Romans 11

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¹I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ✦ ²God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: ✦ ³“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.” ✦ ⁴But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ✦ ⁵Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ✦ ⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. ✦ ⁷What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. ✦ ⁸According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” ✦ ⁹David says, “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. ✦ ¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Bow down their back always.” ✦ ¹¹I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. ✦ ¹²Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? ✦ ¹³For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; ✦ ¹⁴if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. ✦ ¹⁵For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead? ✦ ¹⁶If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches. ✦ 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; ✦ ¹⁸don’t boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. ✦ ¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.” ✦ ²⁰True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don’t be conceited, but fear; ✦ ²¹for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. ✦ ²²See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off. ✦ ²³They also, if they don’t continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ✦ ²⁴For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ✦ ²⁵For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, ✦ ²⁶and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, “There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. ✦ ²⁷This is my covenant to them, when I will take away their sins.” ✦ ²⁸Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. ✦ ²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ✦ ³⁰For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, ✦ ³¹even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. ✦ ³²For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. ✦ ³³Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! ✦ ³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” ✦ ³⁵“Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?” ✦ ³⁶For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Concept Wisdom

Where this chapter connects

Rom 11 ·32 Rom 9 ·13 Eph 3 ·10 Eph 2 ·7 Rom 3 ·7 Acts 13 ·6 1 Cor 10 ·5 Jude 1 ·5

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 11 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Romans 11YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Romans 11David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Romans 11Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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