TORAH PRTION FROM SEPT 14 - 20, 2008

SINCE WHAT ISRAEL READS WILL BE FULFILLED IN THAT WEEK I WILL BE PUTTING THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION ON FOR ALL OF US TO KEEP TRACK OF ISRAEL HAPPENINGS.

TORAH PORTION FROM SEPT 14, 2008 6PM TO 20,2008

Devarim
Book 5: Deuteronomy KI SAVO

DEUTORONOMY 26:01 - 29:08
Chapter 26
Verse 1: When it happens that you come to the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you as territory, and you inherit it and settle it;
Verse 2: You are to take of the first of all the fruits of the soil that you bring from your land, that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you, and place [it] in a basket; and go to the place that Ad-noy, your G-d, chooses to house His presence there.
Verse 3: You are to come to the kohein who will be [of service] during those days and you will say to him, I ascertain today to Ad-noy, your G-d, that I have arrived in the land that Ad-noy swore to our forefathers to give us.
Verse 4: The kohein shall then take the basket from your hand, and he will place it before the altar of Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 5: And you shall then proclaim and say before Ad-noy, your G-d, The Aramite destroyed my forefather, then he descended to Egypt and sojourned there with a tiny community; and there he became a great people, powerful and numerous.
Verse 6: The Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and they imposed hard labor upon us.
Verse 7: We prayed to Ad-noy, G-d of our forefathers, and Ad-noy accepted our prayer, and perceived our oppression, and our labor, and the pressure upon us.
Verse 8: And Ad-noy took us out of Egypt with a powerful hand and with an extended arm, and with great display, and with signs, and with wonders.
Verse 9: And He brought us to this place, and He gave us this land, a land flowing milk and honey.
Verse 10: And now, see! I have brought the first of the fruits of the soil that You have given me Ad-noy. And you shall then place it before Ad-noy, your G-d, and you will prostrate yourself in the presence of Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 11: You shall rejoice with all the good that Ad-noy, your G-d, gave you and your household; you, the levi, and the proselyte in your midst.

Sheini (Second Aliyah)
Verse 12: When you finish tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe; and you have given to the Levi, to the proselyte, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat within your portals to their satisfaction;
Verse 13: You shall declare before Ad-noy, your G-d, I have divested my estate of sacred material, and I have also presented it to the Levi and also to the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow, totally according to Your command that You commanded me; I did not transgress any of Your commandments nor did I forget.
Verse 14: I did not eat of it when grieving, nor did I devour it when ritually defiled, nor did I make use of it for the dead; I have heeded the voice of Ad-noy, my G-d; I have fulfilled everything that You commanded me.
Verse 15: View, from Your sacred residence, from the heavens, and bless Your people, Yisroel and the soil which You have given us, as You swore to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Sh'lishi (Third Aliyah)
Verse 16: This very day, Ad-noy, your G-d, commands you to perform these statutes and the laws; you shall observe and perform them wholeheartedly and with your whole being.
Verse 17: Ad-noy, you have distinguised today to be a G-d for you and to go in His ways and to guard His statutes and His commandments and His laws, and to obey Him.
Verse 18: And Ad-noy has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people as He said to you, and to guard all His commandments.
Verse 19: And to place you superior to all the nations whom He made, for praise and for renown and for glory, and so that you may be a people sanctified to Ad-noy, your G-d, as He said.

Revi'i (Fourth Aliyah)
Chapter 27
Verse 1: Moshe and the elders of Yisroel commanded the people the following, Keep all of the commandment that I am commanding you today.
Verse 2: When the day comes that you cross the Yardein to the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you, erect large stones and coat them with whitewash.
Verse 3: You are to write on them all statements of this Torah upon your crossing; in order that you come to the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you, a land flowing milk and honey, as promised by Ad-noy, G-d of your forefathers, to you.
Verse 4: As soon as you have crossed the Yardein, set up these stones that I am commanding you today, on Mount Eival, and coat them with whitewash.
Verse 5: Build there an altar to Ad-noy, your G-d; an altar of stones; do not lift iron upon them.
Verse 6: [Of] whole stones are you to build the altar of Ad-noy, your G-d; and you are to bring upon it burnt-offerings to Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 7: You are to slaughter peace-offerings and eat [them] there; and you are to rejoice in the presence of Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 8: You are to write on the stones all the statements of this Torah, explained properly
Verse 9: Moshe and the kohanim-Levi'im addressed all of Yisroel, to say, Take heed and accept, Yisroel! [On] this day you have become a people to Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 10: You are to obey Ad-noy, your G-d, and perform His commandments and His statutes that I am commanding you today.

