Romans 9:30-10:4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
30 What then shall we say? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have achieved it, that is, righteousness that comes from faith;(A) 31 but that Israel, who pursued the law of righteousness, did not attain to that law?(B) 32 Why not? Because they did it not by faith, but as if it could be done by works.(C) They stumbled over the stone that causes stumbling,[a] 33 as it is written:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion
that will make people stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
and whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.”(D)
Chapter 10
1 [b]Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on their behalf is for salvation.(E) 2 I testify with regard to them that they have zeal for God, but it is not discerning.(F) 3 For, in their unawareness of the righteousness that comes from God and their attempt to establish their own [righteousness], they did not submit to the righteousness of God.(G) 4 For Christ is the end[c] of the law for the justification of everyone who has faith.(H)
Footnotes
- 9:32 Paul discusses Israel as a whole from the perspective of contemporary Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah. The Old Testament and much of Jewish noncanonical literature in fact reflect a fervent faith in divine mercy.
- 10:1–13 Despite Israel’s lack of faith in God’s act in Christ, Paul does not abandon hope for her salvation (Rom 10:1). However, Israel must recognize that the Messiah’s arrival in the person of Jesus Christ means the termination of the Mosaic law as the criterion for understanding oneself in a valid relationship to God. Faith in God’s saving action in Jesus Christ takes precedence over any such legal claim (Rom 10:6).
- 10:4 The Mosaic legislation has been superseded by God’s action in Jesus Christ. Others understand end here in the sense that Christ is the goal of the law, i.e., the true meaning of the Mosaic law, which cannot be correctly understood apart from him. Still others believe that both meanings are intended.
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