Passage

Romans 9.13

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, 12. it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger."

"13. Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

"14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:11-15, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls, 12. it was said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.”"

"13. Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”"

"14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be! 15. For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”" (Romans 9:11-15, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12. It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. ^{elder: or, greater} ^{elder: or, greater} ^{younger: or, lesser}"

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

"14. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15. 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." (Romans 9:11-15, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. (for they being not yet born, neither having done anything good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to choice, might remain; not of works, but of Him who is calling,) it was said to her, 12. 'The greater shall serve the less;'"

"13. according as it hath been written, 'Jacob I did love, and Esau I did hate.'"

"14. What, then, shall we say? unrighteousness [is] with God? let it not be! 15. for to Moses He saith, 'I will do kindness to whom I do kindness, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion;'" (Romans 9:11-15, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: Christian believers in Rome (Jew + Gentile)
Location: composed in Corinth; addressed to Rome
Time period: composed c. AD 57

Theological reading

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.