Chamishi (Fifth Aliyah)
Verse 11: Moshe commanded the people on that day, to say,
Verse 12: The following will stand to bless the people on Mount Gerizim, upon your crossing the Yardein: Shimon and Levi and Yehudah, and Yisachar and Yoseif and Binyomin.
Verse 13: And the following will stand for the curse at Mount Eival: Reuvein, Gad and Asher, and Zevulun, Don and Naftoli.
Verse 14: The Levi'im are to respond and say to every man of Yisroel aloud:
Verse 15: 'Cursed is the man who makes a statue or a molten image, Ad-noy's abomination, the handiwork of a craftsman, and places [it] in a secret [place];' the entire people will respond and say, Amein.
Verse 16: Cursed is whoever reviles his father or his mother, and the entire people will say, Amein. 17.Cursed is whoever casts aside the boundary of his fellow; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 18: Cursed is whoever misleads the blind about the way; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 19: Cursed is whoever distorts justice for a convert, orphan, or widow; and entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 20: Cursed is whoever has intercourse with his father's wife, because he exposed the corner of his father['s garment]; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 21: Cursed is whoever has intercourse with any animal; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 22: Cursed is whoever has intercourse with his sister, daughter of his father or daughter of his mother; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 23: Cursed is whoever has intercourse with his father's-in-law wife; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 24: Cursed is whoever strikes his fellow in secret; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 25: Cursed is whoever accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person; and the entire people will say, Amein.
Verse 26: Cursed is whoever does not uphold the statements of this Torah to perform them; and the entire people will say, Amein.

Chapter 28
Verse 1: When you hearken and obey Ad-noy, your G-d, to be sure to perform all of His commandments that I am commanding you today; Ad-noy, your G-d, will place you superior to all the nations of the earth.
Verse 2: All these blessings will come upon you and will reach you, when you obey Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 3: Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field.
Verse 4: Blessed is the fruit of your belly, and the produce of your soil, and the offspring of your animals, the issue of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep and goats.
Verse 5: Blessed will be your [fruit] basket and your solid foods.
Verse 6: You will be blessed at your arrival, and blessed at your departure.

