ERV -Romans 10

10 ¹Brothers [and sisters], the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. ²I can say this about the Jews: They really try to follow God. But they don't know the right way. ³They did not know the way that God makes people right with him. And they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God's way of making people right.

⁴Christ ended the law so that every person that believes in him is made right with God. ⁵Moses writes about being made right by following the law. Moses says, "A person that wants to find life by following these things (the law) must do the things the law says."* ⁶But this is what the Scripture* says about being made right through faith: "Don't say to yourself, 'Who will go up into heaven?'"* (That means, "Who will go up to heaven to get Christ and bring him down to earth?") ⁷"And don't say, 'Who will go down into the world below?'"* (That means, "Who will go down to get Christ and bring him up from death?")

⁸This is what the Scripture says: "God's teaching is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart."* That teaching is the teaching of faith that we tell people. ⁹If you use your mouth to say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from death, then you will be saved. ¹⁰Yes, we believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we use our mouths to say that we believe, and so we are saved. ¹¹Yes, the Scripture* says, "Any person who believes in him (Christ) will not be ashamed."*

¹²That Scripture says "any person" because there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. The Lord gives many blessings to all people that trust in him. ¹³Yes, [the Scripture says], "Every person that trusts in the Lord will be saved."* ¹⁴But before people can trust in the Lord for help, they must believe in him. And before people can believe in the Lord, they must hear about him. And for people to hear about the Lord, another person must tell them. ¹⁵And before a person can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, "Beautiful are the feet of those people that come to tell good news."*

¹⁶But not all [the Jews] accepted that good news. Isaiah said, "Lord, who believed the things we told them?"* ¹⁷So faith comes from hearing [the Good News*]. And people hear [the Good News] when a person tells them about Christ. ¹⁸But I ask, "Did people not hear [the Good News]?" Yes, they heard--like the Scripture* says]: "Their voices went out all around the world. Their words went everywhere in the world." Psalm 19:4

¹⁹Again I ask, "Did the people of Israel* not understand?" Yes, they did understand. First, Moses says this [for God]: "I will use a people that is not really a nation to make you jealous. I will use a nation that does not understand to make you angry." Deuteronomy 32:21

²⁰Then Isaiah is bold enough to say this [for God]: "The people that were not looking for me-- those people found me. I showed myself to people that did not ask for me." Isaiah 65:1

²¹[God said this through Isaiah about the non-Jewish people]. But about the Jewish people God says, "All day long I have waited for those people, but they refuse to obey and refuse to follow me."*

"A person ... says" Quote from Lev. 18:5. Scripture(s) Holy Writings--the Old Testament. Verses 6-8 Quotes from Deut. 30:12-14. "Any person ... ashamed" Quote from Isa. 28:16. "Every person ... saved" Quote from Joel 2:32. "Beautiful ... good news" Quote from Isa. 52:7. "Lord ... them" Quote from Isa. 53:1. Good News The news that God has made a way for people to have their sins forgiven and live with him forever. Israel The Jewish nation (people). "All day ... follow me" Quote from Isa. 65:2.