Romans 9:1–11:36

ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF CHRIST

9I speak the truth in Christ^h—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy Spirit^B—²that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wishⁱ that I myself were cursed^j and cut off^C from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. ⁴They are Israelites,^k and to them belong the adoption,^l the glory,^m the covenants,ⁿ the giving of the law,^o the temple service,^p and the promises.^{q 5}The ancestors are theirs,^r and from them, by physical descent,^D came the Christ,^s who is God^t over all,^u praised forever.^Ev Amen.

GOD’S GRACIOUS ELECTION OF ISRAEL

⁶Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,^w because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^{x 7}Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.^Fy On the contrary, your offspring will be traced^G through Isaac.^{Hz 8}That is, it is not the children by physical descent^I who are God’s children,^aa but the children of the promise^ab are considered to be the offspring. ⁹For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.^{Jac 10}And not only that,^ad but Rebekah conceived children^ae through one man, our father Isaac. ¹¹For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand^af—¹²not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.^{Aag 13}As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.^Bah

GOD’S SELECTION IS JUST

¹⁴What should we say then?^ai Is there injustice with God?^aj Absolutely not!^{ak 15}For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.^{Cal 16}So then, it does not depend on human will or effort^am but on God who shows mercy.^{an 17}For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.^{Dao 18}So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^ap

¹⁹You will say to me,^aq therefore, “Why then does he still find fault?^ar For who resists his will?”^{as 20}On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^at Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”^{au 21}Or has the potter no right over the clay,^av to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? ²²And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience^aw objects of wrath prepared for destruction?^{ax 23}And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory^ay on objects of mercy^az that he prepared beforehand for glory^ba—²⁴on us, the ones he also called,^bb not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^{bc 25}As it^E also says in Hosea,

I will call Not my People, My People,

and she who is Unloved, Beloved.^Fbd

²⁶And it will be in the place where they were told,

you are not my people,

there they will be called sons of the living God.^Gbe

²⁷But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

Though the number of Israelites

is like the sand of the sea,^bf

only the remnant will be saved;^bg

²⁸since the Lord will execute his sentence

completely and decisively on the earth.^HIbh

²⁹And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of Hosts^s had not left us offspring,^bi

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have been made like Gomorrah.^Ja

ISRAEL’S PRESENT STATE

³⁰What should we say then?^b Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.^{c 31}But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness,^d has not achieved the righteousness of the law.^{Ke 32}Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.^L They stumbled over the stumbling stone.^{f 33}As it is written,

Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over

and a rock to trip over,

and the one who believes on him^g

will not be put to shame.^Ah

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH ALONE

10Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them^B is for their salvation. ²I can testify about them that they have zeal for God,ⁱ but not according to knowledge. ³Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God^j and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. ⁴For Christ is the end^C of the law for righteousness^k to everyone who believes,^{l 5}since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.^{Dm 6}But the righteousness that comes from faithⁿ speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?”^Eo that is, to bring Christ down ⁷or, “Who will go down into the abyss?”^Fp that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.^{q 8}On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.^Gr This is the message of faith that we proclaim: ⁹If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”^s and believe in your heart^t that God raised him from the dead,^u you will be saved. ¹⁰One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. ¹¹For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,^{Hv 12}since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek,^w because the same Lord^x of all^y richly blesses all who call on him. ¹³For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.^Iz

ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF THE MESSAGE

¹⁴How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him?^aa And how can they hear without a preacher?^{ab 15}And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful^J are the feet of those who bring good news.^{Kac 16}But not all obeyed the gospel.^ad For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?^{Lae 17}So faith comes from what is heard,^af and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.^{Mag 18}But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did:

Their voice has gone out to the whole earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.^Nah

¹⁹But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said,

I will make you jealous

of those who are not a nation;^ai

I will make you angry by a nation

that lacks understanding.^Oaj

²⁰And Isaiah says boldly,

I was found

by those who were not looking for me;

I revealed myself

to those who were not asking for me.^Aak

²¹But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.^Bal

ISRAEL’S REJECTION NOT TOTAL

11I ask, then, has God rejected his people?^am Absolutely not!^an For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,^ao from the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.^ap Or don’t you know^aq what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel? ³Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!^{Car 4}But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.^{Das 5}In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.^{a 6}Now if by grace,^b then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.^E

⁷What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for,^c but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,^{d 8}as it is written,

God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that cannot see

and ears that cannot hear,

to this day.^Fe

⁹And David says,

Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a pitfall and a retribution to them.

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and their backs be bent continually.^Gf

ISRAEL’S REJECTION NOT FINAL

¹¹I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles^g to make Israel jealous. ¹²Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!^h

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles,ⁱ I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴if I might somehow make my own people^Hj jealous and save some of them.^{k 15}For if their rejection brings reconciliation^l to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?^{m 16}Now if the firstfruits are holy,ⁿ so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some of the branches were broken off,^o and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them^p and have come to share in the rich root^I of the cultivated olive tree, ¹⁸do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.^{q 19}Then you will say,^r “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith.^s Do not be arrogant, but beware,^{Jt 21}because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. ²²Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness^u toward you—if you remain in his kindness.^v Otherwise you too will be cut off.^{w 23}And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief,^x will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵I don’t want you to be ignorant^y of this mystery,^z brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited:^aa A partial hardening has come upon Israel^ab until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.^{ac 26}And in this way all^A Israel will be saved, as it is written,

The Deliverer will come from Zion;

he…