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¹ So I ask, "God has not rejected his people, has he?" Of course not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.[xr] ² God has not rejected his people whom he chose[fn] long ago. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah,[fn] when he pleads with God against Israel?[xr] ³ "Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life."[fn][xr] ⁴ But what was the divine reply to him? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal."[fn][xr] ⁵ So it is at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.[xr] ⁶ But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.[xr] ⁷ What, then, does this mean?[fn] It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was striving for, but those who were chosen obtained it. However, the rest were hardened.[xr] ⁸ As it is written,[xr] "To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep. Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear."[fn] ⁹ And David says,[xr] "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a punishment for them. ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,[xr] and keep their backs forever bent."[fn] ¹¹ And so I ask, "They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?" Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make the Jews[fn] jealous.[xr] ¹² Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! ¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am glorifying my ministry[xr] ¹⁴ in the hope that I can make my people[fn] jealous and save some of them.[xr] ¹⁵ For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.[xr] ¹⁷ Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,[xr] ¹⁸ do not boast about being better than[fn] the other[fn] branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.[xr] ¹⁹ Then you will say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in." ²⁰ That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid![fn][xr] ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you either. ²² Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you - if you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.[xr] ²³ If the Jews[fn] do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.[xr] ²⁴ After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree! ²⁵ For I do not want you to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are. A partial hardening has come on Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.[xr] ²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written,[xr] "The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ This is my covenant with them[xr] when I take away their sins."[fn] ²⁸ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved because of their ancestors.[xr] ²⁹ For God's gifts and calling never change.[xr] ³⁰ For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience,[xr] ³¹ in order they too have disobeyed in the present so that they may[fn] receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you. ³² For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.[xr]

³³ O how deep are God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge! How impossible to explain his judgments or to understand his ways![xr] ³⁴ "Who has known the mind of the Lord?[xr] Or who has become his adviser?[fn] ³⁵ Who has given him something[xr] only to have him pay it back?"[fn] ³⁶ For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.[xr]