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I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
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that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
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For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
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who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
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of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
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But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
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nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
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That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
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For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son."
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And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac
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(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
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it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger."
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As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
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What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
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For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."
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So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
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For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."
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Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.