Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
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!
How to serve God
12 My Christian friends, God has been very kind to us. Because of that, I really want you to serve God with your whole life. Offer your bodies to him like a sacrifice that continues to live. Serve him with everything that you have and that will please him. That is the true way to worship God. 2 Do not become like the people who belong to this world. But let God completely change the way that you think, so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do. You will know what is good. You will know what pleases God. You will know what is completely right.
3 God has been kind to me so that I can serve him. Because of that, I say this to every one of you: Do not think that you are better than you really are. Instead, think about yourself carefully. Decide how much God has helped you to trust him. Then you will know how to serve him well. 4 Each part of our body works in a different way. But all the parts belong to our one body. 5 In the same way, we are many people, but we all belong to Christ, like one body. We also belong to each other, like the different parts of one body belong to each other.
6 God has been kind to us. He has given to each of us different gifts so that we can serve him. God helps some people to speak his messages clearly. Those people should trust God to tell them what to say. 7 God helps some people to serve others. They should do that well. God helps some people to be able to teach others. Those people should teach well.
8 If God has helped you to make others strong, then you should do that. If God has helped you to share your things with others, do that seriously. If God has helped you to be a leader, do that carefully. If God has helped you to be kind to others, do that happily.
Love people and help them
9 Really love other people, not like a hypocrite. Hate anything that is bad. Continue to do things that are good. 10 Love each other truly like brothers and sisters. Be really happy to respect other Christians. 11 Do not be lazy, but always work hard. Serve the Lord well because you enjoy it. 12 Be happy, because you can trust God to do what he says. Be patient when you have troubles. Always continue to pray. 13 If any of God's people need anything, then help them with what you have. Always be happy to let people stay in your home.
14 Ask God to bless people who cause trouble for you. Yes, ask him to be kind to them. Do not ask him to do bad things to them. 15 If you are with someone who is happy, you should also be happy. If you are with someone who is sad, you should also be sad. 16 Always try to agree and to be friends with each other. Do not be proud. Be friends with people who are not important. Do not think that you know everything.
17 If someone has done bad things against you, do not do bad things back to them. Try to live in a good way so that people will respect you. They will see that you do good things. 18 If it is possible, try always to be friends with other people.
19 My friends, if someone has done bad things to you, do not try to punish them yourselves. Instead, let God be angry and punish them. This is what is written in the Bible:[i]
‘The Lord God says,
“When people do something wrong,
I am the one who will punish them.
I will pay them back.” ’
20 But the Bible also says this:[j]
‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
If you help your enemy, he will become ashamed.
He will be sorry because of what he did to you.’
21 Do not let evil things win against you! Instead, do good things. Then you will win against the evil things that people do.
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