The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask, then, (A)has God rejected his people? By no means! For (B)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. (C)God has not rejected his people whom he (D)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? (E)“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? (F)“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is (G)a remnant, chosen by grace. (H)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? (I)Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest (J)were hardened, as it is written,

(K)“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    (L)eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

And David says,

(M)“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.”

Gentiles Grafted In

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (N)salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[b] mean!

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as (O)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and (P)thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means (Q)the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 (R)If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 But if (S)some of the branches were broken off, and you, (T)although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[c] of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham
  2. Romans 11:12 Greek their fullness
  3. Romans 11:17 Greek root of richness; some manuscripts richness

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