Romans 11; Romans 12; Romans 13

1 So I ask: Did God throw out his people? No! I myself am an Israelite from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

2 God chose the Israelites to be his people before they were born, and he has not thrown his people out. Surely you know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he prayed to God against the people of Israel.

3 "Lord," he said, "they have killed your prophets, and they have destroyed your altars. I am the only prophet left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."

4 But what answer did God give Elijah? He said, "But I have left seven thousand people in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal."

5 It is the same now. There are a few people that God has chosen by his grace.

6 And if he chose them by grace, it is not for the things they have done. If they could be made God's people by what they did, God's gift of grace would not really be a gift.

7 So this is what has happened: Although the Israelites tried to be right with God, they did not succeed, but the ones God chose did become right with him. The others were made stubborn and refused to listen to God.

8 As it is written in the Scriptures: "God gave the people a dull mind so they could not understand." "He closed their eyes so they could not see and their ears so they could not hear. This continues until today."

9 And David says: "Let their own feasts trap them and cause their ruin; let their feasts cause them to stumble and be paid back.

10 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see and their backs be forever weak from troubles."

11 So I ask: When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them? No! But their mistake brought salvation to those who are not Jews, in order to make the Jews jealous.

12 The Jews' mistake brought rich blessings for the world, and the Jews' loss brought rich blessings for the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will receive much richer blessings when enough Jews become the kind of people God wants.

13 Now I am speaking to you who are not Jews. I am an apostle to those who are not Jews, and since I have that work, I will make the most of it.

14 I hope I can make my own people jealous and, in that way, help some of them to be saved.

15 When God turned away from the Jews, he became friends with other people in the world. So when God accepts the Jews, surely that will bring them life after death.

16 If the first piece of bread is offered to God, then the whole loaf is made holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, then the tree's branches are holy too.

17 It is as if some of the branches from an olive tree have been broken off. You non-Jewish people are like the branch of a wild olive tree that has been joined to that first tree. You now share the strength and life of the first tree, the Jews.

18 So do not brag about those branches that were broken off. If you brag, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I could be joined to their tree."

20 That is true. But those branches were broken off because they did not believe, and you continue to be part of the tree only because you believe. Do not be proud, but be afraid.

21 If God did not let the natural branches of that tree stay, then he will not let you stay if you don't believe.

22 So you see that God is kind and also very strict. He punishes those who stop following him. But God is kind to you, if you continue following in his kindness. If you do not, you will be cut off from the tree.

23 And if the Jews will believe in God again, he will accept them back. God is able to put them back where they were.

24 It is not natural for a wild branch to be part of a good tree. And you who are not Jews are like a branch cut from a wild olive tree and joined to a good olive tree. But since those Jews are like a branch that grew from the good tree, surely they can be joined to their own tree again.

25 I want you to understand this secret, brothers and sisters, so you will understand that you do not know everything: Part of Israel has been made stubborn, but that will change when many who are not Jews have come to God.

26 And that is how all Israel will be saved. It is written in the Scriptures: "The Savior will come from Jerusalem; he will take away all evil from the family of Jacob.

27 And I will make this agreement with those people when I take away their sins."

28 The Jews refuse to accept the Good News, so they are God's enemies. This has happened to help you who are not Jews. But the Jews are still God's chosen people, and he loves them very much because of the promises he made to their ancestors.

29 God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them.

30 At one time you refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because those people refused to obey.

31 And now the Jews refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they also can receive mercy from him.

32 God has given all people over to their stubborn ways so that he can show mercy to all.

33 Yes, God's riches are very great, and his wisdom and knowledge have no end! No one can explain the things God decides or understand his ways.

34 As the Scripture says, "Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been able to give him advice?"

35 "No one has ever given God anything that he must pay back."

36 Yes, God made all things, and everything continues through him and for him. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

1 So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship.

2 Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.

3 Because God has given me a special gift, I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think you are better than you are. You must decide what you really are by the amount of faith God has given you.

4 Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses.

5 In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body, and each part belongs to all the other parts.

6 We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us. The person who has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in agreement with the faith.

7 Anyone who has the gift of serving should serve. Anyone who has the gift of teaching should teach.

8 Whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage. Whoever has the gift of giving to others should give freely. Anyone who has the gift of being a leader should try hard when he leads. Whoever has the gift of showing mercy to others should do so with joy.

9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good.

10 Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.

11 Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart.

12 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.

13 Share with God's people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.

14 Wish good for those who harm you; wish them well and do not curse them.

15 Be happy with those who are happy, and be sad with those who are sad.

16 Live in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.

17 If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right.

18 Do your best to live in peace with everyone.

19 My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: "I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them," says the Lord.

20 But you should do this: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head."

21 Do not let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good.

1 All of you must yield to the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God.

2 So those who are against the government are really against what God has commanded. And they will bring punishment on themselves.

3 Those who do right do not have to fear the rulers; only those who do wrong fear them. Do you want to be unafraid of the rulers? Then do what is right, and they will praise you.

4 The ruler is God's servant to help you. But if you do wrong, then be afraid. He has the power to punish; he is God's servant to punish those who do wrong.

5 So you must yield to the government, not only because you might be punished, but because you know it is right.

6 This is also why you pay taxes. Rulers are working for God and give their time to their work.

7 Pay everyone, then, what you owe. If you owe any kind of tax, pay it. Show respect and honor to them all.

8 Do not owe people anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has obeyed all the law.

9 The law says, "You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not want to take your neighbor's things." All these commands and all others are really only one rule: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

10 Love never hurts a neighbor, so loving is obeying all the law.

11 Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

12 The "night" is almost finished, and the "day" is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light.

13 Let us live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual sins of any kind, no fighting or jealousy.

14 But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self.