1 But I say: Hath God cast off his people? Far be it. For I also am of Israel, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast off those his people whom he before knew. Do ye not know, what, in the scripture of God, he said to Elijah ? When he had complained to God against Israel, and said:
3 My Lord, they have slain thy prophets, and have thrown down thy altars; and I am left alone; and they seek my life.
4 And it was said to him, by revelation: Behold, I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed their knees, and have not worshipped Baal.
5 So also at the present time, a remnant is preserved, by the election of grace.
6 But if by grace, it is not by works: otherwise, grace is not grace. And if by works, it is not by grace: Otherwise, work is not work.
7 What then ? Israel did not obtain that which it sought: but the election obtained it; and the rest of them were blinded in their heart,
8 - (as it is written: God gave them a stupid spirit, and eyes to see not, and ears to hear not,) unto this very day.
9 And again, David said: Let their table become a snare before them; and let their recompense be a stumbling block.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and let their back, at all times, be bowed down.
11 But I say: Have they so stumbled as to fall entirely ? Far be it. Rather, by their stumbling, life hath come to the Gentiles, for [awakening] their jealousy.
12 And if their stumbling was riches to the world, and their condemnation riches to the Gentiles; how much more their completeness ?
13 But [it is] to you Gentiles, I am speaking: as I am a legate to the Gentiles, I honor my ministry;
14 if, perhaps, I may provoke emulation in the children of my flesh, and may vivify some of them.
15 For if the rejection of them, was a reconciliation of the world; what will their conversion be, but life from the dead?
16 For, if the first-fruits [are] holy, then the mass [is] also: and if the root is holy, then also the branches.
17 And if some of the branches were plucked off; and thou, an olive from the desert, wast in-grafted in their place, and hast become a participator of the root and fatness of the olive-tree;
18 do not glory over the branches. For if thou gloriest, thou sustainest not the root, but the root sustaineth thee.
19 And shouldst thou say, The branches were plucked off, that I might be grafted into their place.
20 Very true. They were plucked off, because they believed not; and thou standest by faith. Be not exalted in thy mind, but fear.
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.
22 Behold now the benignity and the severity of God: on them who fell, severity; but on thee, benignity, if thou continuest in that benignity; and if not, thou also wilt be plucked off.
23 And they, if they do not continue in their destitution of faith, even they will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if thou wast plucked from the wild olive-tree, which was natural to thee, and wast grafted, contrary to thy nature, into a good olive-tree; how much more may they be grafted into their natural olive-tree ?
25 And that ye, my brethren, may not be wise in your own apprehension, I wish you to know this mystery, that blindness of heart hath in some measure befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in:
26 and then, will all Israel live. As it is written: A deliverer will come from Zion, and will turn away iniquity from Jacob.
27 And then will they have the covenant that proceedeth from me, when I shall have forgiven their sins.
28 Now, in the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but in the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.
29 For God is not changeable in his free gift and in his calling.
30 For as ye too were formerly disobedient to God, and have now obtained mercy, because of their disobedience;
31 so also are they now disobedient to the mercy, which is upon you, that there may be mercy on them likewise.
32 For God hath shut up all men in disobedience, that upon all men he might have mercy.
33 O the depth of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge of God ! For man hath not searched out his judgments; and his ways are inscrutable.
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? Or who hath been a counsellor to him?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and then received from him ?
36 Because, all is from him, and all by him, and all through him: to whom be praises and benedictions, for ever and ever: Amen.
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