Beginning

11 I ask then, “Has God put His people, the Jews, aside?” No, not at all! I myself am a Jew. Abraham was my early father. I am from the family group of Benjamin. ² God has not put His people aside. He chose them from the beginning. Do you know what the Holy Writings say about Elijah? Do you know what Elijah said to God against the Jews? ³ He said, “Lord, they have killed Your early preachers. They have destroyed the places where You are worshiped. I am the only one left. They are trying to kill me.” ⁴ But what did God say to him? God said, “I still have 7,000 men. None of them have worshiped the false god Baal.” ⁵ It is the same now. A few of the Jews are being chosen because of God’s loving-favor. ⁶ If they are saved from the punishment of sin because of God’s loving-favor, it is nothing men have done to earn it. If men had earned it, then His loving-favor would not be a free gift. ⁷ This is the way it was. Many Jews did not get what they were looking for. Only those God chose received it. The hearts of the others were made hard. They could not understand it. ⁸ The Holy Writings say this about them, “God gave them hearts and minds that want to sleep. He gave them eyes that could not see. To this very day He gave them ears that could not hear.” ^{(A) 9} David said, “Let their table of food become a trap to hold them. Let it be a hole into which they fall and will suffer. ¹⁰ Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see. Keep their backs from being straight always because of their troubles.” ^(B)

¹¹ I ask then, “Did the Jews fall so they would be lost forever?” No, not at all! It means the people who are not Jews are able to be saved from the punishment of sin because the Jews sinned by not putting their trust in Christ. This made the Jews jealous of those who are not Jews. ¹² The world received good things from God because of the sin of the Jews. Because the Jews did not receive God’s free gift, the people who are not Jews received good things from Him. Think how much more the world will receive when the Jews finish God’s plan by putting their trust in Christ!

¹³ I am speaking to you people who are not Jews. As long as I am a missionary to you, I want you to know how important my job is. ¹⁴ I do this so it will make my own people, the Jews, jealous. Then it may be that some will be saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁵ Because the Jews have been put aside, many other people in the world have been saved from the punishment of sin. Think what it will be like when they are also gathered in. It will be like the dead coming back to life!

¹⁶ If the first loaf is holy, all the bread is holy. If the root is holy, all the branches are holy.

¹⁷ But some of the branches (who are the Jews) were broken off. You who are not Jews were put in the place where the branches had been broken off. Now you are sharing the rich root of the olive tree. ¹⁸ Do not be proud. Do not think you are better than the branches that were broken off. If you are proud, remember that you do not hold the root. It is the root that holds you. ¹⁹ You may say, “Branches were broken off to make room for me.” ²⁰ It is true. They were broken off because they did not put their trust in Christ. And you are there only because of your faith. Do not be proud. Instead, be afraid. ²¹ God did not keep the first branches (who are the Jews) on the tree. Then watch, or He will not keep you on the tree. ²² We see how kind God is. It shows how hard He is also. He is hard on those who fall away. But He is kind to you if you keep on trusting Him. If you do not, He will cut you off. ²³ If the Jews would put their trust in Christ, God would put them back into the tree. He has power to do that. ²⁴ You people who are not Jews were cut off from a wild olive tree. Instead of being there, you were put into a garden olive tree which is not the right place for you to grow. It would be easy for God to put the Jews back onto their own olive tree because they are the branches that belong there.

²⁵ Christian brothers, I want you to understand this truth which is no longer a secret. It will keep you from thinking you are so wise. Some Jews have become hard until the right amount of people who are not Jews come to God. ²⁶ Then all the Jews will be saved, as the Holy Writings say, “The One Who saves from the punishment of sin will come out of Jerusalem. He will turn the Jews from doing sinful things.”^{(C) 27} “And this is My promise to them when I take away their sins.” ^(D)

²⁸ The Jews are fighting against the Good News. Because they hate the Good News, it has helped you who are not Jews. But God still loves the Jews because He has chosen them and because of His promise to their early fathers. ²⁹ God does not change His mind when He chooses men and gives them His gifts. ³⁰ At one time you did not obey God. But when the Jews did not receive God’s gift, you did. It was because they did not obey. ³¹ The Jews will not obey now. God’s loving-kindness to you will some day turn them to Him. Then the Jews may have His loving-kindness also. ³² God has said that all men have broken His Law. But He will show loving-kindness on all of them.

