1 Therefore, I say: Has God driven away his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not driven away his people, whom he foreknew. And do you not know what Scripture says in Elijah, how he calls upon God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have slain your Prophets. They have overturned your altars. And I alone remain, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what is the Divine response to him? “I have retained for myself seven thousand men, who have not bent their knees before Baal.” 5 Therefore, in the same way, again in this time, there is a remnant that has been saved in accord with the choice of grace. 6 And if it is by grace, then it is not now by works; otherwise grace is no longer free. 7 What is next? What Israel was seeking, he has not obtained. But the elect have obtained it. And truly, these others have been blinded, 8 just as it was written: “God has given them a spirit of reluctance: eyes that do not perceive, and ears that do not hear, even until this very day.” 9 And David says: “Let their table become like a snare, and a deception, and a scandal, and a retribution for them. 10 Let their eyes be obscured, so that they may not see, and so that they may bow down their backs always.” 11 Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense, salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to them. 12 Now if their offense is the riches of the world, and if their diminution is the riches of the Gentiles, how much more is their fullness? 13 For I say to you Gentiles: Certainly, as long as I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry, 14 in such a way that I might provoke to rivalry those who are my own flesh, and so that I may save some of them. 15 For if their loss is for the reconciliation of the world, what could their return be for, except life out of death? 16 For if the first-fruit has been sanctified, so also has the whole. And if the root is holy, so also are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches are broken, and if you, being a wild olive branch, are grafted on to them, and you become a partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not glorify yourself above the branches. For though you glory, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Therefore, you would say: The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted on. 20 Well enough. They were broken off because of unbelief. But you stand on faith. So do not choose to savor what is exalted, but instead be afraid. 21 For if God has not spared the natural branches, perhaps also he might not spare you. 22 So then, notice the goodness and the severity of God. Certainly, toward those who have fallen, there is severity; but toward you, there is the goodness of God, if you remain in goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 Moreover, if they do not remain in unbelief, they will be grafted on. For God is able to graft them on again. 24 So if you have been cut off from the wild olive tree, which is natural to you, and, contrary to nature, you are grafted on to the good olive tree, how much more shall those who are the natural branches be grafted on to their own olive tree? 25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery (lest you seem wise only to yourselves) that a certain blindness has occurred in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has arrived. 26 And in this way, all of Israel may be saved, just as it was written: “From Zion shall arrive he who delivers, and he shall turn impiety away from Jacob. 27 And this will be my covenant for them, when I will take away their sins.” 28 Certainly, according to the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But according to the election, they are most beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the call of God are without regret. 30 And just as you also, in times past, did not believe in God, but now you have obtained mercy because of their unbelief, 31 so also have these now not believed, for your mercy, so that they might obtain mercy also. 32 For God has enclosed everyone in unbelief, so that he may have mercy on everyone. 33 Oh, the depths of the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable are his ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? 35 Or who first gave to him, so that repayment would be owed? 36 For from him, and through him, and in him are all things. To him is glory, for all eternity. Amen.
