For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- KJV For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
- NKJV 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.”
- NASB For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.”
- NLT For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
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
God told Moses that he will have mercy and compassion on whomever he chooses. Mercy is God's free gift, given according to his own sovereign will.
Overview
Paul answers the charge of injustice (v. 14) by quoting God's words to Moses in Exodus 33:19. The point is that mercy, by its very nature, is undeserved and therefore rests on God's free decision. Since no one has a claim on mercy, God commits no wrong in bestowing it as he pleases. This grounds the doctrine of election in God's gracious character revealed in Scripture.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Exod 33:19“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Rom 9:16So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Rom 9:18–19Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- Exod 34:6–7Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Isa 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:15 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.