Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior: testimonium mihi perhibente conscientia mea in Spiritu Sancto:

I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost:

I am not deceiving you, I am telling you the truth in Christ’s name, with the full assurance of a conscience enlightened by the Holy Spirit,

quoniam tristitia mihi magna est, et continuus dolor cordi meo.

That I have great sadness, and continual sorrow in my heart.

when I tell you of the great sorrow, the continual anguish I feel in my heart,

Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis, qui sunt cognati mei secundum carnem,

For I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh,

and how it has ever been my wish that I myself might be doomed to separation from Christ, if that would benefit my brethren, my own kinsmen by race.

qui sunt Israëlitæ, quorum adoptio est filiorum, et gloria, et testamentum, et legislatio, et obsequium, et promissa:

Who are Israelites, to whom belongeth the adoption as of children, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises:

They are Israelites, adopted as God’s sons; the visible presence, and the covenant, and the giving of the law, and the Temple worship, and the promises, are their inheritance;

quorum patres, et ex quibus est Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in sæcula. Amen.

Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.

the patriarchs belong to them, and theirs is the human stock from which Christ came; Christ, who rules as God over all things, blessed for ever, Amen.

Non autem quod exciderit verbum Dei. Non enim omnes qui ex Israël sunt, ii sunt Israëlitæ:

Not as though the word of God hath miscarried. For all are not Israelites that are of Israel:

And yet it is not as if God’s promise had failed of its effect. Not all those who are sprung from Israel are truly Israelites;

neque qui semen sunt Abrahæ, omnes filii: sed in Isaac vocabitur tibi semen:

Neither are all they that are the seed of Abraham, children; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

not all the posterity of Abraham are Abraham’s children; It is through Isaac, he was told, that thy posterity shall be traced.

id est, non qui filii carnis, hi filii Dei: sed qui filii sunt promissionis, æstimantur in semine.

That is to say, not they that are the children of the flesh, are the children of God; but they, that are the children of the promise, are accounted for the seed.

That is to say, God’s sonship is not for all those who are Abraham’s children by natural descent; it is only the children given to him as the result of God’s promise that are to be counted as his posterity.

Promissionis enim verbum hoc est: Secundum hoc tempus veniam: et erit Saræ filius.

For this is the word of promise: According to this time will I come; and Sara shall have a son.

It was a promise God made, when he said, When this season comes round again, I will visit thee, and Sara shall have a son.

Non solum autem illa: sed et Rebecca ex uno concubitu habens, Isaac patris nostri.

And not only she. But when Rebecca also had conceived at once, of Isaac our father.

And not only she, but Rebecca too received a promise, when she bore two sons to the same husband, our father Isaac.

Cum enim nondum nati fuissent, aut aliquid boni egissent, aut mali (ut secundum electionem propositum Dei maneret),

For when the children were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil (that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand,)

They had not yet been born; they had done nothing, good or evil; and already, so that God’s purpose might stand out clearly as his own choice,

non ex operibus, sed ex vocante dictum est ei quia major serviet minori,

Not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said to her: The elder shall serve the younger.

with no action of theirs to account for it, nothing but his will, from whom the call came, she was told, The elder is to be the servant of the younger.

sicut scriptum est: Jacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui.

As it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.

So it is that we read, I have been a friend to Jacob, and an enemy to Esau.

Quid ergo dicemus? numquid iniquitas apud Deum? Absit.

What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid.

What does this mean? That God acts unjustly? That is not to be thought of.

Moysi enim dicit: Miserebor cujus misereor: et misericordiam præstabo cujus miserebor.

For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy.

I will shew pity, he tells Moses, on those whom I pity; I will shew mercy where I am merciful;

Igitur non volentis, neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei.

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

the effect comes, then, from God’s mercy, not from man’s will, or man’s alacrity.

Dicit enim Scriptura Pharaoni: Quia in hoc ipsum excitavi te, ut ostendam in te virtutem meam: et ut annuntietur nomen meum in universa terra.

For the scripture saith to Pharao: To this purpose have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

Pharao, too, is told in scripture, This is the very reason why I have made thee what thou art, so as to give proof, in thee, of my power, and to let my name be known all over the earth.

Ergo cujus vult miseretur, et quem vult indurat.

Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will; and whom he will, he hardeneth.

