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God’s Mercy Is for Everyone

25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters,[a] so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26 And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,

“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,[b]
    and he will turn Israel[c] away from ungodliness.
27 And this is my covenant with them,
    that I will take away their sins.”[d]

28 Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. 30 Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. 31 Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share[e] in God’s mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:25 Greek brothers.
  2. 11:26a Greek from Zion.
  3. 11:26b Greek Jacob.
  4. 11:26-27 Isa 59:20-21; 27:9 (Greek version).
  5. 11:31 Other manuscripts read will now share; still others read will someday share.

25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters,[a] so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel[b] until the full number[c] of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so[d] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them,[e]
when I take away their sins.[f]

28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now[g] receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.[h]

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:25 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
  2. Romans 11:25 tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”
  3. Romans 11:25 tn Grk “fullness.”
  4. Romans 11:26 tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai houtōs, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).
  5. Romans 11:27 sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.
  6. Romans 11:27 sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.
  7. Romans 11:31 tc Some significant Alexandrian and Western mss (א B D*,c 1506 bo) read νῦν (nun, “now”) here. A few other mss (33 365 sa) have ὕστερον (husteron, “finally”). mss that lack the word are P46 A D1 F G Ψ 81 1175 1241 1505 1739 1881 M latt. External evidence slightly favors omission with good representatives from the major text-forms, and because of the alliance of Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (with the Byzantine going against its normal tendency to embrace the longer reading). Internally, scribes could have added νῦν here to give balance to the preceding clause (οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαναὐτοὶ νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν [|outoi nun ēpeithēsanautoi nun eleēthōsin; “they have now been disobedient…they may now receive mercy”]). However, it seems much more likely that they would have deleted it because of its seeming inappropriateness in this context. That some witnesses have ὕστερον presupposes the presence of νῦν in their ancestors. A decision is difficult, but νῦν is slightly preferred, since it is the more difficult reading and is adequately represented in the mss.
  8. Romans 11:32 tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.