Therefore, I say: Has God driven away his people? Let it not be so! For I, too, am an Israelite of the offspring of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
And so the Lord said: "And now I will remove Judah from my face, just as I removed Israel. And I will cast aside this city, Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house, about which I said: My name shall be there."
And he said: "I am a Jewish man, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but raised in this city beside the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, just as all of you also are to this day.
Therefore, I say: Have they stumbled in such a way that they should fall? Let it not be so! Instead, by their offense, salvation is with the Gentiles, so that they may be a rival to them.
For God is truthful, but every man is deceitful; just as it was written: "Therefore, you are justified in your words, and you will prevail when you give judgment."
For I was circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew among Hebrews. According to the law, I was a Pharisee;