10
Israel needs salvation
1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to real knowledge. 3 For they, failing to understand God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to God's righteousness.
How to be saved
4 Now for everyone who believes into righteousness, Christ is the end of the law
* 5 —Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”
† 6 But the righteousness that is from faith speaks like this: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ”
‡ (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 “or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ”
§ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 So what
does it say? “The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”
* (that is, the message of faith that we proclaim):
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 Because with the heart one believes into righteousness, and with the mouth one promises
† into salvation.
11 Because the Scripture says: “Everyone who believes on Him will never be put to shame”
‡;
12 because there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him;
13 because: “Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.”
§ The message is necessary
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe on Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without someone proclaiming it?
15 And how will they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written: “How timely is the arrival
* of those who bring good news of peace,
† of those who announce the good things.”
‡ 16 (However, they did not all obey the gospel; because Isaiah says: “
Lord, who has believed our message?”
§)
17 So, the faith is from a message, and that message is by the Word of God.
* A rebellious people
18 But I say, did they really not hear? Indeed yes:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
and their spoken words
to the ends of the inhabited world.”
† 19 Again I say, did Israel really not know? First Moses says:
“I will provoke you to jealousy by a non-nation,
I will move you to anger by a senseless nation.”
‡ 20 But Isaiah is so bold as to say:
“I was found by those who were not seeking me;
I was revealed to those who were not asking for me.”
§ 21 But concerning Israel he says:
“All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and contrary people.”
*