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 seeand 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 seeand their backs be forever weak from troubles.”
11. So I ask: When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them? No! But their failure brought salvation to those who are not Jews, in order to make the Jews jealous.
12. The Jews’ failure 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.