ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF CHRIST

9 I speak the truth in Christh—I am not lying; my conscience testifies to me through the Holy SpiritA—2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wishi that I myself were cursedj and cut offB from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They 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,C came the Christ,s who is Godt over all,u praised forever.D,v Amen.

GOD’S GRACIOUS ELECTION OF ISRAEL

6 Now 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.E,y On the contrary, your offspring will be tracedF through Isaac.G,z 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descentH who are God’s children,aa but the children of the promiseab are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.I,ac 10 And not only that,ad but Rebekah conceived childrenae through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might standaf—12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.J,ag 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.K,ah

GOD’S SELECTION IS JUST

14 What 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.L,al 16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effortam 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.M,ao 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.ap

19 You 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? 22 And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patienceaw objects of wrath prepared for destruction?ax 23 And what if he did this to make known the riches of his gloryay on objects of mercyaz that he prepared beforehand for gloryba—24 on us, the ones he also called,bb not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?bc 25 As itN also says in Hosea,

I will call Not my People, My People,

and she who is Unloved, Beloved.O,bd

26 And 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.P,be

27 But 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

28 since the Lord will execute his sentence

completely and decisively on the earth.Q,R,bh

29 And just as Isaiah predicted:

If the Lord of Hostss had not left us offspring,bi

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have been made like Gomorrah.A,a

ISRAEL’S PRESENT STATE

30 What 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.B,e 32 Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.C 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 himg

will not be put to shame.D,h

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH ALONE

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning themE is for their salvation. 2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God,i but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of Godj and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the endF of the law for righteousnessk 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.G,m 6 But the righteousness that comes from faithn speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?”H,o that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?”I,p 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.J,r This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”s and believe in your heartt that God raised him from the dead,u you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,K,v 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek,w because the same Lordx of ally richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.L,z

ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF THE MESSAGE

14 How, 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 beautifulM are the feet of those who bring good news.N,ac 16 But not all obeyed the gospel.ad For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message?O,ae 17 So faith comes from what is heard,af and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.P,ag 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.Q,ah

19 But 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.R,aj

20 And 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.S,ak

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

ISRAEL’S REJECTION NOT TOTAL

11 I 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. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.ap Or don’t you knowaq what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!U,ar 4 But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.V,as 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.A

7 What 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.B,e

9 And David says,

Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a pitfall and a retribution to them.

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

and their backs be bent continually.C,f

ISRAEL’S REJECTION NOT FINAL

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

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles,i I magnify my ministry, 14 if I might somehow make my own peopleD,j jealous and save some of them.k 15 For if their rejection brings reconciliationl 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.

17 Now if some of the branches were broken off,o and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among themp and have come to share in the rich rootE of the cultivated olive tree, 18 do 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.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith.s Do not be arrogant, but beware,F,t 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22 Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindnessu 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. 24 For 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?

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

The Deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

27 And this will be my covenant with themH,ad

when I take away their sins.I,ae

28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage,af but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,ag 29 since God’s gracious gifts and callingah are irrevocable.J,ai 30 As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may nowK receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedienceaj so that he may have mercy on all.

A HYMN OF PRAISE

33 Oh, the depth of the richesak

and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!al

How unsearchable his judgmentsam

and untraceable his ways!

34 For who has known the mind of the Lord?an

Or who has been his counselor?

35 And who has ever given to God,

that he should be repaid?L,ao

36 For from him and through him

and to him are all things.ap

To him be the glory forever. Amen.