3 What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God's faithfulness? 4 That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says, "So you hand down justice when you speak, and you win your case in court."

5 But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I'm arguing the way humans would.) 6 That's unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? 7 If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? 8 Or can we say, "Let's do evil so that good will come from it"? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that's what they deserve.

9 What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, 10 as Scripture says, "Not one person has God's approval.

11 No one understands.

No one searches for God.

12 Everyone has turned away.

Together they have become rotten to the core.

No one does anything good, not even one person.

13 Their throats are open graves.

Their tongues practice deception.

Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes.

14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment.

15 They run quickly to murder people.

16 There is ruin and suffering wherever they go.

17 They have not learned to live in peace.

18 They are not terrified of God."

19 We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God. 20 Not one person can have God's approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is.

God Gives Us His Approval as a Gift 21 Now, the way to receive God's approval has been made plain in a way other than the laws in the Scriptures. Moses' Teachings and the Prophets tell us this. 22 Everyone who believes has God's approval through faith in Yeshua Christ.

There is no difference between people. 23 Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory. 24 They receive God's approval freely by an act of his kindnessa through the price Christ Yeshua paid to set us free from sin. 25 God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God's approval is given through faith in Christ's blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past. 26 He waited so that he could display his approval at the present time. This shows that he is a God of justice, a God who approves of people who believe in Yeshua .

27 So, do we have anything to brag about? Bragging has been eliminated. On what basis was it eliminated? On the basis of our own efforts? No, indeed! Rather, it is eliminated on the basis of faith. 28 We conclude that a person has God's approval by faith, not by his own efforts.

29 Is God only the God of the Jews? Isn't he also the God of people who are not Jewish? Certainly, he is, 30 since it is the same God who approves circumcised people by faith and uncircumcised people through this same faith.

31 Are we abolishing the laws in the Scriptures by this faith? That's unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting these laws.

We Have God's Approval by Faith 4 1 What can we say that we have discovered about our ancestor Abraham?

2 If Abraham had God's approval because of something he did, he would have had a reason to brag. But he could not brag to God about it. 3 What does Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham's approval by God."

4 When people work, their pay is not regarded as a gift but something they have earned. 5 However, when people don't work but believe God, the one who approves ungodly people, their faith is regarded as the basis of God's approval. 6 David says the same thing about those who are blessed: God approves of people without their earning it. David said, 7 "Blessed are those whose disobedience is forgiven and whose sins are pardoned.

8 Blessed is the person whom the Lord no longer considers sinful."

9 Are only the circumcised people blessed, or are uncircumcised people blessed as well? We say, "Abraham's faith was regarded as the basis of God's approval." 10 How was his faith regarded as the basis of God's approval? Was he circumcised or was he uncircumcised at that time? He had not been circumcised. 11 "Abraham's faith was the basis of his approval by God while he was still uncircumcised. The mark of circumcision is the seal of that approval. Therefore, he is the father of every believer who is not circumcised, and their faith, too, is regarded as the basis of their approval by God. 12 He is also the father of those who not only are circumcised but also are following in the footsteps of his faith. Our father Abraham had that faith before he was circumcised.

13 So it was not by obeying the laws in Moses' Teachings that Abraham or his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world. Rather, he received this promise through God's approval that comes by faith. 14 If those who obey Moses' Teachings are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless. 15 The laws in Moses' Teachings bring about anger. But where those laws don't exist, they can't be broken. 16 Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift.a Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses' Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us, 17 as Scripture says: "I have made you a father of many nations."

Abraham believed when he stood in the presence of the God who gives life to dead people and calls into existence things that don't even exist. 18 When there was nothing left to hope for, Abraham still hoped and believed. As a result, he became a father of many nations, as he had been told: "That is how many descendants you will have." 19 Abraham didn't weaken. Through faith he regarded the facts: His body was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old, and Sarah was unable to have children. 20 He didn't doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God for the promise, he became strong because of faith 21 and was absolutely confident that God would do what he promised. 22 That is why Abraham's faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God.

23 But the words "his faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God" were written not only for him 24 but also for us. Our faith will be regarded as the basis of our approval by God-each of us who believe in the one who brought Yeshua , our Lord, back to life. 25 Yeshua, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God's approval.

