ISV - Romans - 11

11:1  God's Love for the JewsSo 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.

11:2  God has not rejected his people whom he chose10:2 Lit. knew long ago. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah,The Gk. lacks the story about when he pleads with God against Israel?

11:3  “Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.”1 Kings 19:10, 14

11:4  But what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal.”1 Kings 19:18

11:5  So it is at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

11:6  But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

11:7  What, then, does this mean?The Gk. lacks does this mean It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was striving for, but those who were chosen obtained it. However, the rest were hardened.

11:8  As it is written, “To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep.Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear.”Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10

11:9  And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap,a stumbling block and a punishment for them.

11:10  Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,and keep their backs forever bent.”Ps 69:22-23; 35:8

11:11  The Salvation of the GentilesAnd 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 JewsLit. them jealous.

11:12  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!

11:13  I am speaking to you Gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am glorifying my ministry

11:14  in the hope that I can make my peopleLit. flesh jealous and save some of them.

11:15  For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

11:16  If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

11:17  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,

11:18  do not boast about being better thanThe Gk. lacks being better than the otherThe Gk. lacks other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

11:19  Then you will say, “Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in.”

11:20  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!Or be reverent

11:21  For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you either.

11:22  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.

11:23  If the JewsLit. they do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.

11:24  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!

11:25  The Restoration of IsraelFor 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.

11:26  In this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion;he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

11:27  This is my covenant with themwhen I take away their sins.”Isa 59:20-21

11:28  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.

11:29  For God's gifts and calling never change.

11:30  For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience,

11:31  in order they too have disobeyed in the present so that they mayOther mss. read may now receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you.

11:32  For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

11:33  In Praise of God's WaysO how deep are God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge! How impossible to explain his judgments or to understand his ways!

11:34  “Who has known the mind of the Lord?Or who has become his adviser?Isa 40:13 (LXX)

11:35  Who has given him somethingonly to have him pay it back?”Job 41:11

11:36  For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.