³³ God’s riches are so great! The things He knows and His wisdom are so deep! No one can understand His thoughts. No one can understand His ways. ³⁴ The Holy Writings say, “Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to tell Him what to do?” ^{(E) 35} “Who has given first to God, that God should pay him back?” ^{(F) 36} Everything comes from Him. His power keeps all things together. All things are made for Him. May He be honored forever. Let it be so.

12 Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him. ² Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.

³ God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. ⁴ Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. ⁵ There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ’s. We are all different but we depend on each other. ⁶ We all have different gifts that God has given to us by His loving-favor. We are to use them. If someone has the gift of preaching the Good News, he should preach. He should use the faith God has given him. ⁷ If someone has the gift of helping others, then he should help. If someone has the gift of teaching, he should teach. ⁸ If someone has the gift of speaking words of comfort and help, he should speak. If someone has the gift of sharing what he has, he should give from a willing heart. If someone has the gift of leading other people, he should lead them. If someone has the gift of showing kindness to others, he should be happy as he does it.

⁹ Be sure your love is true love. Hate what is sinful. Hold on to whatever is good. ¹⁰ Love each other as Christian brothers. Show respect for each other. ¹¹ Do not be lazy but always work hard. Work for the Lord with a heart full of love for Him. ¹² Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying. ¹³ Share what you have with Christian brothers who are in need. Give meals and a place to stay to those who need it. ¹⁴ Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. ¹⁶ Live in peace with each other. Do not act or think with pride. Be happy to be with poor people. Keep yourself from thinking you are so wise. ¹⁷ When someone does something bad to you, do not pay him back with something bad. Try to do what all men know is right and good. ¹⁸ As much as you can, live in peace with all men. ¹⁹ Christian brothers, never pay back someone for the bad he has done to you. Let the anger of God take care of the other person. The Holy Writings say, “I will pay back to them what they should get, says the Lord.” ^{(G) 20} “If the one who hates you is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him water. If you do that, you will be making him more ashamed of himself.” ^{(H) 21} Do not let sin have power over you. Let good have power over sin!

13 Every person must obey the leaders of the land. There is no power given but from God, and all leaders are allowed by God. ² The person who does not obey the leaders of the land is working against what God has done. Anyone who does that will be punished.

³ Those who do right do not have to be afraid of the leaders. Those who do wrong are afraid of them. Do you want to be free from fear of them? Then do what is right. You will be respected instead. ⁴ Leaders are God’s servants to help you. If you do wrong, you should be afraid. They have the power to punish you. They work for God. They do what God wants done to those who do wrong.

⁵ You must obey the leaders of the land, not only to keep from God’s anger, but so your own heart will have peace. ⁶ It is right for you to pay taxes because the leaders of the land are servants for God who care for these things. ⁷ Pay taxes to whom taxes are to be paid. Be afraid of those you should fear. Respect those you should respect.

⁸ Do not owe anyone anything, but love each other. Whoever loves his neighbor has done what the Law says to do. ⁹ The Law says, “You must not do any sex sin. You must not kill another person. You must not steal. You must not tell a lie about another person. You must not want something someone else has.” The Law also says that these and many other Laws are brought together in one Law, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Anyone who loves his neighbor will do no wrong to him. You keep the Law with love.

¹¹ There is another reason for doing what is right. You know what time it is. It is time for you to wake up from your sleep. The time when we will be taken up to be with Christ is not as far off as when we first put our trust in Him. ¹² Night is almost gone. Day is almost here. We must stop doing the sinful things that are done in the dark. We must put on all the things God gives us to fight with for the day. ¹³ We must act all the time as if it were day. Keep away from wild parties and do not be drunk. Keep yourself free from sex sins and bad actions. Do not fight or be jealous. ¹⁴ Let every part of you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not allow your weak thoughts to lead you into sinful actions.