8. This means that the children born in the usual way are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants.
9. For God's promise was made in these words: “At the right time I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”
10. And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac.
13. As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
14. Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all.
15. For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.”
16. So then, everything depends, not on what human beings want or do, but only on God's mercy.
17. For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.”
18. So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.
19. But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?”