God Has Not Rejected Israel

11 I ask then, has God rejected his people? Certainly not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against [fn]Israel, saying, 3 “Lord, they have killed yoʋr [fn]prophets and demolished yoʋr altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life”? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed down to Baal.” 5 So then, in the present time also there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 Now if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. [fn]But if it is by works, it is no longer grace, otherwise work would no longer be work.

7 What then? Israel did not obtain what it was seeking. The chosen obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes not to see

and ears not to hear,

down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution to them.

10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and keep their backs forever bent.”