18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

(A)“Their voice has gone out (B)to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

(C)“I will (D)make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a (E)foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

(F)“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, (G)“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

The Remnant of Israel

11 I ask, then, (H)has God rejected his people? By no means! For (I)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. (J)God has not rejected his people whom he (K)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? (L)“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? (M)“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is (N)a remnant, chosen by grace. (O)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? (P)Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest (Q)were hardened, as it is written,

(R)“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    (S)eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

And David says,

(T)“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.”

Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham

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