[English Bible] Romans chapter 11
Ro. 11:1 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.
Ro. 11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you
know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah —
how he appealed to God against Israel:
Ro. 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your
altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?
[1 Kings 19:10,14]
Ro. 11:4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for
myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to
Baal.” [1 Kings 19:18]
Ro. 11:5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by
grace.
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Ro. 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were,
grace would no longer be grace. [Some manuscripts: by
grace. But if by works, then it is no longer grace; if it were,
work would no longer be work.]
Ro. 11:7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain,
but the elect did. The others were hardened,
Ro. 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so
that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day.” [Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10]
Ro. 11:9 And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling-block and a retribution for them.
Ro. 11:10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their
backs be bent for ever.” [Psalm 69:22,23]
Ro. 11:11 Again 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.
Ro. 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and
their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater
riches will their fulness bring!
Ro. 11:13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to
the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry
Ro. 11:14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to
envy and save some of them.
Ro. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what
will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Ro. 11:16 If 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.
Ro. 11:17 If 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,
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Ro. 11:18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this:
You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Ro. 11:19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could
be grafted in.”
Ro. 11:20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and
you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.
Ro. 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not
spare you either.
Ro. 11:22 Consider 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.
Ro. 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in,
for God is able to graft them in again.
Ro. 11:24 After 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!
Ro. 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so
that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a
hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has
come in.
Ro. 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer
will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from
Jacob.
Ro. 11:27 And this is [Or will be] my covenant with them when I take
away their sins.” [Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9; Jer. 31:33,34]
Ro. 11:28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your
account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on
account of the patriarchs,
Ro. 11:29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
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Ro. 11:30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have
now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,
Ro. 11:31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they
too may now [Some manuscripts: do not have now.] receive
mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.
Ro. 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he
may have mercy on them all.
Ro. 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and [Or riches and
the wisdom and the] knowledge of God! How unsearchable
his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Ro. 11:34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his
counsellor?” [Isaiah 40:13]
Ro. 11:35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
[Job 41:11]
Ro. 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To
him be the glory for ever! Amen.
