1 So I ask, “Did God throw out his people?” No! I myself am an Israelite (Jew). I am from the family of Abraham, {\cf2\super [114]} from the family group of Benjamin.
1 I ASK then: Has God totally rejected and disowned His people? Of course not! Why, I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! [I Sam. 12:22; Jer. 31:37; 33:24-26; Phil. 3:5.]
1 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.
The Lord said, “I forced the people of Israel to leave their land. I will do the same to Judah. I will take Judah out of my sight. I will not accept Jerusalem. Yes, I chose that city. I was talking about Jerusalem when I said, ‘My name will be there.’ But I will destroy the temple [309] that is in that place.”
“I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I grew up in this city (Jerusalem). I was a student of Gamaliel. {\cf2\super [434]} He carefully taught me everything about the law of our fathers. {\cf2\super [435]} I was very serious about serving God, the same as all of you here today.
So I ask: When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them? No! But their mistake brought salvation to the non-Jews. This happened to make the Jews jealous.
They are my brothers and sisters, my earthly family. I wish I could help them. I would even have a curse on me and cut myself off from Christ if that would help them.
Are those people Hebrews {\cf2\super [38]} ? I am too. Are they Israelites {\cf2\super [39]} ? I am too. Are they from Abraham’s {\cf2\super [40]} family? I am too.
I was circumcised eight days after my birth. I am from the people of Israel {\cf2\super [18]} and the family group of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew (Jew), and my parents were Hebrews. The law \{of Moses\} was very important to me. That is why I became a Pharisee. {\cf2\super [19]}