We Are at Peace with God because of Jesus 5 1 Now that we have God's approval by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord Yeshua Christ has done. 2 Through Christ we can approach Godb and stand in his favor.c So we brag because of our confidence that we will receive glory from God. 3 But that's not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, 4 endurance creates character, and character creates confidence. 5 We're not ashamed to have this confidence, because God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people. 7 Finding someone who would die for a godly person is rare. Maybe someone would have the courage to die for a good person. 8 Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God's love for us.

9 Since Christ's blood has now given us God's approval, we are even more certain that Christ will save us from God's anger. 10 If the death of his Son restored our relationship with God while we were still his enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of his Son will save us. 11 In addition, our Lord Yeshua Christ lets us continue to brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we now have this restored relationship with God.

A Comparison between Adam and Christ 12 Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned. 13 Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws. 14 Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. Adam is an image of the one who would come.

15 There is no comparison between God's gift and Adam's failure. If humanity died as the result of one person's failure, it is certainly true that God's kindnessa and the gift given through the kindness of one person, Yeshua Christ, have been showered on humanity.

16 There is also no comparison between God's gift and the one who sinned. The verdict which followed one person's failure condemned everyone. But, even after many failures, the gift brought God's approval. 17 It is certain that death ruled because of one person's failure. It's even more certain that those who receive God's overflowing kindness and the gift of his approval will rule in life because of one person, Yeshua Christ.

18 Therefore, everyone was condemned through one failure, and everyone received God's lifegiving approval through one verdict. 19 Clearly, through one person's disobedience humanity became sinful, and through one person's obedience humanity will receive God's approval. 20 The laws in Moses' Teachings were added to increase the failure. But where sin increased, God's kindness increased even more. 21 As sin ruled by bringing death, God's kindness would rule by bringing us his approval. This results in our living forever because of Yeshua Christ our Lord.

No Longer Slaves to Sin, but God's Servants 6 1 What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God's kindnessb will increase? 2 That's unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin's influence?

3 Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Yeshua were baptized into his death? 4 When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. 5 If we've become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. 6 We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. 7 The person who has died has been freed from sin.

8 If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, who was brought back to life, will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once and for all to sin's power. But now he lives, and he lives for God. 11 So consider yourselves dead to sin's power but living for God in the power Christ Yeshua gives you.

12 Therefore, never let sin rule your physical body so that you obey its desires. 13 Never offer any part of your body to sin's power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. 14 Certainly, sin shouldn't have power over you because you're not controlled by God's laws, but by God's favor.a 15 Then what is the implication? Should we sin because we are not controlled by God's laws but by God's favor? That's unthinkable! 16 Don't you know that if you offer to be someone's slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God's approval. 17 You were slaves to sin. But I thank God that you have become wholeheartedly obedient to the teachings which you were given. 18 Freed from sin, you were made slaves who do what God approves of.

19 I'm speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your corrupt nature. Clearly, you once offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience. This led you to live disobedient lives. Now, in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from doing what God approves of.

21 What did you gain by doing those things? You're ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. 22 Now you have been freed from sin and have become God's slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life. 23 The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Yeshua our Lord.

7 1 Don't you realize, brothers and sisters, that laws have power over people only as long as they are alive? (I'm speaking to people who are familiar with Moses' Teachings.) 2 For example, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, that marriage law is no longer in effect for her. 3 So if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she will be called an adulterer. But if her husband dies, she is free from this law, so she is not committing adultery if she marries another man.

4 In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses' Teachings through Christ's body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life.

As a result, we can do what God wants. 5 While we were living under the influence of our corrupt nature, sinful passions were at work throughout our bodies. Stirred up by the laws in Moses' Teachings, our sinful passions did things that result in death. 6 But now we have died to those laws that bound us. God has broken their effect on us so that we are serving in a new spiritual way, not in an old way dictated by written words.

Moses' Laws Show What Sin Is 7 What should we say, then? Are the laws in Moses' Teachings sinful? That's unthinkable! In fact, I wouldn't have recognized sin if those laws hadn't shown it to me. For example, I wouldn't have known that some desires are sinful if Moses' Teachings hadn't said, "Never have wrong desires." 8 But sin took the opportunity provided by this commandment and made me have all kinds of wrong desires. Clearly, without laws sin is dead. 9 At one time I was alive without any laws. But when this commandment came, sin became alive 10 and I died. I found that the commandment which was intended to bring me life actually brought me death. 11 Sin, taking the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and then killed me.

12 So the laws in Moses' Teachings are holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good. 13 Now, did something good cause my death? That's unthinkable! Rather, my death was caused by sin so that sin would be recognized for what it is. Through a commandment sin became more sinful than ever.

