God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(A)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(E)Israelites, and to them belong ^(F)the adoption, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the law, ^(J)the worship, and ^(K)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(M)who is God over all, ^(N)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(O)because they are his offspring, but ^(P)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(S)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(T)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(U)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(X)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(Y)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(Z)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(AA)to answer back to God? ^(AB)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (AC)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(AD)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(AE)vessels of wrath ^(AF)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(AG)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(AH)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(AI)has called, ^(AJ)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(AN)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, ^(AO)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? ^(AS)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(AT)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel ^(AU)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{[d] (AV)}did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(AW)stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

10 Brothers,^[e] my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that ^(BB)they have a zeal for God, ^(BC)but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of ^(BD)the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴ For ^(BE)Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.^[f]

The Message of Salvation to All

⁵ For ^(BF)Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that ^(BG)the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶ But ^(BH)the righteousness based on faith says, ^(BI)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the ^(BJ)abyss?’” (that is, ^(BK)to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? ^(BL)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if ^(BM)you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and ^(BN)believe in your heart ^(BO)that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, ^(BP)“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ^12 (BQ)For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; ^(BR)for the same Lord is Lord of all, ^(BS)bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For ^(BT)“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him ^(BU)of whom they have never heard?^[g] And how are they to hear ^(BV)without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ^(BW)“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But ^(BX)they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ^(BY)“Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So ^(BZ)faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

¹⁸ But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

¹⁹ But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

²⁰ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

²¹ But of Israel he says, ^(CG)“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask, then, ^(CH)has God rejected his people? By no means! For ^(CI)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,^[h] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ^2 (CJ)God has not rejected his people whom he ^(CK)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? ^3 (CL)“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” ⁴ But what is God's reply to him? ^(CM)“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵ So too at the present time there is ^(CN)a remnant, chosen by grace. ^6 (CO)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁷ What then? ^(CP)Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest ^(CQ)were hardened, ⁸ as it is written,

⁹ And David says,

Gentiles Grafted In

¹¹ So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass ^(CU)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^[i] mean!

¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as ^(CV)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and ^(CW)thus save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection means ^(CX)the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ^16 (CY)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 ^(CZ)some of the branches were broken off, and you, ^(DA)although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root^[j] 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. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you ^(DB)stand fast through faith. So ^(DC)do not become proud, but ^(DD)fear. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, ^(DE)provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise ^(DF)you too will be cut off. ²³ And ^(DG)even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Mystery of Israel's Salvation

^25 (DH)Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:^{[k] (DI)}a partial hardening has come upon Israel, ^(DJ)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are ^(DO)beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and ^(DP)the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as ^(DQ)you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now^[l] receive mercy. ³² For God ^(DR)has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and ^(DS)wisdom and knowledge of God! ^(DT)How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁶ For ^(DX)from him and through him and to him are all things. ^(DY)To him be glory forever. Amen.