Romans 11
New King James Version
Israel’s Rejection Not Total
11 I say then, (A)has God cast away His people? (B)Certainly not! For (C)I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom (D)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 (E)“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? (F)“I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 (G)Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And (H)if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. [a]But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? (I)Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were (J)blinded. 8 Just as it is written:
(K)“God has given them a spirit of stupor,
(L)Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”
9 And David says:
(M)“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”
Israel’s Rejection Not Final
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But (N)through their [b]fall, to provoke them to (O)jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their [c]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as (P)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and (Q)save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be (R)but life from the dead?
16 For if (S)the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if (T)some of the branches were broken off, (U)and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and [d]fatness of the olive tree, 18 (V)do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of (W)unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, [e]goodness, (X)if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise (Y)you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, (Z)if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be (AA)wise in your own [f]opinion, that (AB)blindness in part has happened to Israel (AC)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be [g]saved, as it is written:
(AD)“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For (AE)this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are (AF)beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are (AG)irrevocable. 30 For as you (AH)were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has [h]committed them (AI)all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “For who has known the (AJ)mind of the Lord?
Or (AK)who has become His counselor?”
35 “Or(AL) who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
36 For (AM)of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, (AN)to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Footnotes
- Romans 11:6 NU omits the rest of v. 6.
- Romans 11:11 trespass
- Romans 11:12 trespass
- Romans 11:17 richness
- Romans 11:22 NU adds of God
- Romans 11:25 estimation
- Romans 11:26 Or delivered
- Romans 11:32 shut them all up in
Romans 11
English Standard Version
The Remnant of Israel
11 I ask, then, (A)has God rejected his people? By no means! For (B)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 (C)God has not rejected his people whom he (D)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 (E)“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? (F)“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is (G)a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 (H)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? (I)Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest (J)were hardened, 8 as it is written,
(K)“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
(L)eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
(M)“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”
Gentiles Grafted In
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (N)salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[b] mean!
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as (O)I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and (P)thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means (Q)the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 (R)If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if (S)some of the branches were broken off, and you, (T)although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[c] of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you (U)stand fast through faith. So (V)do not become proud, but (W)fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, (X)provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise (Y)you too will be cut off. 23 And (Z)even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
The Mystery of Israel's Salvation
25 (AA)Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:[d] (AB)a partial hardening has come upon Israel, (AC)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
(AD)“The Deliverer will come (AE)from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my (AF)covenant with them
(AG)when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are (AH)beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and (AI)the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as (AJ)you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now[e] receive mercy. 32 For God (AK)has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and (AL)wisdom and knowledge of God! (AM)How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For (AN)who has known the mind of the Lord,
or (AO)who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or (AP)who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For (AQ)from him and through him and to him are all things. (AR)To him be glory forever. Amen.
Footnotes
- Romans 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham
- Romans 11:12 Greek their fullness
- Romans 11:17 Greek root of richness; some manuscripts richness
- Romans 11:25 Or brothers and sisters
- Romans 11:31 Some manuscripts omit now
Romans 11
EasyEnglish Bible
Some of the Jews do trust God
11 So I ask this: ‘Has God turned away from his people?’ No, certainly, he has not done that! I myself belong to Israel's people. I am a descendant of Abraham and I belong to Benjamin's tribe. 2 God chose who would be his people from the beginning. He has not turned against them now. Remember what the Bible tells us about Elijah. He wanted God to punish Israel's people. Elijah said: 3 ‘Lord God, they have killed your prophets. They have destroyed the altars where people offered sacrifices to you. I am the only person alive who still serves you. And they are trying to kill me.’ 4 This was God's answer to Elijah: ‘There are still 7,000 men that I have kept for myself. Those men have not worshipped the false god Baal.’[a]
5 It is the same at this time too. There is a small number of Israel's people that God has chosen to trust him. He has chosen them because he is very kind. 6 This shows that God has not chosen them because of any good things that they have done. If that was true, we could not say that God was really being kind to them. It would not be his gift.
7 So we can say this: Israel's people did not all find what they were looking for. Only those people that God had chosen received it. But the other people of Israel became unable to understand God's message. 8 It says this in the Bible:
‘God caused them to be like people who are sleeping.
Even until this day, their eyes cannot really see,
and their ears cannot really hear.’[b]
9 King David says this:
‘They enjoy eating lots of good food together.
I pray that God will catch them while they are eating!
I want those good things to lead them into trouble.
I want God to punish them because of what they have done.
10 I want their eyes to become dark so that they cannot see.
I want their bodies always to be in pain, like slaves.’[c]
11 So now I ask this: ‘When Israel's people failed to accept Jesus as God's Messiah, did they make themselves separate from God for ever?’ No, certainly that is not true! Because of their mistake, God is now saving Gentiles. God is doing that so that Israel's people would become jealous. 12 Because of their mistake, God has done good things for everyone in the world. Israel's people failed to receive what God wanted to give them. As a result, the Gentiles have received very many good things from God. That was the good result when Israel's people failed. So, when the complete number of Israel's people do turn to God, the result will be even better!
