| 11 | Romans | ||
| 1 | I ASK THEN, has God rejected his people? I cannot believe it! I am an Israelite myself, of the stock of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. | The Remnant of Israel Ro.11.1-10 | |
| 2 | No! God has not rejected the people which he acknowledged of old as his own. You know (do you not?) what Scripture says in the story of Elijah - how Elijah pleads with God against Israel: | - God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli Ro.11.2 - Ps.94.14 | |
| 3 | 'Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have overthrown thine altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.' | - "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, Ro.11.3 - 1Kgs.19.10-14 | |
| 4 | But what does the oracle say to him? 'I have left myself seven thousand men who have not done homage to Baal.' | - But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed th Ro.11.4 - 1Kgs.19.18 | |
| 5 | In just the same way at the present time a 'remnant' has come into being, selected by the grace of God. | ||
| 6 | But if it is by grace, then it does not rest on deeds done, or grace would cease to be grace. | ||
| 7 | What follows? What Israel sought, Israel has not achieved, but the selected few have achieved it. The rest were made blind to the truth, | ||
| 8 | exactly as it stands written: 'God brought upon them a numbness of spirit; he gave them blind eyes and deaf ears, and so it is still.' | - eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear Ro.11.8 - Dt.29.4, Is.29.10 | |
| 9 | Similarly David says: Both stumbling-block and retribution! | - Let their table become a snare and a trap Ro.11.9-10 - Ps.69.22-23, Ps.35.8 | |
| 10 | May their eyes be darkened so that they do not see! Bow down their back for ever!' | ||
| 11 | I now ask, did their failure mean complete downfall? Far from it! Because they offended, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to stir Israel to emulation. | The Salvation of the Gentiles Ro.11.11-24 | |
| 12 | But if their offence means the enrichment of the world, and if their falling-off means the enrichment of the Gentiles, how much more their coming to full strength! | ||
| 13 | But I have something to say to you Gentiles. I am a missionary to the Gentiles, and as such I give all honour to that ministry | ||
| 14 | when I try to stir emulation in the men of my own race, and so to save some of them. | ||
| 15 | For if their rejection has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean? | ||
| 16 | Nothing less than life from the dead! If the first portion of dough is consecrated, so is the whole lump. | ||
| 17 | If the root is consecrated, so are the branches. But if some of the branches have been lopped off, and you, a wild olive, have been grafted in among them, and have come to share the same root and sap as the olive, do not make yourself superior to the branches. | ||
| 18 | If you is do so, remember that it is not you who sustain the root: the root sustains you. | ||
| 19 | You will say, 'Branches were lopped off so that I might be grafted in.' | ||
| 20 | Very well: they were lopped off for lack of faith, and by faith you hold your place. Put away your pride, and be on your guard; | ||
| 21 | for if God did not spare the native branches, no more will he spare you. | ||
| 22 | Observe the kindness and the severity of God - severity to those who fell away, divine kindness to you, if only you remain within its scope; otherwise you too will be cut off, | ||
| 23 | whereas they, if they do not continue faithless, will be grafted in; for it is in God's power to graft them in again. | ||
| 24 | For if you were cut from your native wild olive and against all nature grafted into the cultivated olive, how much more readily will they, the natural olive-branches, be grafted into their native stock! | ||
| 25 | For there is a deep truth here, my brothers, of which I want you to take account, so that you may not be complacent about your own discernment: this partial blindness has come upon Israel only until the Gentiles have been admitted in full strength; | The Restoration of Israel Ro.11.25-36 | |
| 26 | when that has happened, the whole of Israel will be saved, in agreement with the text of Scripture: He shall remove wickedness from Jacob. | - The Deliverer will come from Zion Ro.11.26 - Is.59.20-21, Ps.14.7 | |
| 27 | And this is the covenant I will grant them, When I take away their sins.' | - and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Ro.11.27 - Is.27.9, Jr.31.33 | |
| 28 | In the spreading of the Gospel they are treated as God's enemies for your sake; but God's choice stands, and they are his friends for the sake of the patriarchs. | ||
| 29 | For the gracious gifts of God and his calling are irrevocable. | ||
| 30 | Just as formerly you were disobedient to God, but now have received mercy in the time of their disobedience, so now, | ||
| 31 | when you receive mercy, they have proved disobedient, but only in order that they too may receive mercy. | ||
| 32 | For in making all mankind prisoners to disobedience. God's purpose was to show mercy to all mankind. | ||
| 33 | O depth of wealth, wisdom, and knowledge in God! How unsearchable his judgements, how untraceable his ways! | ||
| 34 | Who knows the mind of the Lord ? Who has been his counsellor? | - For who has known the mind of the Lord Ro.11.34 - Is.40.13, Jb.15.8, Is.23.18 | |
| 35 | Who has ever made a gift to him, to receive a gift in return? | - who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? Ro.11.35 - Jb.41.11 | |
| 36 | Source, Guide, and Goal of all that is-to him be glory for ever! Amen. | ||
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