18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

a“Their voice has gone out bto all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

c“I will dmake you jealous of those who are not a nation;

with a efoolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

f“I have been found by those who did not seek me;

I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, g“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask, then, hhas God rejected his people? By no means! For iI myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,1 a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 jGod has not rejected his people whom he kforeknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 l“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? m“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is na remnant, chosen by grace. 6 oBut if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

7 What then? pIsrael failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest qwere hardened, 8 as it is written,

r“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

seyes that would not see

and ears that would not hear,

down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

t“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

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

and bend their backs forever.”