Shishi (Sixth Aliyah)
Verse 7: Ad-noy will set your enemies who rise against you smitten before you; by one road will they approach you, but by seven roads they will flee from you.
Verse 8: Ad-noy will order upon you the blessing in your storehouses and in all your commerce; and He will bless you in the land that Ad-noy, your G-d, is giving you.
Verse 9: Ad-noy will establish you for Himself as a holy people as He swore to you; when you will guard the commandments of Ad-noy, your G-d, and will go in His ways.
Verse 10: And all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by Ad-noy's Name and they will fear you.
Verse 11: Ad-noy will give you surplus as benefit in the fruit of your belly, and the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your soil; upon the land that Ad-noy swore to your forefathers to give you.
Verse 12: Ad-noy will open for you His good storehouse, the sky, to give you your land's rain on time and to bless all your endeavors; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.
Verse 13: Ad-noy will place you at the head, not at the tail; and you will be solely on top, you will not be on the bottom; when you heed the commandments of Ad-noy, your G-d, that I am commanding you today to guard and to perform.
Verse 14: And you do not deviate from all the statements that I am commanding you today to the right or to the left, to follow other gods to serve them.
Verse 15: Should you not obey Ad-noy, your G-d, to guard to perform all His commandments and His statutes that I am commanding you today; then all these curses will come upon you and will reach you.
Verse 16: Cursed are you in the city and cursed are you in the field.
Verse 17: Cursed is your [fruit] basket and cursed are your solid foods.
Verse 18: Cursed is the fruit of your belly and the produce of your soil, the calves of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep and goats.
Verse 19: Cursed are you upon your arrival and cursed are you upon your departure.
Verse 20: Ad-noy will visit upon you ruin, panic, and frustration in all the endeavors you undertake, until you are destroyed and until you are swiftly removed because of the wickedness of your deeds [in] that you forsook Me.
Verse 21: Ad-noy will attach the plague to you until He exterminates you from upon the land that you are coming there to inherit.
Verse 22: Ad-noy will smite you with blistering and with searing temperature, and with raging fever, and with charchur, and with the sword, and with wind-blight, and with yellowing; and they will chase you until your annihilation.
Verse 23: And the heavens above your head will be like copper and the earth that is beneath you, iron.
Verse 24: Ad-noy will make the rain of your land into dust and soil; from the sky will it come down upon you until you are destroyed.
Verse 25: Ad-noy will set you smitten before your enemies. By one road will you go out toward them and by seven roads will you flee before them; and you will be a cause of shuddering for all the kingdoms of the earth.
Verse 26: Your corpse will be food for every bird of the sky and for the animals of the earth; with no one to scare [them].
Verse 27: Ad-noy will plague you with Egyptian boils and with hemorroids and with running and dry boils; from which you will be unable to be healed.
Verse 28: Ad-noy will plague you with insanity and with blindness, and with utter confusion.
Verse 29: You will grope at midday the way a blind man gropes in the darkness, and you will not succeed your ways; you will be only the victim of wrangling and robbed all the days with no savior.
Verse 30: A woman will you marry and another man will lie with her; a house will you build and will not live in it; a vineyard will you plant and will not redeem it[s fruit].
Verse 31: Your ox [will be] butchered before your eyes, and you will not eat of it; your ass [will be] robbed in your presence and will not return to you; your flocks [will be] given to your enemies, and you have no savior.
Verse 32: Your sons and your daughters [will be] given to another people while your eyes watch and pine for them all day, and your are powerless.
Verse 33: The fruit of your soil and all your toil will be eaten by a people that you do not know; and you will be solely oppressed and crushed all the time.
Verse 34: And you will become insane from the sights that you see.
Verse 35: Ad-noy will plague you with bad boils on the knees and on the legs from which you will be unable to be healed; from the sole of your foot till your skull.
Verse 36: Ad-noy will lead you and your king, whom you will set upon yourself, to a nation that neither you nor your parents knew; and there you will serve other powers, [of] wood and stone.
Verse 37: You will become an [object of] stupefaction, be cited as an example and become the subject of gossip among all the peoples to whom Ad-noy will lead you.
Verse 38: Much seed will you take out to the fields, and little will you gather because the locust will demolish it.
Verse 39: Vineyards will you plant and labor in, but wine will you not drink nor will you store because worms will consume it.
Verse 40: Olives will you have within your entire boundary, but oil will you not annoint because your olives will be discarded.
Verse 41: Sons and daughters will you bear, but you will not have them because they will go into captivity.
Verse 42: All your trees and the fruit of your soil the cicada will impoverish.
Verse 43: The non-Jew among you will rise above you higher and higher, while you descend lower and lower.
Verse 44: He will lend to you but you will not lend to him; he will be at the head, and you will be at the tail.
Verse 45: All these curses will come upon you and will chase you and reach you until you are destroyed; for you have not obeyed Ad-noy, your G-d, to guard His commandments and His statutes that He commanded you.
Verse 46: They will happen to you as a sign and a wonder, and to your descendants forever.
Verse 47: Since you did not serve Ad-noy, your G-d, with joy and goodheartedness, in total affluence.
Verse 48: You will serve your enemies whom Ad-noy sends against you, in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and lacking everything; and he will set an iron yoke upon your neck until he destroys you.
Verse 49: Ad-noy will raise upon you a nation from afar from the end of the earth, as the eagle soars, a nation whose language you will not hear.
Verse 50: A hard-faced nation that will not show favor to the old, and will not pity the young.
Verse 51: They will consume the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed; that will not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the calves of your cattle, or the flocks of your sheep and goats until they have you removed.
Verse 52: They will make you suffer in all your cities until mastering your ramparts and fortified walls upon which you rely throughout your land; they will make you suffer in all your cities throughout your land that Ad-noy, your G-d, has given you.
Verse 53: You will eat the flesh of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters that Ad-noy, your G-d, gave you; in the siege and in the distress that your enemy will distress you.
Verse 54: The delicate among you and the fastidious, [even] he will look askance at his brother and at the wife of his bosom and at the rest of his sons whom he will leave over.
Verse 55: From giving to any of them of the flesh of his sons that he is eating for [fear of] not leaving everything for himself; in siege and in distress that your enemy will distress you in all your cities.
Verse 56: The soft female among you and the indulged one the sole of whose foot never experienced standing on the ground out of indulgence and out of softness; her eye will begrudge the husband of her bosom, and her son and daughter.
Verse 57: And her infant who emerges from between her legs, and her children whom she bears, when she eats them for lack of everything, secretly; in siege and in distress that your enemy will distress you in your cities.
Verse 58: If you will not guard to perform all the statements of this Torah that are written in this book to fear the respected and awesome Name, of Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 59: Ad-noy will strike you with prodigous blows and blows on your offspring, blows, great and dependable and illnesses harmful and dependable.
Verse 60: He will bring back for you all the Egyptian diseases which you dreaded and they will cling to you.
Verse 61: Also every illness and every plague that is not written in the book of this Torah, will Ad-noy raise up against you until you are destroyed.
Verse 62: You will remain numerically few instead of your having been like the stars in the sky, multitudinous; for you have not obeyed Ad-noy, your G-d.
Verse 63: It will happen that as Ad-noy rejoiced over you to benefit you and to multiply you, so will Ad-noy bring joy to others over you to remove you and to destroy you; and you will be uprooted from upon the land that you are coming there to inherit.
Verse 64: Ad-noy will disperse you among all the peoples from the end of the earth to the end of the earth; and you shall serve there other gods which neither you nor your ancestors knew, wood and stone.
Verse 65: And among those nations you will not be tranquil and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; and Ad-noy will give you there a fearful heart and pining eyes and disillusioned spirit.
Verse 66: Your life will dangle before you, and you will be in fear night and day, and will have no faith in your living.
Verse 67: In the morning you will say, Would that it were evening, and in the evening you will say, Would that it were morning, from the fear in your heart that you will fear and from the sights of your eyes that you will see.
Verse 68: Ad-noy will send you back to Egypt on ships, along the route that I told you, You are not to see it again, and there you will attempt to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves and as maidservants but no one will buy.
Verse 69: These are the statements of the covenant that Ad-noy commanded Moshe to ratify with Bnei Yisroel in the land of Moav, beside the covenant that he had made with them at Choreiv.

