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Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Romans 9:13 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
  • BSB So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
  • NKJV As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
  • NASB Just as it is written: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
  • NLT In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Mal 1:2–3“I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;
  • Deut 21:15If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated;
  • Gen 29:31Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
  • Gen 29:33She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon.
  • Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
  • Prov 13:24One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
  • Matt 10:37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
  • John 12:25He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 9:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 9:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.