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Romans 11

1I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Certainly not! For I too am an Israelite, from Abraham's seed, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4But what does the divine answer say to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal.” 5So too at the present time there is a remnant according to the choice of grace. 6And if by grace, it is no longer from deeds; otherwise grace is no longer grace. 7What then? What Israel seeks it did not obtain, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened, 8as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes not to see and ears not to hear, down to this very day.” 9And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a repayment to them. 10Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs continually.”

11I ask, then, did they stumble so as to fall? Certainly not! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. 12But if their trespass is riches for the world and their loss is riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! 13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my service, 14in the hope that I may somehow make my own flesh jealous and save some of them. 15For if their rejection is reconciliation for the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16If the first portion is holy, so is the lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and came to share in the olive tree's nourishing root, 18do not boast over the branches. But if you do boast, you do not support the root; the root supports you. 19You will say, then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20Quite so. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not think highly of yourself, but fear. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22Look, then, at God's kindness and severity: severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you, if you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And they too, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24For 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 natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree!

25For I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation: a hardening has come upon Israel in part until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, 26and so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn ungodliness away from Jacob. 27And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” 28In relation to the good news, they are enemies for your sake; but in relation to God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29For God's gifts and calling are irrevocable. 30For just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy through their disobedience, 31so they too have now been disobedient, so that through the mercy shown to you they too may now receive mercy. 32For God has confined all to disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.

33Oh, the depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable his ways! 34“For who has known the Lord's mind, or who has become his adviser?” 35“Or who has first given to him, and will be repaid?” 36For all things are from him and through him and for him. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Translation notes 7

11:1–6 — People and remnant. Paul includes himself within Israel. “Foreknew” leaves the nature of God's prior knowing unexplained. “Choice of grace” means a choice grounded in grace. Some textual traditions extend verse 6: “But if it is from deeds, it is no longer grace; otherwise a deed is no longer a deed.” That expansion is not in the working Greek base.

11:7–10 — Hardening and the quotations. “The chosen” expresses the collective noun literally meaning the choice. The quotations combine Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 and then draw on Psalm 69:22–23. The hardening and severe petitions remain unsoftened; Paul next denies that the stumbling means an ultimate fall.

11:11–16 — Fullness and life. “Fullness” in verse 12 can concern Israel's full inclusion or full number, in contrast with its loss or defeat. “Life from the dead” may describe the final resurrection or the extraordinary renewal associated with acceptance; the image is retained without settling the timetable. “My own flesh” means Paul's fellow Israelites. The “first portion” and “lump” refer to dough, alongside the distinct root-and-branches image.

11:17–24 — The olive tree. Paul addresses the Gentile believer as a singular “you.” Some branches, not the entire tree, are broken off; the wild shoot shares the existing root. The warning against boasting and the possibility of grafting back in both remain explicit. “Contrary to nature” describes the grafting in Paul's image, not a rule about every agricultural practice.

11:25–27 — Mystery and all Israel. “Mystery” is a purpose of God now disclosed. “In part” can describe the portion of Israel hardened or the extent of the hardening. “Fullness” repeats verse 12's word, here concerning the Gentiles. “And so” can emphasize the manner of salvation, with a temporal implication also possible. “All Israel” most naturally continues the reference to the Jewish people in this passage; its precise scope and timing remain disputed, and the phrase is not replaced by either “every Jewish person” or “the church.” The quotation combines language from Isaiah 59:20–21 and 27:9 in the form Paul gives it.

11:28–32 — Enemies, beloved, and mercy. Both descriptions in verse 28 are retained; “enemies” is not expanded into an instruction for Gentile hostility. God's choice refers back to the fathers and his gifts and calling. Verse 31 follows the base in saying “now” both about disobedience and receiving mercy; some witnesses omit the second “now.” “All” is repeated in verse 32, encompassing the two groups Paul has discussed without the translation narrowing the word or adding a complete account of everyone's final destiny.

11:33–36 — The closing praise. “Riches and wisdom and knowledge” can alternatively be understood as the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge. The questions echo Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11. “For him” gives the goal of all things; “to him” in the praise expresses the attribution of glory.