The Remnant of Israel
1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"11:3 1 Kings 19:10,14? 4And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."11:4 1 Kings 19:18 5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8as it is written:
"God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see
and ears that could not hear,
to this very day."11:8 Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10
9And David says:
"May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever."11:10 Psalm 69:22,23
Ingrafted Branches
11Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
All Israel Will Be Saved
25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26and in this way11:26 Or and so all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27And this is11:27 Or will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins."11:27 Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jer. 31:33,34
28As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now11:31 Some manuscripts do not have now. receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Doxology
33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and11:33 Or riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"11:34 Isaiah 40:13
35"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?"11:35 Job 41:11
36For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
የእስራኤል ትሩፋን
1እንግዲህ እግዚአብሔር ሕዝቡን ተዋቸውን? ብዬ እጠይቃለሁ፤ በፍጹም! እኔ ራሴ ከብንያም ነገድ፣ የአብርሃም ዘር የሆንሁ እስራኤላዊ ነኝ። 2እግዚአብሔር አስቀድሞ ያወቃቸውን ሕዝብ አልጣላቸውም። ኤልያስ በእስራኤል ላይ ክስ ወደ እግዚአብሔር እንዴት እንዳቀረበ፣ መጽሐፍ ስለ እርሱ ምን እንደሚል አታውቁምን? 3"ጌታ ሆይ፤ ነቢያትህን ገድለዋል፤ መሠዊያዎችህን አፍርሰዋል፤ እኔም ብቻዬን ቀረሁ፤ ሊገድሉኝም ይፈልጋሉ።" 4እግዚአብሔር የሰጠው መልስ ግን ምን ነበር? "ለበኣል ያልሰገዱትን ሰባት ሺህ ሰዎች ለራሴ አስቀርቻለሁ።"
5በአሁኑ ጊዜም እንደዚሁ በጸጋ የተመረጡ ትሩፋን አሉ። 6እንግዲህ በጸጋ ከሆነ በሥራ አይደለም፤ በሥራ ቢሆንማ ኖሮ ጸጋ፣ ጸጋ መሆኑ በቀረ ነበር።11፥6 አንዳንድ ቅጆች በሥራ ቢሆንማ ኖሮ ጸጋ መሆኑ በቀረ ነበር፤ በጸጋ ከሆነም ሥራ፣ ሥራ መሆኑ ይቀራል። ይላሉ
7እንግዲህ ምንድን ነው? እስራኤል አጥብቀው የፈለጉትን አላገኙትም፤ የተመረጡት ግን አገኙት፤ የቀሩትም ልባቸው ደነደነ፤ 8እንዲህ ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈ፤
"ዐይናቸው እንዳያይ፣
ጆሮአቸውም እንዳይሰማ፣
እግዚአብሔር እስከዚህ ቀን ድረስ፣
የድንዛዜ መንፈስ ሰጣቸው።"
9ዳዊትም አለ፤
"ማእዳቸው አሽክላና ወጥመድ፣
ዕንቅፋትና ቅጣት ይሁንባቸው።
10ዐይኖቻቸው እንዳያዩ ይጋረዱ፤
ወገባቸውም ለዘላለም ይጒበጥ።"
የተዳቀሉ ቅርንጫፎች
11ተመልሰው እስከማይድኑ ድረስ ተሰናከሉን? ብዬ እንደ ገና እጠይቃለሁ፤ ከቶ አይደለም፤ ይልቁንም እስራኤልን ለማስቀናት ሲባል በእነርሱ መተላለፍ ምክንያት ድነት ለአሕዛብ መጥቶአል። 12ነገር ግን የእነርሱ መተላለፍ ለዓለም በረከት ከሆነ፣ ውድቀታቸውም ለአሕዛብ በረከት ከሆነ፣ ሙላታቸውምን ያህል ታላቅ በረከትያመጣ ይሆን?
