But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
Parallel translations
- WEB But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
- KJV But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
- NKJV But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
- NASB However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
- NLT But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Not all who heard the good news obeyed it, just as Isaiah lamented that few believed his report. Gospel proclamation does not guarantee acceptance.
Overview
Paul acknowledges a hard reality: hearing the gospel does not always lead to belief. Citing Isaiah 53:1, he notes that even the prophet found few who accepted his message. This explains Israel's unbelief without faulting the gospel or its messengers; the problem lies in human hearts that reject the word. Yet, as Paul affirms next, the saving word has indeed gone out, leaving the unbelieving without excuse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 53:1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Rom 3:3What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
- John 12:38–40This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
- Heb 4:2For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.
- 2 Th 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Gal 5:7You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth?
- 1 Pet 2:8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Rom 6:17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
- Heb 5:9And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
- Heb 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
- Rom 2:8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Rom 11:17Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
- Acts 28:24Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.
- Isa 50:10Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.
- Rom 16:26but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—
- Rom 1:5Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
- 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- Gal 3:1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
- 1 Pet 3:1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
- John 10:26But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 10:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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