Book of Common Prayer
The remnant of grace
11 So I ask, has God abandoned his people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin. 2 “God has not abandoned his people,” the ones he chose in advance.
Don’t you know what the Bible says in the passage about Elijah, describing how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord,” he says, “they have killed your prophets, they have thrown down your altars; I’m the only one left, and they are trying to kill me!” 4 But what is the reply from the divine word? “I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5 In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
A stumble with a purpose
7 What then? Did Israel not obtain what it was looking for? Well, the chosen ones obtained it—but the rest were hardened, 8 as the Bible says:
God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that wouldn’t see, and ears that wouldn’t hear,
right down to this present day.
9 And David says,
Let their table become a snare and a trap,
and a stumbling block and a punishment for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they can’t see,
and make their backs bend low forever.
11 So I ask, then: Have they tripped up in such a way as to fall completely? Certainly not! Rather, by their trespass, salvation has come to the nations, in order to make them jealous. 12 If their trespass means riches for the world, and their impoverishment means riches for the nations, how much more will their fullness mean!
The wise and foolish girls
25 “Then,” continued Jesus, “the kingdom of heaven will be like ten girls who each took their own torches and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were silly, and five were sensible. 3 The silly ones took their torches, but didn’t take oil with them. 4 The sensible ones took oil, in flasks, along with their torches.
5 “The bridegroom took his time coming, and they all nodded off and went to sleep. 6 In the middle of the night a shout went up: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come on and meet him!’ 7 Then all the girls got up and trimmed the wicks of their torches.
8 “The silly ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil! Our torches are going out!’
9 “But the sensible ones answered, ‘No! If we do that, there won’t be enough for all of us together! You’d better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “So off they went to buy oil. But, while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The ones who were ready went in with him to the wedding party, and the door was shut.
11 “Later on the other girls came back. ‘Master, Master!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12 “ ‘I’m telling you the truth,’ he said, ‘I don’t know you.’
13 “So keep awake! You don’t know the day or the hour.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.