God's Standards Are at War with Sin's Standards 14 I know that God's standards in Moses' Teachings are spiritual, but I have a corrupt nature, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I don't realize what I'm doing. I don't do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 I don't do what I want to do, but I agree that God's standards are good. 17 So I am no longer the one who is doing the things I hate, but sin that lives in me is doing them.

18 I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don't do it. 19 I don't do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don't want to do. 20 Now, when I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it.

21 So I've discovered this truth: Evil is present with me even when I want to do what God's standards say is good. 22 I take pleasure in God's standards in my inner being. 23 However, I see a different standard at work throughout my body. It is at war with the standards my mind sets and tries to take me captive to sin's standards which still exist throughout my body. 24 What a miserable person I am! Who will rescue me from my dying body? 25 I thank God that our Lord Yeshua Christ rescues me! So I am obedient to God's standards with my mind, but I am obedient to sin's standards with my corrupt nature.

God's Spirit Makes Us His Children 8 1 So those who are believers in Christ Yeshua can no longer be condemned.

2 The standards of the Spirit, who gives life through Christ Yeshua, have set you free from the standards of sin and death. 3 It is impossible to do what God's standards demand because of the weakness our human nature has. But God sent his Son to have a human nature as sinners have and to pay for sin. That way God condemned sin in our corrupt nature. 4 Therefore, we, who do not live by our corrupt nature but by our spiritual nature, are able to meet God's standards in Moses' Teachings.

5 Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature's attitude. But those who live by the spiritual nature have the spiritual nature's attitude. 6 The corrupt nature's attitude leads to death. But the spiritual nature's attitude leads to life and peace. 7 This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God's standards because it can't. 8 Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God. 9 But if God's Spirit lives in you, you are under the control of your spiritual nature, not your corrupt nature.

Whoever doesn't have the Spirit of Christ doesn't belong to him. 10 However, if Christ lives in you, your bodies are dead because of sin, but your spirits are alive because you have God's approval. 11 Does the Spirit of the one who brought Yeshua back to life live in you? Then the one who brought Christ back to life will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.

12 So, brothers and sisters, we have no obligation to live the way our corrupt nature wants us to live. 13 If you live by your corrupt nature, you are going to die. But if you use your spiritual nature to put to death the evil activities of the body, you will live. 14 Certainly, all who are guided by God's Spirit are God's children. 15 You haven't received the spirit of slaves that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the spirit of God's adopted children by which we call out, "Abba!a Father!" 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 If we are his children, we are also God's heirs. If we share in Christ's suffering in order to share his glory, we are heirs together with him.

God's Spirit Helps Us 18 I consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us. 19 All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his children are. 20 Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope 21 that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have. 22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.

23 However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies from sin. 24 We were saved with this hope in mind. If we hope for something we already see, it's not really hope. Who hopes for what can be seen? 25 But if we hope for what we don't see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26 At the same time the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we don't know how to pray for what we need. But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words. 27 The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God's people the way God wants him to.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God's Love 28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God-those whom he has called according to his plan. 29 This is true because he already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children. 30 He also called those whom he had already appointed. He approved of those whom he had called, and he gave glory to those whom he had approved of.

31 What can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 God didn't spare his own Son but handed him over to death for all of us. So he will also give us everything along with him. 33 Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them. 34 Who will condemn them? Christ has died, and more importantly, he was brought back to life. Christ has the highest position in heaven. Christ also intercedes for us. 35 What will separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or violent death separate us from his love? 36 As Scripture says: "We are being killed all day long because of you.

We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered."

37 The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties. 38 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Yeshua our Lord shows us.a We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces 39 or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.

Paul's Concern for the Jewish People 9 1 As a Christian, I'm telling you the truth. I'm not lying. The Holy Spirit, along with my own thoughts, supports me in this. 2 I have deep sorrow and endless heartache. 3 I wish I could be condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of others who, like me, are Jewish by birth. 4 They are Israelites, God's adopted children. They have the Lord's glory, the pledges,b Moses' Teachings, the true worship, and the promises. 5 The Messiah is descended from their ancestors according to his human nature. The Messiah is God over everything, forever blessed. Amen.

6 Now it is not as though God's word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel 7 or a descendant of Abraham. However, as Scripture says, "Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name." 8 This means that children born by natural descent from Abraham are not necessarily God's children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham's descendants.

