< Romans 11 >

1 Therefore, I say: Has God driven away his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
I ask, then, ‘Has God rejected his people?’ Heaven forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not driven away his people, whom he foreknew. And do you not know what Scripture says in Elijah, how he calls upon God against Israel?
God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of scripture in the story of Elijah – how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 “Lord, they have slain your Prophets. They have overturned your altars. And I alone remain, and they are seeking my life.”
‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have pulled down your altars, and I only am left; and now they are eager to take my life.’
4 But what is the Divine response to him? “I have retained for myself seven thousand men, who have not bent their knees before Baal.”
But what was the divine response? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal.’
5 Therefore, in the same way, again in this time, there is a remnant that has been saved in accord with the choice of grace.
And so in our own time, too, there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love.
6 And if it is by grace, then it is not now by works; otherwise grace is no longer free.
But if in love, then it is not as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love.
7 What is next? What Israel was seeking, he has not obtained. But the elect have obtained it. And truly, these others have been blinded,
What follows from this? Why, that Israel as a nation failed to secure what it was seeking, while those whom God selected did secure it.
8 just as it was written: “God has given them a spirit of reluctance: eyes that do not perceive, and ears that do not hear, even until this very day.”
The rest grew callous; as scripture says – ‘God has given them a deadness of mind – eyes that are not to see and ears that are not to hear – and it is so to this very day.’
9 And David says: “Let their table become like a snare, and a deception, and a scandal, and a retribution for them.
David, too, says – ‘May their feasts prove a snare and a trap to them – a hindrance and a retribution;
10 Let their eyes be obscured, so that they may not see, and so that they may bow down their backs always.”
may their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; and do you always make their backs to bend.’
11 Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense, salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to them.
I ask then – ‘Was their stumbling to result in their fall?’ Heaven forbid! On the contrary, through their falling away salvation has reached the Gentiles, to stir the rivalry of Israel.
12 Now if their offense is the riches of the world, and if their diminution is the riches of the Gentiles, how much more is their fullness?
And, if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration!
13 For I say to you Gentiles: Certainly, as long as I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry,
But I am speaking to you who were Gentiles.
14 in such a way that I might provoke to rivalry those who are my own flesh, and so that I may save some of them.
Being myself an apostle to the Gentiles, I exalt my office, in the hope that I may stir my countrymen to rivalry, and so save some of them.
15 For if their loss is for the reconciliation of the world, what could their return be for, except life out of death?
For, if their being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their reception mean, but life from the dead?
16 For if the first-fruit has been sanctified, so also has the whole. And if the root is holy, so also are the branches.
If the first handful of dough is holy, so is the whole mass, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches are broken, and if you, being a wild olive branch, are grafted on to them, and you become a partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree,
Some, however, of the branches were broken off, and you, who were only a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive.
18 do not glorify yourself above the branches. For though you glory, you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Yet do not exult over the other branches. But, if you do exult over them, remember that you do not support the root, but that the root supports you.
19 Therefore, you would say: The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted on.
But branches, you will say, were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.
20 Well enough. They were broken off because of unbelief. But you stand on faith. So do not choose to savor what is exalted, but instead be afraid.
True, it was because of their want of faith that they were broken off, and it is because of your faith that you are standing. Do not think too highly of yourself, but beware.
21 For if God has not spared the natural branches, perhaps also he might not spare you.
For, if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 So then, notice the goodness and the severity of God. Certainly, toward those who have fallen, there is severity; but toward you, there is the goodness of God, if you remain in goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
See, then, both the goodness and the severity of God – his severity towards those who fell, and his goodness towards you, provided that you continue to confide in that goodness; otherwise you, also, will be cut off.
23 Moreover, if they do not remain in unbelief, they will be grafted on. For God is able to graft them on again.
And they, too, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God has it in his power to graft them in again.
24 So if you have been cut off from the wild olive tree, which is natural to you, and, contrary to nature, you are grafted on to the good olive tree, how much more shall those who are the natural branches be grafted on to their own olive tree?
If you were cut off from your natural stock – a wild olive – and were grafted, contrary to the course of nature, on a good olive, much more will they – the natural branches – be grafted back into their parent tree.
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery (lest you seem wise only to yourselves) that a certain blindness has occurred in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has arrived.
My friends, so that you don’t think too highly of yourselves, I want you to recognize the truth, hitherto hidden, that the callousness which has come over Israel is only partial, and will continue only until the whole Gentile world has been gathered in.
26 And in this way, all of Israel may be saved, just as it was written: “From Zion shall arrive he who delivers, and he shall turn impiety away from Jacob.
And then all Israel will be saved. As scripture says – ‘From Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this will be my covenant for them, when I will take away their sins.”
And they will see the fulfillment of my covenant, when I have taken away their sins.’
28 Certainly, according to the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But according to the election, they are most beloved for the sake of the fathers.
From the standpoint of the good news, the Jews are God’s enemies for your sake; but from the standpoint of God’s selection, they are dear to him for the sake of the patriarchs.
29 For the gifts and the call of God are without regret.
For God never regrets his gifts or his call.
30 And just as you also, in times past, did not believe in God, but now you have obtained mercy because of their unbelief,
Just as you at one time were disobedient to him, but have now found mercy in the day of their disobedience;
31 so also have these now not believed, for your mercy, so that they might obtain mercy also.
so, too, they have now become disobedient in your day of mercy, in order that they also in their turn may now find mercy.
32 For God has enclosed everyone in unbelief, so that he may have mercy on everyone. (eleēsē g1653)
For God has given all alike over to disobedience, that to all alike he may show mercy. (eleēsē g1653)
33 Oh, the depths of the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable are his ways!
Oh! The unfathomable wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, how untraceable his ways! Yes –
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
ho has ever comprehended the mind of the Lord? Who has ever become his counsellor?
35 Or who first gave to him, so that repayment would be owed?
Or who has first given to him, so that he may claim a reward?
36 For from him, and through him, and in him are all things. To him is glory, for all eternity. Amen. (aiōn g165)
For all things are from him, through him, and for him. And to him be all glory for ever and ever! Amen. (aiōn g165)

< Romans 11 >