14 How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him about whom they have not heard? And how will they hear about him without one who preaches to them? 15 And how will they preach, unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How timely are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”[a] 16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”[b] 17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word about Christ.

18 But I say, they have not heard, have they?[c] On the contrary,

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the inhabited world.”[d]

19 But I say, Israel did not know, did they?[e] First, Moses says,

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
    by a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”[f]

20 And Isaiah is very bold and says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I became known to those who did not ask for me.”[g]

21 But about Israel he says,

“The whole day long I held out my hands
    to a disobedient and resistant people.”[h]

A Remnant of Israel Remains

11 Therefore I say, God has not rejected his people, has he?[i] May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, from the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew! Or do you not know, in the passage about[j] Elijah, what the scripture says—how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!”[k] But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand people[l] who have not bent the knee to Baal.”[m] So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant selected by grace[n]. But if by grace, it is no longer by works, for otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? What Israel was searching for, this it did not obtain. But the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened, just as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,
    until this very day.”[o]

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    and a cause for stumbling and a retribution to them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see,
    and cause their backs to bend continually[p].”[q]

11 I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, did they?[r] May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.[s] 12 And if their trespass means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?

Footnotes

  1. Romans 10:15 A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15
  2. Romans 10:16 A quotation from Isa 53:1
  3. Romans 10:18 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here
  4. Romans 10:18 A quotation from Ps 19:4
  5. Romans 10:19 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here
  6. Romans 10:19 A quotation from Deut 32:21
  7. Romans 10:20 A quotation from Isa 65:1
  8. Romans 10:21 A quotation from Isa 65:2
  9. Romans 11:1 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here
  10. Romans 11:2 The words “the passage about” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity
  11. Romans 11:3 A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14
  12. Romans 11:4 Or perhaps “males,” referring to men only
  13. Romans 11:4 A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18
  14. Romans 11:5 Literally “according to selection of grace”
  15. Romans 11:8 A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10
  16. Romans 11:10 Literally “throughout everything”
  17. Romans 11:10 A quotation from Ps 69:22–23
  18. Romans 11:11 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here
  19. Romans 11:11 *The words “to jealousy” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity

19 For when[a] every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves[b] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying,

“This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.”[c]

21 And likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the utensils of service with the blood. 22 Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 Therefore it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, 25 and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year by year[d] with blood not his own, 26 since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as[e] it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, 28 thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 9:19 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal participle (“had been spoken”)
  2. Hebrews 9:19 Some manuscripts have “calves and goats”
  3. Hebrews 9:20 A quotation from Exod 24:8
  4. Hebrews 9:25 Literally “according to year”
  5. Hebrews 9:27 Literally “in as much as”