Shevi'i (Seventh Aliyah)
Chapter 29
Verse 1: Moshe called to all of Yisroel and said to them, You have seen everything that Ad-noy did as you watched, in the land of Egypt, to Pharoah and to all his attendants and to his entire land.
Verse 2: The great miracles that you witnessed, those great signs and wonders.
Verse 3: Yet Ad-noy did not grant you a knowledgeable mind and eyes to see, and ears to hear until this day.
Verse 4: I have led you forty years in the wilderness, your garments have not worn out on you and your shoes have not worn out on your feet.
Verse 5: Bread have you not eaten, neither fresh nor aged wine have you drunk, in order that you know that I, Ad-noy, am your G-d.

Maftir
Verse 6: Then when you came to this place, Sichon, king of Cheshbon, came out--- and Og, king of Boshon--- toward us to wage war and we smote them.
Verse 7: And we took the their land and gave it as territory to the Reuvenites and to the Gaddites, and to half the tribe of the Menashians.
Verse 8: You are to guard the tenets of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you succeed in everything that you do.

PROPHETS PORTION

ISAIAH 60:1-22
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.
8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

NEW TESTAMENT PORTION

MATTHEW 13:1-23
1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

LUKE 21:1-4
1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

ACTS 28:17-31
17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.
19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.
20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.
22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

ROMANS 11:1-15
1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?