Thus he shews mercy where it is his will, and where it is his will he hardens men’s hearts.

Dicis itaque mihi: Quid adhuc queritur? voluntati enim ejus quis resistit?

Thou wilt say therefore to me: Why doth he then find fault? for who resisteth his will?

Hereupon thou wilt ask, If that is so, how can he find fault with us, since there is no resisting his will?

O homo, tu quis es, qui respondeas Deo? numquid dicit figmentum ei qui se finxit: Quid me fecisti sic?

O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus?

Nay, but who art thou, friend, to bandy words with God? Is the pot to ask the potter, Why hast thou fashioned me thus?

an non habet potestatem figulus luti ex eadem massa facere aliud quidem vas in honorem, aliud vero in contumeliam?

Or hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Is not the potter free to do what he will with the clay, using the same lump to make two objects, one for noble and one for ignoble use?

Quod si Deus volens ostendere iram, et notum facere potentiam suam, sustinuit in multa patientia vasa iræ, apta in interitum,

What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction,

It may be that God has borne, long and patiently, with those who are the objects of his vengeance, fit only for destruction, meaning to give proof of that vengeance, and display his power at last;

ut ostenderet divitias gloriæ suæ in vasa misericordiæ, quæ præparavit in gloriam.

That he might shew the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath prepared unto glory?

meaning also to display, in those who are the objects of his mercy, how rich is the glory he bestows, that glory for which he has destined them.

Quos et vocavit nos non solum ex Judæis, sed etiam in gentibus,

Even us, whom also he hath called, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles.

We are the objects of his mercy; we, whom he has called, Jews and Gentiles alike.

sicut in Osee dicit: Vocabo non plebem meam, plebem meam: et non dilectam, dilectam: et non misericordiam consecutam, misericordiam consecutam.

As in Osee he saith: I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved; and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy.

That is what he says in the book of Osee, Those who were no people of mine, I will call my people; she who was unpitied and unloved shall be loved and pitied.

Et erit: in loco, ubi dictum est eis: Non plebs mea vos: ibi vocabuntur filii Dei vivi.

And it shalt be, in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people; there they shall be called the sons of the living God.

In places where they used to be told, You are no people of mine, they will be called, now, sons of the living God.

Isaias autem clamat pro Israël: Si fuerit numerus filiorum Israël tamquam arena maris, reliquiæ salvæ fient.

And Isaias cried out concerning Israel: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.

And, where Israel is concerned, Isaias cries out, The number of the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, but it is a remnant that will be left;

Verbum enim consummans, et abbrevians in æquitate: quia verbum breviatum faciet Dominus super terram:

For he shall finish his word, and cut it short in justice; because a short word shall the Lord make upon the earth.

the Lord is making up his reckoning and cutting it short in his justice; it is a short reckoning that he will make upon earth.

et sicut prædixit Isaias: Nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen, sicut Sodoma facti essemus, et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus.

And as Isaias foretold: Unless the Lord of Sabbath had left us a seed, we had been made as Sodom, and we had been like unto Gomorrha.

So Isaias had said earlier on, If the Lord of Hosts had not left us a stock to breed from, we should have been like Sodom, we should have gone the way of Gomorrah.

Quid ergo dicemus? Quod gentes, quæ non sectabantur justitiam, apprehenderunt justitiam: justitiam autem, quæ ex fide est.

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who followed not after justice, have attained to justice, even the justice that is of faith.

What do we conclude, then? Why, that the Gentiles, who never aimed at justifying themselves, attained justification, the justification which comes of faith;

Israël vero sectando legem justitiæ, in legem justitiæ non pervenit.

But Israel, by following after the law of justice, is not come unto the law of justice.

whereas the Israelites aimed at a disposition which should justify them, and never reached it.

Quare? Quia non ex fide, sed quasi ex operibus: offenderunt enim in lapidem offensionis,

Why so? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were of works. For they stumbled at the stumblingstone.

Why was this? Because they hoped to derive their justification from observance, not from faith. They tripped on the stone which trips men’s feet;

sicut scriptum est: Ecce pono in Sion lapidem offensionis, et petram scandali: et omnis qui credit in eum, non confundetur.

As it is written: Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded.

so we read in scripture, Behold, I am setting down in Sion one who is a stone to trip men’s feet, a boulder to catch them unawares; those who believe in him will not be disappointed.