Romans 10

1 Brothers and sisters,t my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelitest is for their salvation.2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God,t but their zeal is not in line with the truth.ts3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”s6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart,s ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”s (that is, to bring Christ down)7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?”s (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”s (that is, the word of faith that we preach),9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordt and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousnesst and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.t11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”s12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.s
14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to themt?15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timelytis the arrivaltof those who proclaim the good news.”s16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”s

17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached wordt of Christ.st
18 But I ask, have theyt not heard?t Yes, they have:tTheir voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.s19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand?t First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”s20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”s

21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”s

ROMANS 10

1 Dear friends, my greatest wish and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know they love God, but they don't understand 3 what makes people acceptable to him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the Law.

4 But Christ makes the Law no longer necessaryt for those who become acceptable to God by faith.

Anyone Can Be Saved

5  t Moses said a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, “If you want to live, you must do all the Law commands.”
6  t But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?”

7 Neither will they ask, “Who will go down into the world of the dead to raise him to life?”
8 All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, “The message is as near as your mouth or your heart.” And this is the same message we preach about faith. 9 So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death.

10 God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.
11  t The Scriptures say no one who has faith will be disappointed, 12 no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help.

13 t All who call out to the Lord will be saved.
14 How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? 15 t And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.

16 t Yet not everyone has believed the message. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, “Lord, has anyone believed what we said?”
17 No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ.

18 t But am I saying that the people of Israel did not hear? No, I am not! The Scriptures say,
“The message was told
everywhere on earth.
It was announced
all over the world.”

19  t Did the people of Israel understand or not? Moses answered this question when he told that the Lord had said,
“I will make Israel jealous
of people
who are a nation
of nobodies.
I will make them angry
with people
who don't understand
a thing.”

20  t Isaiah was fearless enough to tell that the Lord had said,
“I was found by people
who were not looking
for me.
I appeared to the ones
who were not asking
about me.”

21  t And Isaiah said about the people of Israel,
“All day long the Lord
has reached out
to people who are stubborn
and refuse to obey.”