Chapter 11

1So I ask: Has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

2God has not rejected the people he knew beforehand. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, when he appeals to God against Israel?

3Elijah says, “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I alone am left, and they are trying to kill me.”

4But what answer does God give him? “I have kept seven thousand men for myself who have not bowed before the god Baal.”

5In the same way, a small group remains at the present time because God chose them through his generous kindness.

6If God chose them through kindness, his choice is no longer based on what people do. Otherwise, kindness would no longer be kindness.

7What follows? Israel did not obtain what it was seeking, but those whom God chose did obtain it. The rest became unable to understand,

8just as Scripture says: “God gave them a spirit of deep insensitivity—eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear—right up to the present day.”

9David also says, “Let their dining table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a punishment for them.

10Let their eyes grow dark so that they cannot see, and keep their backs bent down continually.”

11So I ask: Did the Israelites stumble so that they would fall? Absolutely not! Instead, because of their wrongdoing, salvation has come to non-Jews, in order to make Israel jealous.

12If Israel’s wrongdoing has brought riches to the world, and Israel’s failure has brought riches to non-Jews, how much more will Israel’s full inclusion bring!

13Now I am speaking to you non-Jews. Since I am God’s commissioned messenger to non-Jews, I treat my work of service as something of great importance.

14I hope somehow to make my own people jealous and so save some of them.

15If their rejection has brought the world back into friendship with God, what will their acceptance mean except life from the dead?

16If the first piece of dough offered to God belongs to him, the whole batch does too. And if the root belongs to God, the branches do too.

17Some of the branches were broken off. You, though you were a shoot from a wild olive tree, were grafted in among the remaining branches. You now share in the rich nourishment that comes from the olive tree’s root.

18So do not boast that you are better than the other branches. If you do boast, remember: you do not support the root; the root supports you.

19You may say, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”

20That is true. They were broken off because they did not trust God, while you remain in place because you do trust him. Do not become proud; be afraid.

21If God did not spare the branches that naturally belonged to the tree, he will not spare you either.

22Consider both God’s kindness and his 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 if the Israelites do not continue in their refusal to trust God, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them back in.

24After all, you were cut from a wild olive tree, where you naturally grew, and were grafted—contrary to nature—into a cultivated olive tree. How much more readily will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree!

25Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware of this hidden truth, so that you will not consider yourselves wise: part of Israel has become unable to understand, and this will continue until the full number of non-Jews has come in.

26In this way, all Israel will be saved, as Scripture says: “The rescuer will come from Zion. He will turn ungodliness away from Jacob’s people.

27And this will be my covenant—my binding promise—with them when I take away their sins.”

28In relation to the good news, they are God’s enemies for your sake. But in relation to God’s choice, they are loved because of their ancestors.

29God does not take back his gifts or withdraw his call.

30You once disobeyed God, but now you have received mercy because of their disobedience.

31In the same way, they have now disobeyed, with the result that through the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.

32God has confined everyone under disobedience so that he may show mercy to everyone.

33Oh, the depth of God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge! No one can fully uncover his decisions or trace the paths he takes.

34“Who has known God’s mind? Who has become his adviser?”

35“Who has ever given something to God first, so that God must repay it?”

36Everything comes from him, exists through him, and is for him. May honor be his forever. Yes, may it be so.