Paul speaks to the Gentiles
13 Now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. God has sent me to be his apostle to the Gentiles. I thank him that he has given this important work to me. 14 I hope that my work among you Gentiles will cause my own people to be jealous. As a result, some of them may turn to God, so that he saves them. 15 When God turned away from Israel's people, he then accepted other people in the world as his friends. So, when God does accept Israel's people, the result will be even better! It will be like dead people who have become alive again!
16 If you offer the first piece of bread to God, then all the bread will belong to God. If the roots of a tree belong to God, then the branches will also be his.
17 Israel's people are like an olive tree that a farmer has planted. But God has broken off some of that tree's branches. Then he has taken a branch from a wild olive tree. He has put that wild branch into the farmer's tree, to become part of that tree. You Gentiles are like the wild branch. Now you receive food from the root of the farmer's tree, to make you strong. 18 Israel's people are like the branches that God broke off. But you must not think that you are better than those branches. Remember that you are still only a branch. You do not make the root strong. No, it is the root that holds you up and makes you strong.
19 You might say, ‘God broke off the branches so that I could become part of the tree.’ 20 That is true. God broke them off because they did not believe in Christ. God has accepted you as part of the tree because you do believe in Christ. So do not become proud. Instead, be afraid. 21 God broke off the proper branches and he did not let them stay in the tree. So, if you no longer trust him, he will not let you stay either.
22 So you should think about what God is like. He is kind, but he also punishes people. He has punished Israel's people, because they turned away from him. He has been kind to you. But you must continue to accept his kind gift. If you do not do that, he will break you off from his tree as well.
23 God is able to accept Israel's people back again. If they come to believe in Christ, God will put them back as part of the tree. He is able to make them become branches of the tree again. 24 God cut you like branches from a wild olive tree. Then he put you into the farmer's olive tree so that you became part of it. He could do that even though that was not your own tree before. So God will be able to do that for Israel's people. He can easily put them back into their own tree, that they were part of before.[d]
God will save the Jews
25 My Christian friends, I want to help you to understand about Israel's people. It is a secret that God has shown to us. If you really understand it, you will not be proud that you are so clever. Many of Israel's people have refused to believe in Christ. They will continue to refuse him until the complete number of Gentiles have believed. 26 When that has happened, God will save all Israel's people. This is written in the Bible:
‘The one who rescues will come from Zion.
He will turn Jacob's people away from their sins.[e]
27 And I will make this agreement with them.
I will forgive them for their sins.’[f]
28 Israel's people have become God's enemies, because they have refused to believe the good news about Christ. This has happened to help you Gentiles. But God still loves Israel's people, because he has chosen them as his own people. That is what he promised to their ancestors. 29 God's thoughts about his people cannot change. He has blessed them with gifts and he has chosen them to belong to him.
30 In past times, you Gentiles did not obey God. But now God has been very kind to you, because Israel's people refused to obey him. 31 They do not obey God now. As a result God has been very kind to you. That has happened so that God may now be very kind to them too. 32 God says that everyone is guilty because they do not obey him. He says that so that he can be kind and he can forgive everyone.
33 Yes! God is very great! He has everything! He knows and he understands all things! Nobody can completely understand the things that he decides. Nobody can explain the ways in which he works. 34 The Bible says this:
‘Nobody knows the thoughts of the Lord God.
Nobody is able to tell him what he should do.’[g]
35 ‘Nobody has ever given anything to God,
so that God had a debt to pay back to them.’[h]
36 It is God who made all things. He also causes all things to continue. And all things are there to show how great he is.
We praise him! He is great for ever! Amen. This is true!
Footnotes
- 11:4 See 1 Kings 19:10-18.
- 11:8 See Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10.
- 11:10 See Psalms 69:22-23.
- 11:24 When Jesus lived on earth, most of Israel's people, the Jews, did not believe that Jesus was God's Messiah. They were no longer part of God's true people. God's true people were like an olive tree that God had planted long ago. The wild olive tree is like the Gentiles. If they believe in Jesus, they become part of God's people. If the Jews decide to believe in Jesus, then they also belong to God's people again.
- 11:26 Zion is God's city, on earth (Jerusalem) or in heaven. See Revelation 21:2. ‘Jacob's people’ is another name for Israel's people, the Jews. Jacob was Abraham's grandson and God gave him the name ‘Israel’.
- 11:27 See Isaiah 59:20-21; 27:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34.
- 11:34 See Isaiah 40:13.
- 11:35 See Job 41:11.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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