7. This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn,
8. just as the Scriptures say,“God made them so stupidthat their eyes are blind,and their earsare still deaf.”
9. Then David said,“Turn their mealsinto bait for a trap,so that they will stumbleand be givenwhat they deserve.
10. Blindfold their eyes!Don't let them see.Bend their backsbeneath a burdenthat will never be lifted.”
11. Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous.
12. But if the rest of the world's people were helped so much by Israel's sin and loss, they will be helped even more by their full return.
13. I am now speaking to you Gentiles, and as long as I am an apostle to you, I will take pride in my work.
14. I hope in this way to make some of my own people jealous enough to be saved.
15. When Israel rejected God, the rest of the people in the world were able to turn to him. So when God makes friends with Israel, it will be like bringing the dead back to life.
16. If part of a batch of dough is made holy by being offered to God, then all the dough is holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, the rest of the tree is holy too.
17. You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree that were made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree.
18. But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember that you are not supporting the roots of that tree. Its roots are supporting you.
19. Perhaps you think those branches were cut away, so that you could be put in their place.
20. That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid.
21. If God cut away those natural branches, couldn't he do the same to you?
22. Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too.
23. If those other branches will start having faith, they will be made a part of that tree again. God has the power to put them back.
24. After all, it wasn't natural for branches to be cut from a wild olive tree and to be made part of a cultivated olive tree. So it is much more likely that God will join the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree.
25. My friends, I don't want you Gentiles to be too proud of yourselves. So I will explain the mystery of what has happened to the people of Israel. Some of them have become stubborn, and they will stay like that until the complete number of you Gentiles has come in.
26. In this way all Israel will be saved, as the Scriptures say,“From Zion someone will cometo rescue us.Then Jacob's descendantswill stop being evil.