Romans · Catholic Public Domain Version
Romans 11 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (36)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Samuel 12:22; Jeremiah 33:24–26; Philippians 3:5; Acts 26:4
- 2 Psalm 94:14; Romans 8:29–30; 1 Peter 1:2; Acts 3:17; Numbers 16:15
- 3 1 Kings 19:10–18; 1 Kings 18:13; Nehemiah 9:26; Jeremiah 2:30; 1 Kings 18:4
- 4 1 Kings 19:18; Numbers 25:3; Zephaniah 1:4; 2 Kings 10:19–20; Judges 2:13
- 5 Romans 9:27; Ephesians 1:5–6; Romans 9:11; Romans 11:6–7; Romans 11:28
- 6 Galatians 2:21; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5; Romans 3:27–28; Romans 4:4–5
- 7 Romans 9:18; Romans 11:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Romans 11:25; Romans 9:31–32
- 8 Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 29:10; Ezekiel 12:2; Jeremiah 5:21; 2 Corinthians 3:14–15
- 9 Psalm 69:22–23; Psalm 28:4; Deuteronomy 32:13–15; Isaiah 59:18; 1 Timothy 6:17–19
- 10 Psalm 69:23; Deuteronomy 28:64–68; 2 Peter 2:4; Romans 11:8; Romans 1:21
- 11 Acts 13:46–48; Romans 11:31; Romans 10:19; Romans 11:12; Romans 11:14
- 12 Romans 11:25; Colossians 1:27; Romans 11:15; Isaiah 11:11–12:6; Ephesians 3:8
- 13 Acts 9:15; 2 Timothy 1:11–12; Romans 15:16–19; Galatians 1:16; 1 Timothy 2:7
- 14 1 Corinthians 7:16; 1 Timothy 4:16; Romans 9:3; Titus 3:5; 1 Timothy 2:4
- 15 Ephesians 1:10; Romans 5:10–11; Luke 15:24; Romans 11:11–12; 2 Corinthians 5:18–20
- 16 Proverbs 3:9; Ezekiel 44:30; James 1:18; Jeremiah 2:21; Numbers 15:17–21
- 17 Ephesians 2:11–13; Ephesians 3:6; Jeremiah 11:16; John 15:2; Psalm 52:8
- 18 1 Corinthians 10:12; Romans 11:20; Romans 3:27; Ephesians 2:19–20; John 10:16
- 19 Romans 11:23–24; Romans 11:17; Romans 11:11–12
- 20 Romans 12:16; 2 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Philippians 2:12; 1 Peter 1:17
- 21 Jeremiah 49:12; 2 Peter 2:4–9; Jeremiah 25:29; Romans 8:32; Jude 5
- 22 Hebrews 3:14; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Corinthians 15:2; John 15:2; Revelation 2:5
- 23 2 Corinthians 3:16; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 23:39
- 24 Romans 11:17–18
- 25 Luke 21:24; 2 Corinthians 3:14–16; Romans 16:25; Romans 12:16; Zechariah 8:20–23
- 26 Isaiah 59:20; Jeremiah 31:31–37; Psalm 14:7; Hosea 3:5; Zechariah 10:6–12
- 27 Jeremiah 31:31–34; Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah 32:38–40; Ezekiel 36:25–29; Isaiah 43:25
- 28 Deuteronomy 10:15; Deuteronomy 7:7–8; Matthew 21:43; Romans 11:7; Romans 9:5
- 29 Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 7:21; Malachi 3:6; Romans 8:28; Hosea 13:14
- 30 Colossians 3:7; Ephesians 2:1–2; 1 Corinthians 7:25; Romans 11:31; Titus 3:3–7
- 31 Romans 11:25; Romans 11:15; Romans 10:16
- 32 Galatians 3:22; Romans 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4–6; Romans 3:22; John 1:7
- 33 Job 5:9; Job 11:7–9; Psalm 92:5; Colossians 2:2–3; Romans 2:4
- 34 Isaiah 40:13; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Job 15:8; Job 36:22; Jeremiah 23:18
- 35 Job 41:11; Job 35:7; 1 Corinthians 4:7
- 36 Colossians 1:15–17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 2:10; 1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 16:27
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
He had said that God did not cast off His people; and to show in what sense He had not cast them off, he takes refuge in the Prophets again.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11 (1889)
And that the Saviour received first-fruits of those whom He was to save, Paul declared when he said, "And if the first-fruits be holy, the lump is also holy," teaching that the expression "first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, but that "the lump" meant us, that is, the animal Church, the lump of which they say He assumed, and blended …
What was it that Thou didst then, O my God, and how unsearchable are the depths of Thy judgments! For when, sore sick of a fever, he long lay unconscious in a death-sweat, and all despaired of his recovery, he was baptized without his knowledge; myself meanwhile little caring, presuming that his soul would retain rather what it had imbibed …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
"But yet Paul," one may say, "allows them, saying on this wise, As touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.'" But tell me, when, and of what things was he discoursing, and to whom?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Thou art transplanted henceforth among the spiritual olive-trees, being grafted from the wild into the good olive-tree, from sins into righteousness, from pollutions into purity.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)