Romans 9–11

Israel’s Rejection of Christ

9I speak the truth in Christ ^l—I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit ^m— ²that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. ³For I could almost wish ⁿto be cursed ^oand cut off ^pfrom the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. ⁴They are Israelites, ^qand to them belong the adoption, ^rthe glory, ^sthe covenants, ^tthe giving of the law, ^uthe temple service, ^vand the promises. ^w5The ancestors are theirs, ^xand from them, by physical descent, ^ycame the Messiah, ^zwho is God ^aover all, ^bpraised forever. ^cdAmen.

God’s Gracious Election of Israel

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. ^eFor not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ^f7Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants. ^ghOn the contrary, your offspring will be traced ⁱthrough Isaac. ^jk8That is, it is not the children by physical descent ^lwho are God’s children, ^mbut the children of the promise ⁿare 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. ^op10And not only that, ^qbut also Rebekah received a promise when she became pregnant ^rsby one man, our ancestor 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— ^t12not from works but from the One who calls—she was told: The older will serve the younger. ^uv13As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau. ^wx

God’s Selection Is Just

¹⁴What should we say then? ^yIs there injustice with God? ^zAbsolutely not! ^a15For He tells Moses:

I will show mercy

to whom I will show mercy,

and I will have compassion

on whom I will have compassion. ^bc

¹⁶So then it does not depend on human will or effort ^debut on God who shows mercy. ^f17For 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 all the earth. ^gh

¹⁸So then, He shows mercy to those He wants to, and He hardens those He wants to harden. ⁱ

¹⁹You will say to me, ^jtherefore, “Why then does He still find fault? ^kFor who can resist His will?” ^l20But who are you, a mere man, to talk back to God? ^mWill what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” ⁿ²¹Or has the potter no right over the clay, ^oto make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? ²²And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience ^pobjects of wrath ready for destruction? ^q23And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory ^ron objects of mercy ^sthat He prepared beforehand for glory ^t— ²⁴on us, the ones He also called, ^unot only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ^v25As He also says in Hosea:

I will call Not My People, My People,

and she who is Unloved, Beloved. ^wx

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. ^yz

²⁷But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

Though the number of Israel’s sons

is like the sand of the sea, ^a

only the remnant will be saved; ^b

²⁸for the Lord will execute His sentence

completely and decisively on the earth. ^cde

²⁹And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of Hosts ^fhad not left us offspring, ^g

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have been made like Gomorrah. ^hi

Israel’s Present State

³⁰What should we say then? ^jGentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith. ^k31But Israel, pursuing the law for righteousness, ^lhas not achieved the righteousness of the law. ^mn32Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. ^oThey stumbled over the stumbling stone. ^p33As it is written:

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

and a rock to trip over,

yet the one who believes on Him ^q

will not be put to shame. ^rs

Righteousness by Faith Alone

10Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them ^tis for their salvation! ²I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, ^ubut not according to knowledge. ³Because they disregarded the righteousness from God ^vand attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness. ⁴For Christ is the end ^wof the law for righteousness ^xto everyone who believes. ^y5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them. ^za6But the righteousness that comes from faith ^bspeaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” ^cdthat is, to bring Christ down ⁷or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” ^efthat is, to bring Christ up from the dead. ^g8On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. ^hiThis is the message of faith that we proclaim: ⁹If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” ^jand believe in your heart ^kthat God raised Him from the dead, ^lyou will be saved. ¹⁰One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. ¹¹Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, ^mn12for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, ^osince the same Lord ^pof all ^qis rich to all who call on Him. ¹³For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ^rs

Israel’s Rejection of the Message

¹⁴But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? ^tAnd how can they hear without a preacher? ^u15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful ^vare the feet of those ^wwho announce the gospel of good things! ^xy16But all did not obey the gospel. ^zFor Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? ^ab17So faith comes from what is heard, ^cand what is heard comes through the message about Christ. ^de18But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did:

Their voice has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. ^fg

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

I will make you jealous

of those who are not a nation; ^h

I will make you angry by a nation

that lacks understanding. ^ij

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. ^kl

²¹But to Israel he says: All day long I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and defiant people. ^mn

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

11I ask, then, has God rejected His people? ^oAbsolutely not! ^pFor I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, ^qfrom the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. ^rOr don’t you know ^swhat 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! ^tu

⁴But what was God’s reply to him? I have left 7,000 men for Myself who have not bowed down to Baal. ^vw5In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace. ^x6Now if by grace, ^ythen it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace. ^z

⁷What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, ^abut the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, ^b8as it is written:

God gave them a spirit of insensitivity, ^c

eyes that cannot see

and ears that cannot hear,

to this day. ^de

⁹And David says:

Let their feasting ^fbecome a snare and a trap,

a pitfall and a retribution to them.

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent continually. ^gh

Israel’s Rejection Not Final

¹¹I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, ⁱsalvation has come to the Gentiles ^jto make Israel jealous. ¹²Now if their stumbling ^kbrings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring! ^l

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. In view of the fact that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, ^mI magnify my ministry, ¹⁴if I can somehow make my own people ^nojealous and save some of them. ^p15For if their rejection brings reconciliation ^qto the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ^r16Now if the firstfruits offered up are holy, ^sso is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some of the branches were broken off, ^tand you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them ^uand have come to share in the rich root ^vof the cultivated olive tree, ¹⁸do not brag that you are better than those branches. But if you do brag—you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. ^w19Then you will say, ^x“Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰True enough; they were broken off by unbelief, but you stand by faith. ^yDo not be arrogant, but be afraid. ^z21For 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 ^atoward you—if you remain in His kindness. ^bOtherwise you too will be cut off. ^c23And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, ^dwill be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴For if you were cut off from your native wild olive 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?

²⁵So that you will not be conceited, ^ebrothers, I do not want you to be unaware ^fof this mystery: ^gA partial hardening has come to Israel ^huntil the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ⁱ²⁶And in this way all ^jIsrael will be saved, as it is written:

The Liberator will come from Zion;

He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.

²⁷And this will be My covenant with them ^k…