Epistle to the Romans, Chapter 11
Romans 11 RSV - Revised Standard VersionChapter 11 of Romans—Revised Standard Version (RSV)
- ¶ I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
- God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli′jah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
- “Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
- But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Ba′al.”
- So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
- But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
- ¶ What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
- as it is written,
¶ “God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear,
down to this very day.” - ¶ And David says,
¶ “Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a pitfall and a retribution for them; - let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs for ever.” - ¶ So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
- 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 mean!
- ¶ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
- in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
- For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
- If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
- ¶ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness[a] of the olive tree,
- do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.
- You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
- That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.
- For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
- Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.
- And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
- For if you have been 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 natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
- ¶ Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in,
- and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,
¶ “The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; - “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.” - ¶ As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
- For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
- Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
- so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may[b] receive mercy.
- For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
- ¶ O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
- ¶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?” - “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?” - ¶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Other ancient authorities read rich root
- ^ Other ancient authorities add now
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