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- ¶ I SAY, then, has God rejected his people?
Far be it. For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
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- God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? How he complained to God against Israel, saying,
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- My Lord, they have killed thy prophets and demolished thine altars;
and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
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- And it was said to him in a vision, Behold I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not fallen on their knees to worship Baal.
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- Even so at the present time a remnant is preserved, elected by grace.
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- And if by grace, then it is not by works;
otherwise grace is no more grace. But if by works, then it is not by grace; otherwise work is no more work.
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- What then?
Israel has not obtained what it sought; but the elected ones have obtained it, and the rest were dulled in their minds.
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- As it is written, God has given them a stubborn spirit, eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear, to this very day.
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- And David said, Let their table become a snare and a trap and a stumbling-block and a reward to them.
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- Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and let their backs be bowed down always.
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- I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall?
Far be it. But rather by their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to make them zealous.
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- Now if their stumbling has resulted in riches to the world, and their condemnation in riches to the Gentiles, how much more is their restoration?
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- It is to you Gentiles that I speak, inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, and perhaps magnify my ministry;
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- But if I am able to make those who are my flesh zealous, I may thus save some of them.
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- And if their rejection has resulted in reconciliation of the world, how much more will their restoration be?
Indeed it will be life from the dead.
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- For if the first fruit is holy, the rest of the lump is also holy;
and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
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- And if some of the branches were cut off, and you who are a branch of a wild olive tree have been grafted in their place, and you have become a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
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- Do not boast over the branches.
For if you boast, it is not you who sustains the root, but the root sustains you.
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- Perhaps you may say, The branches were cut off that I might be grafted in their place.
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- Well, they were cut off because of their unbelief, but you exist by faith.
Be not highminded, but reverence God.
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- For if God did not spare the natural branches, it may well be he will not spare you.
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- Consider therefore the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity;
but on you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
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- And even they, if they do not abide in their unbelief, will be grafted in;
for God is able to graft them in again.
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- For if you who have been cut from the wild olive tree, which is natural to you, and grafted contrary to your nature to become a good olive tree;
how much more fruitful would they be, if they were grafted into their natural olive tree?
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- I am desirous, my brethren, that you should know this mystery, so that you may not be wise in your own conceits;
for blindness of heart has to some degree befallen Israel, until the end of the Gentiles shall come.
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- And then all Israel shall be saved;
as it is written, A deliverer shall come out of Zion, and he shall remove ungodliness from Jacob;
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- And then they shall have the same covenant from me, when I have forgiven their sins.
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- Now according to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.
But according to election, they are beloved for the patriarchs’ sakes.
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- For God does not withdraw his gift and his call.
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- Just as you were formerly disobedient to God and have now obtained mercy because of their disobedience,
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- Likewise, they are also disobedient now to the mercy which is upon you, that there may be mercy upon them also.
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- For God has included all men in disobedience, that he might have mercy on every man.
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- ¶ O the depth of the riches, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God!
For no man has searched his judgment, and his ways are inscrutable.
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- For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counsellor?
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- Or who has first given to him and then received from him?
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- For of him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory and blessing for ever and ever. Amen.
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