Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course 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.
- BSB What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!
- 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!
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 19:7Now therefore let the fear of Yahweh be on you. Take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”
- Ps 145:17Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.
- Deut 32:4The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he.
- Rev 16:7I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”
- Job 34:10–12“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
- Ps 92:15to show that Yahweh is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
- Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
- Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
- Rom 2:5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
- Job 34:18–19Who says to a king, ‘Vile!’ or to nobles, ‘Wicked!’?
- Rev 15:3–4They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
- Job 35:2“Do you think this to be your right, or do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s,’
- Rom 3:5–6But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.
- Jer 12:1You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet I would reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously?
- Rom 3:1Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.