The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (164 page)

7
 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
⁸
as it is written
,

  
"God gave them a spirit of stupor,

  
eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear,

  
down to this very day."

⁹
And David says,

  
"Let their feast become a snare and a trap,

  
a pitfall and a retribution for them;

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

  
and bend their backs for ever."

The Salvation of the Gentiles

11
 So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as
to make Israel jealous
.
¹²
Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

13
 Now I am speaking
to you Gentiles
. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
¹⁴
in order to make
my fellow Jews
jealous, and thus save some of them.
¹⁵
For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but
life from the dead
?
¹⁶
If the dough offered as
first fruits
is holy, so is the whole batch; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17
 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you,
a wild olive shoot
, were grafted in their place to share the richness
^o
of the olive tree,
¹⁸
do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.
¹⁹
You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
²⁰
That is true. They were broken off
because of their unbelief
, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.
²¹
For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
²²
Note then
the kindness and the severity of God
: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.
²³
And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
²⁴
For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

Israel Will Be Saved

25
 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this
mystery
, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in,
²⁶
and so
all Israel will be saved; as it is written,

  
"The Deliverer will come from Zion,

  
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

²⁷
"and this will be my covenant with them

  
when I take away their sins."

²⁸
As regards the gospel they are
enemies
of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
²⁹
For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
³⁰
Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
³¹
so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may
^p
receive mercy.
³²
For God has consigned
all men to disobedience
, that he may have mercy upon all.

33
 
O the depth of the riches
and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴
"For who has known the mind of the Lord,

  
or who has been his counselor?"

³⁵
"Or who has given a gift to him

  
that he might be repaid?"

³⁶
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.

The New Life in Christ

12
  
I appeal to you
therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God
, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
²
Do not be conformed
to this world
^q
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
^r

3
 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with
sober judgment
, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.
⁴
For as in
one body we have many members
, and all the members do not have the same function,
⁵
so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
⁶
Having
gifts
that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
⁷
if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching;
⁸
he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9
 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
¹⁰
love one another
with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
¹¹
Never flag in
zeal
, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.
¹²
Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer
.
¹³
Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

14
 
Bless those who persecute
you; bless and do not curse them.
¹⁵
Rejoice with
those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
¹⁶
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;
^s
never be conceited.
¹⁷
Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
¹⁸
If possible, so far as it depends upon you,
live peaceably
with all.
¹⁹
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it
^t
to the wrath of God; for it is written, "
Vengeance is mine
, I will repay, says the Lord."
²⁰
No, "
if your enemy
is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."
²¹
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Being Subject to Authorities

13
  
Let every person
be subject to the governing authorities. For there is
no authority except from God
, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
²
Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
³
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
⁴
for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear
the sword
in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.
⁵
Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
⁶
For the same reason you also
pay taxes
, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
⁷
Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love for One Another

8
 
Owe no one anything
, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
⁹
The commandments
, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
¹⁰
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

An Urgent Appeal

11
 Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For
salvation is nearer
to us now than when we first believed;
¹²
the night
is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
¹³
let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
¹⁴
But
put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Do Not Judge One Another

14
  
*
 As for
the man
who is
weak in faith
, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions.
²
One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables.
³
Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains
pass judgment
on him who eats; for God has welcomed him.
⁴
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand.

5
 One man esteems
one day as better
than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind.
⁶
He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
⁷
None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
⁸
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die,
we are the Lord's
.
⁹
For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

10
 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
¹¹
for it is written,

  
"
As I live
, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,