But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “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?
- BSB But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
- 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?”
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? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
- Rom 3:3For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God?
- John 12:38–40that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
- Heb 4:2For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard.
- 2 Th 1:8giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Gal 5:7You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?
- 1 Pet 2:8and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- Rom 6:17But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.
- Heb 5:9Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
- Heb 11:8By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- Rom 2:8but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
- Rom 11:17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;
- Acts 28:24Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
- Isa 50:10Who among you fears Yahweh, and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in Yahweh’s name, and rely on his God.
- Rom 16:26—
- Rom 1:5through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;
- 1 Pet 1:22Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:
- Gal 3:1Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?
- 1 Pet 3:1In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word;
- John 10:26But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
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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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