1I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:
3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?
4And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
6And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
9And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”