Romans 9–11

Israel’s Rejection

9I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit—²that my grief is great and there is constant distress in my heart. ³For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, ⁵to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed forever^a! Amen.

⁶But it is not as if the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, ⁷nor are they all children because they are descendants of Abraham, but “In Isaac will your descendants be named.”^{b 8}That is, it is not the children by human descent^c who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. ⁹For the statement of the promise is this: “At this time I will return and Sarah will have^d a son.”^{e 10}And not only this, but also when^* Rebecca conceived children by one man,^f Isaac our father—¹¹for although they^* had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain, ¹²not by works but by the one who calls—it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”^{g 13}just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^h

God’s Sovereign Choice to Show Mercy

¹⁴What then shall we say? There is no injustice with God, is there?^* May it never be! ¹⁵For to Moses he says, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”^{i 16}Consequently therefore, it does not depend on the^j one who wills or on the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very reason I have raised you up, so that I may demonstrate my power in you, and so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{k 18}Consequently therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wishes, and he hardens whomever he wishes.

¹⁹Therefore you will say to me, “Why then does he still find fault? For who has resisted^l his will? ²⁰On the contrary, O man, who are you who answers back to God? Will what is molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this”?^{m 21}Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that is for honorable useⁿ and one that is for ordinary use^o? ²²And what if God, wanting to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³And he did so^* in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵As he also says in Hosea,

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’

and those who were not loved, ‘Loved.’^p

²⁶And it will be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”^q

²⁷And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,

“Even if the number of the sons of Israel is like the sand of the sea,

the remnant will be saved,

²⁸for the Lord will execute his sentence thoroughly and decisively^r upon the earth.”^s

²⁹And just as Isaiah foretold,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom

and would have resembled Gomorrah.”^t

³⁰What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness—even the righteousness that is by faith. ³¹But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law. ³²Why that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble^u, ³³just as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble^v,

and a rock that causes them to fall^w,

and the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”^x

The Righteousness of God through Faith in Christ

10Brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them is for their salvation. ²For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,^a they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: “The person who does this^b will live by it.”^{cd 6}But the righteousness from faith speaks like this: “Do not say in your heart,^e ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ”^f (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷or “Who will descend into the abyss?”^g (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart”^h (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), ⁹thatⁱ if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”^{j 12}For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who is rich to all who call upon him. ¹³For “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”^k

¹⁴How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him about whom they have not heard? And how will they hear about him without one who preaches to them? ¹⁵And how will they preach, unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”^{l 16}But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”^{m 17}Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word about Christ.

¹⁸But I say, they have not heard, have they?^* On the contrary,

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.”ⁿ

¹⁹But I say, Israel did not know, did they?^* First, Moses says,

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation;

by a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”^o

²⁰And Isaiah is very bold and says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;

I became known to those who did not ask for me.”^p

²¹But about Israel he says,

“The whole day long I held out my hands

to a disobedient and resistant people.”^q

A Remnant of Israel Remains

11Therefore I say, God has not rejected his people, has he?^* May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, from the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew! Or do you not know, in the passage about^* Elijah, what the scripture says—how he appeals to God against Israel? ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!”^{a 4}But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand people^b who have not bent the knee to Baal.”^{c 5}So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant selected by grace^d. ⁶But if by grace, it is no longer by works, for otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁷What then? What Israel was searching for, this it did not obtain. But the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened, ⁸just as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,

until this very day.”^e

⁹And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

and a cause for stumbling and a retribution to them;

¹⁰let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see,

and cause their backs to bend continually^f.”^g

¹¹I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, did they?^* May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.^{* 12}And if their trespass means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?

Gentile Branches Grafted in

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Therefore, inasmuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I promote my ministry, ¹⁴if somehow I may provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. ¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean except life from the dead? ¹⁶Now if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole batch of dough, and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although you^* were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree’s richness, ¹⁸do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹Then you will say, “Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural^h branches, neither will he spare you.^{i 22}See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God—if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³And those also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches^j be grafted into their own olive tree?

All Israel to be Saved

²⁵For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own…