What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!
Parallel translations
- WEB What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
- KJV What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
- NKJV What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
- NASB What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it!
- NLT Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!
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.
Quick answer
Paul anticipates the charge that God's electing choice is unjust and emphatically rejects it. God's sovereign mercy involves no unrighteousness.
Overview
Having taught that God chooses freely (vv. 11-13), Paul raises the natural objection: Is God unjust? His response, May it never be, dismisses the idea forcefully. The following verses defend God's righteousness by appealing to his own self-revelation as a God of mercy. Paul insists that God's freedom to show mercy is entirely consistent with his perfect justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Chr 19:7And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
- Ps 145:17The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
- Deut 32:4He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Rev 16:7And I heard the altar reply: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”
- Job 34:10–12Therefore listen to me, O men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wrong, and from the Almighty to act unjustly.
- Ps 92:15to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”
- Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
- Gen 18:25Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
- Rom 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Job 34:18–19who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’
- Rev 15:3–4and they sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!
- Job 35:2“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’
- Rom 3:5–6But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
- Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Rom 3:1What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 9:14 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.