǁhûis ge ǁîn di sîsengu ais ose ǁîb ǂgais ai ge ǃgaoǃgaosa i. 13 Xoamâihe hâ khami: “Jakoba ta ge a ǀnam xawe ta ge Esauba ǁkhan hâ.”
14 O da kha ǁnâi Elob a ǂhanuoǃnâ ti nî mî? Tātsē! 15 ǁÎb kom Moseb ǃoa ge mîo: “ǀKhomxa ta nî ǀkhomxaǂgao ta hâ-i hoa-e tsî tsâbaǁhao ta nî tsâbaǁhao ǂgao ta hâ-i hoa-e.” 16 ǁNā-amaga i ge khoe-i di ǂâis tamas ka io ǀhupuba xu hâ tama hâ, xawe Elob di ǀkhomxasiba xu. 17 Xoas ra Faraob ǃoa mî xui-ao: “Nēs ǃaroma ta ge sa ǃnâ ta nî ǀgaiba ǁgauga ra ǂkhaiǂkhai tsi, îs ti ǀonsa hoaraga ǃhūbaib ǃnâ aoǁnâhe.” 18 ǁNā-amagab ge Eloba ǂgaob ra khami, khoe-e ǀkhomxaǂgao tamas ka io a ǃnâudanaxa kai ǁkhā.
ǃKhūb di ǁaib tsî ǀkhomxaǂgaosib
19 Xawe i ge khoe-e nî mî: “Tare-i ǃaromab ganupe ra ǀau da? Tari-e kha Elob di ǂâis ǃoagu a mâ ǁkhā?” 20 Khoetse, taritsa sats Eloba ra ǃhoaǃoatsa? “Mâti i kuruhe hâ xū-e kuru-ao-i ǃoa nî mî: ‘Tare-i ǃaromats ge nēti kuru te?’ ” 21 Sūǂnubi-aoba kha ǂâib ra khami ǂgoab ǀkha a dī ǁoa tsî ǀgam xapara ǁkhā ǂgoaba xu kurusa, ǀguisa ǀō-aisa ǁāxasigu ǃaroma tsî nausa hoaǁae sîsenūs ǃaroma.
22 ǁNās ǁkhāsab kha Eloba dī tama hâ? ǁÎb di ǁaib tsî ǀgaibab gere ǁgauǂui ǂgao, xaweb ge kai ǃnūǃnâxasib ǀkha ǁîb di ǁaib di xūn hîkākās ǃaroma ge ǂhomihe hâ ina ge ǃkhō-oa. 23 Nēsab ge ǁîb ǂkhaisib di ǃkhūsibab nî ǂan kaise ge dī, ǁîb ǀkhomxasib di xūn ǀnai ge ǂkhaisib ǃaroma ǂhomihe hâ in ǃoa. 24 ǁÎna xu da ge sada tsîna ǂgaihe hâ, Jodeǁîn ǀguina xus ose xawe Jodeǁî taman tsîna xu. 25 Hoseab ǂkhanis ǃnâb ra ǁkhāti mî khami:
“ǁNās ti ǁae tama ge isa
ta ge ‘ti ǁae’ ti nî ǂgai,
tsî ǀnamhe tama ge hâ isa
ta ge ‘ti ǀnamsabe’ ti nî ǂgai.
26 Tsî ǁnā ǃkhaib
‘Ti ǁae tama du’ tin ra mîǀîheb,
tawan ge ‘ûitsama Elob ôan’ ti nî ǂgaihe.”
27 Tsî Jesajab ge Israeli ǂama ra ǂgaiǂui. “Tsî Israeli ôan ga hurib ammi di ǃhūb khami ī, xawen ge ǀoron ǁîn din ǀguina nî sâuhe. 28 ǃKhūb nî ǁîb di ǀgoraǃgâsa ǂanǂansase tsî ǃhaese dītoa ǃhūbaib ai amaga.” 29 Tsî Jesajab ra ǀnai mî khami: “ǃKhūb Hoaǀgaixab ga sada suri-e ǃgauba tama i hâo, o da ga Sodoms tsî Gomoras ǀkha ǀguiti-ī hâ.”
ǃGâiǂhôas Israelǁîn tsîn ǃaroma
30 Tare-e da ǁnâi nēs xa nî mî? Jodeǁî taman hîa Elob ǀkha ǂhanu-ai kaisen taman ge ǂgoms ǃnâ-u ǁîb ǀkha ge ǂhanu-ai kaihe. 31 Xawe Israelǁîn, ǂhanub ǃnâ-u Elob ǀkha ǂhanu-ai kaisensa gere ôan ge ǁnāsa hō tama ge i. 32 Tare-i ǃaroma? ǁÎn ge ǂgoms ǃnâ-us ose xawe ǁîn di sîsengu ǀkha gere ǂhanu-ai kaisen amaga. ǁÎn ge ǃnôa-aiǀuis ai ge ǃnôa, 33 xoahe hâ khami:
“Mû, Sions ǃnâ ta ge ǀuib khoena nî ǃnôa kaib
tsî ǃhaob ǁîna nî ǁnā kaiba ra ǁgui
tsî ǁîb ǃnâ ra ǂgom-i hoa-i ge taotaohe tide-e.”
God and His People
1 I am speaking the truth; I belong to Christ and I do not lie. My conscience, ruled by the Holy Spirit, also assures me that I am not lying 2 when I say how great is my sorrow, how endless the pain in my heart 3 for my people, my own flesh and blood! For their sake I could wish that I myself were under God's curse and separated from Christ. 4 They are God's people; he made them his children and revealed his glory to them; he made his covenants with them and gave them the Law; they have the true worship; they have received God's promises; 5 they are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors; and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised forever! Amen.
6 I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God. 7 Nor are all of Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, “It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you.” 8 This means that the children born in the usual way are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants. 9 For God's promise was made in these words: “At the right time I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac. 11-12 But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done. 13 As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
14 Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. 15 For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.” 16 So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy. 17 For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.” 18 So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.
God's Anger and Mercy
19 But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” 20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.
22 And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. 23 And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory. 24 For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. 25 This is what he says in the book of Hosea:
“The people who were not mine
I will call ‘My People.’
The nation that I did not love
I will call ‘My Beloved.’
26 And in the very place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called the children of the living God.”
27 And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: “Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will quickly settle his full account with the world.” 29 It is as Isaiah had said before, “If the Lord Almighty had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
Israel and the Gospel
30 So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God, were put right with him through faith; 31 while God's people, who were seeking a law that would put them right with God, did not find it. 32 And why not? Because they did not depend on faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the “stumbling stone” 33 that the scripture speaks of:
“Look, I place in Zion a stone
that will make people stumble,
a rock that will make them fall.
But whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
