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I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
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God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
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"Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"?
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But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
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Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
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And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
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What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
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Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day."
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And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
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Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always."
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I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
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Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
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For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
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if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.
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For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
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For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.