Romans 11

A remnant chosen by grace

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.a ²God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:b ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?c

⁴And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”d ⁵So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.e ⁶And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.f

⁷What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, ⁸as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”g ⁹And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.h

¹⁰May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

Branches grafted in

¹¹Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.i ¹²But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! ¹³I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry ¹⁴in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,j ¹⁸do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. ²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

²²Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.k ²³And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

All Israel will be saved

²⁵I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,l ²⁶and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.m ²⁷And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”n ²⁸As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, ²⁹for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.o

³⁰Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. ³²For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.p

The depth of the riches of God

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!q ³⁴“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”r ³⁵“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”s ³⁶For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.t