Romans

¹I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! In fact, I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God did not reject his people, which he foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elias (Elijah), how he complained¹⁶⁸⁰ to God against Israel, saying ³”Lord, they have killed your prophets and broken down your altars! I am left alone, and they seek my life.”^{1681 4}But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”^{1682 5}Likewise, at this present time, there is also a remnant according to the election of grace. ⁶And if [it is] by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. <But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.¹⁶⁸³>

⁷What then? Israel did not obtain what it was seeking, but the elect obtained it; and the rest were hardened. ⁸This is according to what is written:

God gave them a spirit of deep sleep,

Eyes not to see, and ears not to hear,

Even to this very day.¹⁶⁸⁴

⁹As David says:

Let their table become a snare and a trap; a stumbling block;

Let it be their recompense!

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

And keep their backs forever bent.¹⁶⁸⁵

¹¹I ask then, did they stumble in order to fall? May it never be! However, by their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. ¹²Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss [has become] the riches of the Gentiles; how much greater riches will their fullness bring! ¹³For I speak to you who are Gentiles: since I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry. ¹⁴May I somehow provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh so that I may save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, if not life from the dead? ¹⁶If the first fruit is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, (having {individually} become partakers with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree), ¹⁸do not boast over the branches! But [even] if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹You will then say, “Branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in!” ²⁰True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand in [your] faith. Do not be full of pride, but fear! ²¹Certainly, if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you! ²²You see, then, both the goodness and the severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity [was shown]; but toward you, goodness, [that is], if you continue in his goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³As for them, if they do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in {again}, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴If you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted against nature into a good olive tree, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree!

Israel’s hardening—The gifts and the calling of God

²⁵Indeed, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brethren, so that you may not claim to be wiser than you are: a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness¹⁶⁸⁶ of the Gentiles should come in. ²⁶And thus all Israel will be saved.¹⁶⁸⁷ Even as it is written:

There will come out of Zion the Deliverer,

and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

²⁷This is my covenant to them,

When I will take away their sins.¹⁶⁸⁸

²⁸Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the forefathers. ²⁹Indeed, without regret¹⁶⁸⁹ are the gifts and the calling of God! ³⁰In the past, you were disobedient to God, but now, you have obtained mercy by their disobedience. ³¹Likewise, they also have now been disobedient, so that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. ³²Indeed, God has bound all human beings to disobedience, so that he might have mercy on all.

³³Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how unfathomable are his ways!

³⁴For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?¹⁶⁹⁰

³⁵Or who has first given to the Lord so as to be paid back?¹⁶⁹¹

³⁶Indeed, from him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory unto the ages! Amen.

Holy worship—One Body, many parts

1680. Or “pleads” (the Greek uses the present tense).
1681. 1 Kings (3 Kingdoms) 19:10,14
1682. 1 Kings (3 Kingdoms) 19:18
1683. CT omits “But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work”
1684. Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaias 29:10
1685. Psalm 69:22,23/68 LXX. NT agrees with LXX against MT.
1686. Or “full number”
1687. This verse has been interpreted in various ways. Some see in this statement the promise that Israel (according to the flesh) will repent and be saved; others interpret this verse as meaning that with the entry of ‘the full number of the Gentiles,’ the fullness of Israel (according to faith) will be reached and “thus, all Israel will be saved.”
1688. Isaias 59:20-21; 27:9 (NT agrees with LXX against MT); Jeremiah 31:33-34
1689. Often translated “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable”—Compare Genesis 6:6; 1 Chronicles 21:15
1690. Isaias 40:13. NT agrees with LXX against MT.
1691. Job 41:11. NT agrees with MT against LXX.