11:1 Then am I saying that God rejected his people? Absolutely not! I too am an Israeli, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew; ridiculous! Have you not grasped what Elijah says in the scripture as he pleads with God against Israel?

11:3 “Master, they killed your prophets, they tore down your altars; I am the only one left, and now they are after me too!”

11:4 But what was he told? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

11:5 And so it is in the current age; there has come to be a small number remaining who were chosen by God’s favor.

11:6 Now if it is by favor then it couldn’t be by actions; conversely, if it is by actions then it couldn’t be by favor.

11:7 Here’s the situation: Israel is searching for that which she has not encountered, except for the chosen ones. Now the rest were calloused,

11:8 just as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that can’t see and ears that can’t hear, right up to the present time.”

11:9 And David says, “Let their dinner table become a trap for prey, a snare into their just deserts.

11:10 Darken their eyes so they cannot see; let all their backs be bent over continually.”

11:11 Then am I saying that they’ve fallen and can’t get up? Absolutely not! But their blunders meant salvation to the non-Judeans, for the purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy.

11:12 Now if their blunder becomes the world’s enrichment and their loss is the non-Judeans’ gain, then what will result if all of them are saved?

11:13 Now here is what I am saying to the non-Judeans, since in fact I am the Ambassador to them, and I hereby proudly dispense my commission:

11:14 I try to provoke my people to jealousy and so save some of them.

11:15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will be the result of their salvation, if not being brought back to life from the dead?

11:16 If the first offering of dough is holy then so is the whole loaf; and if the root is holy, then so are the branches.

11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off so that you, a wild olive shoot, could be grafted in to join with the root and share in its nourishment,

11:18 do not gloat over the branches! If you do, remember that the root sustains you, not that you sustain the root.

11:19 But you will object, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”

11:20 Granted; but they were broken off due to unbelief, and you were grafted in for belief. So instead of gloating, be afraid!

11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

11:22 Now look at the kindness— and harshness— of God: harshness to those who fell but kindness to you. Persist in kindness or you too will be cut out.

11:23 Now on the other hand, they will be grafted back in if they don’t persist in unbelief, and God is certainly able to do that.

11:24 For if you were cut out of a wild olive tree and, against nature, were grafted into the cultivated olive tree, don’t you think that it is even better to re-graft the natural branches back in again?

11:25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this secret, sisters and brothers, so that you won’t be congratulating yourselves: Partial callousness has come upon Israel until the full number of the non-Judeans has come in.

11:26 And finally all Israel will be saved, just as it is written: “The Rescuer will arrive out of Zion; he will turn ungodliness away from Jacob.

11:27 And this is my contract with them when I will take away their failures.”

11:28 Now in regards to the Gospel they are in fact your enemies, yet at the same time they are the chosen people, loved because of their ancestors;

11:29 the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

11:30 For just as even you were once hostile toward faith in God yet were shown mercy by means of the hostility of Israel,

11:31 so also they are hostile to this mercy of yours so that now they can be shown mercy.

11:32 God wraps it all up in hostility toward faith so he can be merciful to all.

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable are his judgments, and how untraceable are his ways!

11:34 Who knew the mind of the Master, or who became his counselor?

11:35 Or who gave to him, that he owes repayment?

11:36 Out of him, and through him, and into him belongs all the honor into the ages, absolutely!