Romans 10
Jubilee Bible 2000
10 ¶ Brethren, certainly the desire of my heart and my prayer to God regarding Israel, is for saving health.
2 For I give testimony that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law, to give righteousness to every one that believes.
5 For Moses describes the righteousness which is by the law, That the man who does those things shall live by them.
6 But thus saith the righteousness which is by faith, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring the Christ down from above)?
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep (that is, to bring up the Christ again from the dead)?
8 But what does it say? The word is near thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach,
9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto saving health.
11 For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.
12 ¶ For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach if they have not been sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those that announce the gospel of peace, of those that announce the gospel of that which is good!
16 But not everyone hearkens unto the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and the ear to hear by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their fame went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses says, I will provoke you unto jealousy with people that are not mine, and with ignorant people I will provoke you to anger.
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says, I was found by those that did not seek me; I manifested myself unto those that did not ask after me.
21 And against Israel he says, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Romans 10
New English Translation
10 Brothers and sisters,[a] my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites[b] is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God,[c] but their zeal is not in line with the truth.[d] 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”[e] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart,[f] ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[g] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?”[h] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”[i] (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord[j] and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness[k] and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.[l] 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”[m] 12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.[n]
14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?[o] 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely[p] is the arrival[q] of those who proclaim the good news.”[r] 16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”[s] 17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word[t] of Christ.[u]
18 But I ask, have they[v] not heard?[w] Yes, they have:[x] Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.[y] 19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand?[z] First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”[aa] 20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”[ab] 21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”[ac]
Footnotes
- Romans 10:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
- Romans 10:1 tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Romans 10:2 tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”
- Romans 10:2 tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.” sn Their zeal is not in line with the truth means that the Jews’ passion for God was strong, but it ignored the true righteousness of God (v. 3; cf. also 3:21).
- Romans 10:5 sn A quotation from Lev 18:5.
- Romans 10:6 sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.
- Romans 10:6 sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.
- Romans 10:7 sn A quotation from Deut 30:13.
- Romans 10:8 sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.
- Romans 10:9 tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.
- Romans 10:10 tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”
- Romans 10:10 tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”
- Romans 10:11 sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.
- Romans 10:13 sn A quotation from Joel 2:32.
- Romans 10:14 tn Grk “preaching”; the words “to them” are supplied for clarification.
- Romans 10:15 tn The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see BDAG 1103 s.v. ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.”
- Romans 10:15 tn Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news.
- Romans 10:15 sn A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.
- Romans 10:16 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
- Romans 10:17 tn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rhēma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.
- Romans 10:17 tc Most mss (א1 A D1 Ψ 33 1175 1241 1505 1881 2464 M sy) have θεοῦ (theou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Christou; found in א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 lat co). Although the Nestle-Aland apparatus includes P46vid for this reading, more recent photographs by CSNTM reveal it to be κυρίου (“Lord”), a singular reading. External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rhēma Christou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression.tn The genitive could be understood as either subjective (“Christ does the speaking”) or objective (“Christ is spoken about”), but the latter is more likely here.
- Romans 10:18 tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).
- Romans 10:18 tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mē) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.
- Romans 10:18 tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mē) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.
- Romans 10:18 sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.
- Romans 10:19 tn Grk “Israel did not ‘not know,’ did he?” The double negative in Greek has been translated as a positive affirmation for clarity (see v. 18 above for a similar situation).
- Romans 10:19 sn A quotation from Deut 32:21.
- Romans 10:20 sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.
- Romans 10:21 sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.
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