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.
Romans 10
New King James Version
Israel Needs the Gospel
10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for [a]Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness (A)that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of (B)God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own (C)righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For (D)Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, (E)“The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, (F)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, (G)“ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? (H)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that (I)if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, (J)“Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For (K)there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for (L)the same Lord over all (M)is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For (N)“whoever calls (O)on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Israel Rejects the Gospel
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear (P)without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
(Q)“How beautiful are the feet of those who [b]preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, (R)“Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:
(S)“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the world.”
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:
(T)“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation,
I will move you to anger by a (U)foolish nation.”
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says:
(V)“I was found by those who did not seek Me;
I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”
21 But to Israel he says:
(W)“All day long I have stretched out My hands
To a disobedient and contrary people.”
Footnotes
- Romans 10:1 NU them
- Romans 10:15 NU omits preach the gospel of peace, Who
Romans 10
The Voice
10 My brothers and sisters, I pray constantly to God for the salvation of my people; it is the deep desire of my heart. 2 What I can say about them is that they are enthusiastic about God, but that won’t lead them to Him because their zeal is not based on true knowledge. 3 In their ignorance about how God is working to make things right, they have been trying to establish their own right standing with God through the law. But they are not operating under God’s saving, restorative justice. 4 You see, God’s purpose for the law reaches its climax when the Anointed One arrives; now all who trust in Him can have their lives made right with God.
God’s plan to restore the world disfigured by sin and death reaches its climax with the resurrection of Jesus. When the King enters, all the prophecies, all the hopes, all the longings find in Him their true fulfillment. There may have been earlier fulfillments; but these are only partial fulfillments, signposts along the way to God’s true goal. The goal has been the restoration of people to a holy God. With Jesus, we find the only perfect man with right standing before God. He comes to blaze a path defined by God’s justice, not by our own sense of right and wrong. All men, women, and children who commit their lives to Him will be made right with God and will begin new lives defined by faith and God’s new covenant.
5 Moses made this clear long ago when he wrote about what it takes to have a right relationship with God based on the law: “The person devoted to the law’s commands will live by them.”[a] 6 But a right relationship based on faith sounds like this: “Do not say to yourselves, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring down the Anointed One), 7 “or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’”[c] (that is, to bring the Anointed One up from the dead). 8 But what does it actually say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”[d] (that is, the good news we have been called to preach to you). 9 So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! 10 Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation. 11 Because what Isaiah said was true: “The one who trusts in Him will not be disgraced.”[e] 12 Remember that the Lord draws no distinction between Jew and non-Jew—He is Lord over all things, and He pours out His treasures on all who invoke His name 13 because as Scripture says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[f]
Faith is not something we do. It is a response to what God has done already on our behalf, the response of a spirit restless in a fragmented world.
14 How can people invoke His name when they do not believe? How can they believe in Him when they have not heard? How can they hear if there is no one proclaiming Him? 15 How can some give voice to the truth if they are not sent by God? As Isaiah said, “Ah, how beautiful the feet of those who declare the good news of victory, of peace and liberation.”[g] 16 But some will hear the good news and refuse to submit to the truth they hear. Isaiah the prophet also says, “Lord, who would ever believe it? Who would possibly accept what we’ve been told?”[h] 17 So faith proceeds from hearing, as we listen to the message about God’s Anointed.
18 But let me ask this: have my people ever heard? Indeed, they have:
Yet from here to the ends of the earth, their voice has gone out;
the whole world has heard what they have to say.[i]
19 But again let me ask: did Israel perhaps hear and not understand all of this? Well, Moses was the first to say,
I will make you jealous with a people who are not a nation.
With a senseless people I will anger you.[j]
20 Then Isaiah the fearless prophet says it this way:
I was found by people who did not seek Me;
I showed My face to those who never asked for Me.[k]
21 And as to the fate of Israel, God says,
All day long I opened My hands
to a rebellious people, who constantly work against Me.[l]
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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