The Lord’s Answer

¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household;^(A) and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?^(B)

⁷ What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.^(A) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,^{(B) 8} as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Ingrafted Branches

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!^(G) Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles^(H) to make Israel envious.^{(I) 12} But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles,^(J) how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

¹³ I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles,^(K) I take pride in my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy^(L) and save^(M) some of them.

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^{(A) 29} How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God^(B) underfoot,^(C) who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant^(D) that sanctified them,^(E) and who has insulted the Spirit^(F) of grace?^{(G) 30} For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a](H) and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^[b](I)

⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies,^(A) you will know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city.^{(B) 22} For this is the time of punishment^(C) in fulfillment^(D) of all that has been written. ²³ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled^(E) on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.^{(F) 26} People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.^(G)

³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(A) others you will flog in your synagogues^(B) and pursue from town to town.^{(C) 35} And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(D) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(E) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^{(F) 36} Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(G)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(H) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(I) and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.^(J)

⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^(A) and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners^(B) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,^(C) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.