9 For example, this is what the promise said, "I will come back at the right time, and Sarah will have a son." 10 The same thing happened to Rebekah. Rebekah became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac. 11 Before the children had been born or had done anything good or bad, Rebekah was told that the older child would serve the younger one. This was said to Rebekah so that God's plan would remain a matter of his choice, 12 a choice based on God's call and not on anything people do.c 13 The Scriptures say, "I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau."

14 What can we say-that God is unfair? That's unthinkable! 15 For example, God said to Moses, "I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to." 16 Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

17 For example, Scripture says to Pharaoh, "I put you here for this reason: to demonstrate my power through you and to spread my name throughout the earth." 18 Therefore, if God wants to be kind to anyone, he will be. If he wants to make someone stubborn, he will.

19 You may ask me, "Why does God still find fault with anyone? Who can resist whatever God wants to do?"

20 Who do you think you are to talk back to God like that? Can an object that was made say to its maker, "Why did you make me like this?" 21 A potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his clay. He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay.

22 If God wants to demonstrate his anger and reveal his power, he can do it. But can't he be extremely patient with people who are objects of his anger because they are headed for destruction? 23 Can't God also reveal the riches of his glory to people who are objects of his mercy and who he had already prepared for glory? 24 This is what God did for us whom he called-whether we are Jews or not.

God Chose People Who Are Not Jewish 25 As God says in Hosea: "Those who are not my people I will call my people.

Those who are not loved I will call my loved ones.

26 Wherever they were told, You are not my people,'

they will be called children of the living God."

27 Isaiah also says about Israel: "Although the descendants of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved.

28 The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land, completely and decisively."

29 This is what Isaiah predicted: "If the Lord of Armies hadn't left us some descendants, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah."

30 So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God's approval won his approval, an approval based on faith. 31 The people of Israel tried to gain God's approval by obeying the laws in Moses' Teachings, but they did not reach their goal. 32 Why? They didn't rely on faith to gain God's approval, but they relied on their own efforts. They stumbled over the rock that trips people. 33 As Scripture says, "I am placing a rock in Zion that people trip over, a large rock that people find offensive.

Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed."

If You Believe You Will Be Saved 10 1 Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Jewish people is that they would be saved. 2 I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God, but they are misguided. 3 They don't understand how to receive God's approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God's way for receiving his approval. 4 Christ is the fulfillment of Moses' Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God's approval.

5 Moses writes about receiving God's approval by following his laws. He says, "The person who obeys these laws will live because he obeys them." 6 However, Scripture says about God's approval which is based on faith, "Don't ask yourself who will go up to heaven," (that is, to bring Christ down). 7 "Don't ask who will go down into the depths," (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead). 8 However, what else does it say? "This message is near you. It's in your mouth and in your heart." This is the message of faith that we spread. 9 If you declare that Yeshua is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. 10 By believing you receive God's approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved. 11 Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed."

12 There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who calls on him. 13 So then, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

14 But how can people call on him if they have not believed in him? How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message? How can they hear if no one tells the Good News? 15 How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? As Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who announce the Good News." 16 But not everyone has believed the Good News.

Isaiah asks, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17 So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.

18 But I ask, "Didn't they hear that message?" Certainly they did! "The voice of the messengers has gone out into the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth."

19 Again I ask, "Didn't Israel understand that message,?" Moses was the first to say, "I will make you jealous of people who are not a nation. I will make you angry about a nation that doesn't understand." 20 Isaiah said very boldly, "I was found by those who weren't looking for me. I was revealed to those who weren't asking for me." 21 Then Isaiah said about Israel, "All day long I have stretched out my hands to disobedient and rebellious people."

God's Continuing Love for Jewish People 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. 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, 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." 4 But what was God's reply? God said, "I've kept 7,000 people for myself who have not knelt to worship Baal." 5 So, as there were then, there are now a few left that God has chosen by his kindness.a 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.

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, 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!"

9 And David says, "Let the table set for them become a trap and a net, a snare and a punishment for them.

10 Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see.

Let them carry back-breaking burdens forever."

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. 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.

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. 14 Perhaps I can make my people jealous and save some of them. 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.

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. 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. 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. 19 "Well," you say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted onto the tree." 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. 21 If God didn't spare the natural branches, he won't spare you, either. 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.

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. 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?

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. 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.

27 My promisea to them will be fulfilled when I take away their sins."