Romans
Chapter 11
1 So I ask, has God rejected his people? No way! For I am also an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected his people whom he knew before. Don’t you know what the scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
3 God, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars; I’m alone and they want to kill me.
4 What does God’s reply to him say? I have kept seven thousand men for myself who have not kneeled to Baal’s statue.
5 Even now, there are a few chosen by God’s kindness.
6 If it’s by grace, then it’s not by works; if it were, grace wouldn’t be grace. But if it’s by works, then it’s not grace; otherwise, work wouldn’t be work.
7 So what now? Israel did not get what it was looking for; only the chosen ones got it, and the others were unable to see.
8 As it is written, God has given them a sleepy spirit, eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear, until this day.
9 David says, “Let their table become a trap, a snare, a stumbling block, and a way to repay them.”
10 Make their eyes dim so they cannot see and make them always stoop.
11 I ask then, did they trip so they would fall? Certainly not! Instead, by their mistake, salvation has come to the non-Jews, to make them jealous.
12 If their loss brings wealth to the world, and their decrease brings wealth to non-Jewish people, how much greater will their fullness be?
13 I talk to you non-Jews because I am the messenger to non-Jews, and I honor my work.
14 I hope to encourage my fellow people and save some of them.
15 If rejecting them means the world is made right with God, what will accepting them be, if not life from the dead?
16 If the first piece of dough is holy, then the whole dough is holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches were broken off and you, a wild olive tree, were grafted among them, sharing the root and richness of the olive tree.
18 Don’t brag against the branches. But if you do brag, remember it’s not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
19 You might say, “The branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.”
20 Because they didn’t believe, they were removed, and you are supported by faith. Don’t be proud, but be respectful.
21 If God did not spare the original branches, be careful or he might not spare you either.
22 See how kind and strict God is: He is strict to those who fell, but kind to you if you stay in His kindness. If not, you will be cut off too.
23 If they do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again because God can graft them in.
24 If you were cut from a wild olive tree and grafted, against nature, into a good olive tree, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 I don’t want you, friends, to be unaware of this secret: part of Israel has been unable to see, and this will continue until all non-Jewish people have joined.
26 All Israel will be saved, just as it is written, “The Savior will come from Zion and remove sin from Jacob.”
27 This is my promise to them: when I will forgive their sins.
28 Regarding the good news, they are against you, but concerning God’s choice, they are loved because of the ancestors.
29 God’s gifts and calling cannot be taken back.
30 Before, you did not believe in God, but now you have received mercy because of their disbelief.
31 In the same way, they currently do not believe, so that by your kindness, they may also receive kindness.
32 God has included everyone in disbelief so that he could be merciful to everyone.
33 Oh, how deep are God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge! How impossible it is to understand his decisions and ways!
34 Who knows what God is thinking? Or who has ever given God advice?
35 Who has given something to God first so that God has to pay it back?
36 Everything comes from God, exists by His power, and is intended for His glory. May God be praised forever. Amen.