13አሕዛብ ሆይ፤ ለእናንተ እናገራለሁ፤ የአሕዛብ ሐዋርያ እንደ መሆኔ መጠን አገልግሎቴን በትጋት እፈጽማለሁ፤ 14ይኸውም የገዛ ወገኖቼን እንዲቀኑ አነሣሥቼ ከእነርሱ ጥቂቱን ለማዳን ተስፋ በማድረግ ነው። 15የእነርሱ መተው ለዓለም ዕርቅን ካስገኘ፣ ተቀባይነት ማግኘታቸውማ ከሞት መነሣት ነው ከማለት በቀር ሌላ ምን ሊሆን ይችላል? 16በኵር ሆኖ የቀረበው የቡሖው ክፍል ቅዱስ ከሆነ፣ ቡሖው ደግሞ ቅዱስ ነው፤ ሥሩ ቅዱስ ከሆነ፣ ቅርንጫፎቹም ቅዱሳን ናቸው።
17ከቅርንጫፎቹ አንዳንዶቹ ቢሰበሩ፣ አንተም የበረሓ ወይራ ሆነህ ሳለ በሌሎቹ መካከል ገብተህ ከተጣበቅህና ከወይራው ዘይት ሥር የሚገኘውን በረከት ተካፋይ ከሆንህ፣ 18በእነዚያ ቅርንጫፎች ላይ አትኵራራ። ብትኰራ ግን ይህን አስተውል፤ አንተ ሥሩን አትሸከምም፤ ሥሩ ግን አንተን ይሸከምሃል እንጂ። 19እንግዲህ፣ "ቅርንጫፎች የተሰበሩት እኔ እንድገባ ነው" ትል ይሆናል። 20ትክክል ነው፤ እነርሱ የተሰበሩት ካለማመን የተነሣ ነው፤ አንተም በእምነት ቆመሃል፤ ፍራ እንጂ ትዕቢተኛ አትሁን። 21እግዚአብሔር በተፈጥሮ ቅርንጫፎች ለሆኑት ካልራራላቸው፣ ለአንተም አይራራልህምና።
22እንግዲህ የእግዚአብሔርን ቸርነትና ጭካኔ ተመልከት፤ ጭካኔውም በወደቁት ላይ ነው፤ ቸርነቱ ግን በቸርነቱ ውስጥ እስካለህ ድረስ ለአንተ ነው፤ ያለዚያ ግን አንተም ትቈረጣለህ። 23እነርሱም ባለማመናቸው ጸንተው ባይኖሩ፣ ተመልሰው ይገባሉ፤ እግዚአብሔር መልሶ ሊያስገባቸው ይችላልና። 24የበረሓ ከሆነው የወይራ ዛፍ የተቈረጥህና ተፈጥሮህ ወዳልሆነው ወደ መልካሙ ወይራ የገባህ ከሆንህ፣ በተፈጥሮአቸው ቅርንጫፎቹ የሆኑት እነዚህ ወደ ራሳቸው ወይራ ዛፍ መግባታቸውማ ምን ያህል ይሆን?
እስራኤል ሁሉ ይድናል
25ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ልባሞች የሆናችሁ እንዳይመስላችሁ፣ ይህን ምስጢር ሳታውቁ እንድትቀሩ አልፈልግም፤ የአሕዛብ ሙላት እስኪገባ ድረስ፣ እስራኤል በከፊል በድን ዳኔ ውስጥ ዐልፋለች። 26ስለዚህ እስራኤል ሁሉ ይድናሉ፤ እንዲህ ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈ፤
"አዳኝ ከጽዮን ይወጣል፤
ከያዕቆብም ክፋትን ያስወግዳል።
27ኀጢአታቸውንም ሳስወግድ፣
ከእነርሱ ጋር የምገባው ኪዳኔ ይህ ነው።"11፥27 ወይም ይህ ይሆናል
28እንደ ምሥራቹ ቃል ለእናንተ ሲባል ጠላቶች ናቸው፤ እንደ ምርጫ ከሆነ ግን፣ ለአባቶች ሲባል የተወደዱ ናቸው፤ 29የእግዚአብሔር ስጦታና ጥሪ ጸጸት የለበትም። 30እናንተም ቀድሞ ለእግዚአብሔር የማትታዘዙ እንደ ነበራችሁ፣ ከእነርሱ አለመታዘዝ የተነሣ አሁን ምሕረት እንዳገኛችሁ ሁሉ፣ 31እግዚአብሔር ለእናንተ ምሕረት ከማድረጉ የተነሣ፣ እነርሱም ምሕረት ያገኙ ዘንድ አሁን11፥31 አንዳድ ቅጆች አሁን የሚለው ቃል የላቸውም የማይታዘዙ ልጆች ሆነዋል፤ 32እግዚአብሔር ለሁሉም ምሕረት ያደርግ ዘንድ ሰውን ሁሉ ባለመታዘዝ ዘግቶታልና።
ውዳሴ
33የእግዚአብሔር የጥበቡና የዕውቀቱ ባለጠግነት11፥33 ወይም ባለጠግነቱ፣ ጥበቡና እውቀቱ እንዴት ጥልቅ ነው!
ፍርዱ አይመረመርም፤
ለመንገዱም ፈለግ የለው …
34"የጌታን ልብ ያወቀ ማነው?
አማካሪውስ የነበረ ማን ነው?"
35"እግዚአብሔር መልሶ እንዲሰጠው፣
ለእግዚአብሔር ያበደረ ከቶ ማን ነው?"
36ሁሉም ከእርሱ፣ በእርሱ፣ ለእርሱ ነውና፤
ለእርሱ ለዘላለም ክብር ይሁን፤ አሜን።