Romanos 11
1 Dico ergo: Numquid Deus repulit populum suum? Absit. Nam et ego Israëlita sum ex semine Abraham, de tribu Benjamin:
I ask, then, “Has God rejected his people?” Heaven forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 non repulit Deus plebem suam, quam præscivit. An nescitis in Elia quid dicit Scriptura? quemadmodum interpellat Deum adversum Israël:
God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of scripture in the story of Elijah – how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 Domine, prophetas tuos occiderunt, altaria tua suffoderunt: et ego relictus sum solus, et quærunt animam meam.
“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have pulled down your altars, and I only am left; and now they are eager to take my life.”
4 Sed quid dicit illi divinum responsum? Reliqui mihi septem millia virorum, qui non curvaverunt genua ante Baal.
But what was the divine response? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal.”
5 Sic ergo et in hoc tempore reliquiæ secundum electionem gratiæ salvæ factæ sunt.
And so in our own time, too, there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love.
6 Si autem gratia, jam non ex operibus: alioquin gratia jam non est gratia.
But if in love, then it is not as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love.
7 Quid ergo? Quod quærebat Israël, hoc non est consecutus: electio autem consecuta est: ceteri vero excæcati sunt:
What follows from this? Why, that Israel as a nation failed to secure what it was seeking, while those whom God selected did secure it.
8 sicut scriptum est: Dedit illis Deus spiritum compunctionis: oculos ut non videant, et aures ut non audiant, usque in hodiernum diem.
The rest grew callous; as scripture says – “God has given them a deadness of mind – eyes that are not to see and ears that are not to hear – and it is so to this very day.”
9 Et David dicit: Fiat mensa eorum in laqueum, et in captionem, et in scandalum, et in retributionem illis.
David, too, says – “May their feasts prove a snare and a trap to them – a hindrance and a retribution;
10 Obscurentur oculi eorum ne videant: et dorsum eorum semper incurva.
may their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; and do you always make their backs to bend.”
11 Dico ergo: Numquid sic offenderunt ut caderent? Absit. Sed illorum delicto, salus est gentibus ut illos æmulentur.
I ask then – “Was their stumbling to result in their fall?” Heaven forbid! On the contrary, through their falling away salvation has reached the Gentiles, to stir the rivalry of Israel.
12 Quod si delictum illorum divitiæ sunt mundi, et diminutio eorum divitiæ gentium: quanto magis plenitudo eorum?
And, if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration!
13 Vobis enim dico gentibus: Quamdiu quidem ego sum gentium Apostolus, ministerium meum honorificabo,
But I am speaking to you who were Gentiles.
14 si quomodo ad æmulandum provocem carnem meam, et salvos faciam aliquos ex illis.
Being myself an apostle to the Gentiles, I exalt my office, in the hope that I may stir my countrymen to rivalry, and so save some of them.
15 Si enim amissio eorum, reconciliatio est mundi: quæ assumptio, nisi vita ex mortuis?
For, if their being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their reception mean, but life from the dead?
16 Quod si delibatio sancta est, et massa: et si radix sancta, et rami.
If the first handful of dough is holy, so is the whole mass, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 Quod si aliqui ex ramis fracti sunt, tu autem cum oleaster esses, insertus es in illis, et socius radicis, et pinguedinis olivæ factus es,
Some, however, of the branches were broken off, and you, who were only a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive.
18 noli gloriari adversus ramos. Quod si gloriaris: non tu radicem portas, sed radix te.
Yet do not exult over the other branches. But, if you do exult over them, remember that you do not support the root, but that the root supports you.
19 Dices ergo: Fracti sunt rami ut ego inserar.
But branches, you will say, were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.
20 Bene: propter incredulitatem fracti sunt. Tu autem fide stas: noli altum sapere, sed time.
True, it was because of their want of faith that they were broken off, and it is because of your faith that you are standing. Do not think too highly of yourself, but beware.
21 Si enim Deus naturalibus ramis non pepercit: ne forte nec tibi parcat.
For, if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 Vide ergo bonitatem, et severitatem Dei: in eos quidem qui ceciderunt, severitatem: in te autem bonitatem Dei, si permanseris in bonitate, alioquin et tu excideris.
See, then, both the goodness and the severity of God – his severity towards those who fell, and his goodness towards you, provided that you continue to confide in that goodness; otherwise you, also, will be cut off.
23 Sed et illi, si non permanserint in incredulitate, inserentur: potens est enim Deus iterum inserere illos.
And they, too, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God has it in his power to graft them in again.
24 Nam si tu ex naturali excisus es oleastro, et contra naturam insertus es in bonam olivam: quanto magis ii qui secundum naturam inserentur suæ olivæ?
If you were cut off from your natural stock – a wild olive – and were grafted, contrary to the course of nature, on a good olive, much more will they – the natural branches – be grafted back into their parent tree.
25 Nolo enim vos ignorare, fratres, mysterium hoc (ut non sitis vobis ipsis sapientes), quia cæcitas ex parte contigit in Israël, donec plenitudo gentium intraret,
My friends, so that you don’t think too highly of yourselves, I want you to recognise the truth, hitherto hidden, that the callousness which has come over Israel is only partial, and will continue only until the whole Gentile world has been gathered in.
26 et sic omnis Israël salvus fieret, sicut scriptum est: Veniet ex Sion, qui eripiat, et avertat impietatem a Jacob.
And then all Israel will be saved. As scripture says – “From Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.
27 Et hoc illis a me testamentum: cum abstulero peccata eorum.
And they will see the fulfilment of my covenant, when I have taken away their sins.”
28 Secundum Evangelium quidem, inimici propter vos: secundum electionem autem, carissimi propter patres.
From the standpoint of the good news, the Jews are God’s enemies for your sake; but from the standpoint of God’s selection, they are dear to him for the sake of the patriarchs.
29 Sine pœnitentia enim sunt dona et vocatio Dei.
For God never regrets his gifts or his call.
30 Sicut enim aliquando et vos non credidistis Deo, nunc autem misericordiam consecuti estis propter incredulitatem illorum:
Just as you at one time were disobedient to him, but have now found mercy in the day of their disobedience;
31 ita et isti nunc non crediderunt in vestram misericordiam: ut et ipsi misericordiam consequantur.
so, too, they have now become disobedient in your day of mercy, in order that they also in their turn may now find mercy.
For God has given all alike over to disobedience, that to all alike he may show mercy. (eleēsē g1653)
33 O altitudo divitiarum sapientiæ, et scientiæ Dei: quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viæ ejus!
Oh! The unfathomable wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, how untraceable his ways! Yes –
34 Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit?
ho has ever comprehended the mind of the Lord? Who has ever become his counsellor?
35 aut quis prior dedit illi, et retribuetur ei?
Or who has first given to him, so that he may claim a reward?
