²¹ “A brother will betray his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. ²² Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever holds out till the end will be preserved from harm. ²³ When you are persecuted in one town, run away to another. Yes indeed; I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Isra’el before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴ “A talmid is not greater than his rabbi, a slave is not greater than his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a talmid that he become like his rabbi, and a slave like his master. Now if people have called the head of the house Ba‘al-Zibbul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! ²⁶ So do not fear them; for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops.

²⁸ “Do not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gei-Hinnom. ²⁹ Aren’t sparrows sold for next to nothing, two for an assarion? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s consent. ³⁰ As for you, every hair on your head has been counted. ³¹ So do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever acknowledges me in the presence of others I will also acknowledge in the presence of my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others I will disown before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Don’t suppose that I have come to bring peace to the Land. It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword! ³⁵ For I have come to set

³⁷ Whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than he loves me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And anyone who does not take up his execution-stake and follow me is not worthy of me.

9 I am speaking the truth — as one who belongs to the Messiah, I do not lie; and also bearing witness is my conscience, governed by the Ruach HaKodesh: ² my grief is so great, the pain in my heart so constant, ³ that I could wish myself actually under God’s curse and separated from the Messiah, if it would help my brothers, my own flesh and blood, ⁴ the people of Isra’el! They were made God’s children, the Sh’khinah has been with them, the covenants are theirs, likewise the giving of the Torah, the Temple service and the promises; ⁵ the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all. Praised be Adonai for ever! Amen.

⁶ But the present condition of Isra’el does not mean that the Word of God has failed.

For not everyone from Isra’el is truly part of Isra’el; ⁷ indeed, not all the descendants are seed of Avraham;^[a] rather, “What is to be called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”^{[b] 8} In other words, it is not the physical children who are children of God, but the children the promise refers to who are considered seed. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “At the time set, I will come; and Sarah will have a son.”^{[c] 10} And even more to the point is the case of Rivkah; for both her children were conceived in a single act with Yitz’chak, our father; ¹¹ and before they were born, before they had done anything at all, either good or bad (so that God’s plan might remain a matter of his sovereign choice, not dependent on what they did, but on God, who does the calling), ¹² it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”^{[d] 13} This accords with where it is written, “Ya‘akov I loved, but Esav I hated.”^[e]

¹⁴ So are we to say, “It is unjust for God to do this”? Heaven forbid! ¹⁵ For to Moshe he says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will pity whom I pity.”^[f]