(GWT)
Romans
11
:
1
So I ask, "Has God rejected his people Israel?" That's unthinkable! Consider this. I'm an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
2
God has not rejected his people whom he knew long ago. Don't you know what Elijah says in the Scripture passage when he complains to God about Israel? He says,
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
3
"Lord, they've killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I'm the only one left, and they're trying to take my life."
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
4
But what was God's reply? God said, "I've kept 7,000 people for myself who have not knelt to worship Baal."
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
5
So, as there were then, there are now a few left that God has chosen by his kindness.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
6
If they were chosen by God's kindness, they weren't chosen because of anything they did. Otherwise, God's kindness wouldn't be kindness.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
7
So what does all this mean? It means that Israel has never achieved what it has been striving for. However, those whom God has chosen have achieved it. The minds of the rest of Israel were closed,
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
8
as Scripture says, "To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep. Their eyes don't see, and their ears don't hear!"
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
9
And David says, "Let the table set for them become a trap and a net, a snare and a punishment for them.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
10
Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see. Let them carry back-breaking burdens forever."
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
11
So I ask, "Has Israel stumbled so badly that it can't get up again?" That's unthinkable! By Israel's failure, salvation has come to people who are not Jewish to make the Jewish people jealous.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
12
The fall of the Jewish people made the world spiritually rich. Their failure made people who are not Jewish spiritually rich. So the inclusion of Jewish people will make the world even richer.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
13
Now, I speak to you who are not Jewish. As long as I am an apostle sent to people who are not Jewish, I bring honor to my ministry.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
14
Perhaps I can make my people jealous and save some of them.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
15
If Israel's rejection means that the world has been brought back to God, what does Israel's acceptance mean? It means that Israel has come back to life.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
16
If the first handful of dough is holy, the whole batch of dough is holy. If the root is holy, the branches are holy.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
17
But some of the olive branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place. You get your nourishment from the roots of the olive tree.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
18
So don't brag about being better than the other branches. If you brag, remember that you don't support the root, the root supports you.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
19
"Well," you say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted onto the tree."
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
20
That's right! They were broken off because they didn't believe, but you remain on the tree because you do believe. Don't feel arrogant, but be afraid.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
21
If God didn't spare the natural branches, he won't spare you, either.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
22
Look at how kind and how severe God can be. He is severe to those who fell, but kind to you if you continue to hold on to his kindness. Otherwise, you, too, will be cut off [from the tree].
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
23
If Jewish people do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted onto the tree again, because God is able to do that.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
24
In spite of the fact that you have been cut from a wild olive tree, you have been grafted onto a cultivated one. So wouldn't it be easier for these natural branches to be grafted onto the olive tree they belong to?
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
25
Brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery so that you won't become arrogant. The minds of some Israelites have become closed until all of God's non-Jewish people are included.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
26
In this way Israel as a whole will be saved, as Scripture says, "The Savior will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
27
My promise to them will be fulfilled when I take away their sins."
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
28
The Good News made the Jewish people enemies because of you. But by God's choice they are loved because of their ancestors.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
29
God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or when he calls someone.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
30
In the past, you disobeyed God. But now God has been merciful to you because of the disobedience of the Jewish people.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
31
In the same way, the Jewish people have also disobeyed so that God may be merciful to them as he was to you.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
32
God has placed all people into the prison of their own disobedience so that he could be merciful to all people.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
33
God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep that it is impossible to explain his decisions or to understand his ways.
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
34
"Who knows how the Lord thinks? Who can become his adviser?"
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
35
Who gave the Lord something which the Lord must pay back?
(GWT)
Romans
11
:
36
Everything is from him and by him and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen!