Romans 10

¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

³ For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

⁴ For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”

⁶ But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);

⁷ or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach:

⁹ that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰ For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.

¹³ For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵ And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

¹⁶ But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

¹⁷ So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

¹⁸ But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹ But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.”

²⁰ Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who didn’t seek me. I was revealed to those who didn’t ask for me.”

²¹ But about Israel he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Around Romans 10

Book context

RomansEditorial draft

Paul writes to believers “in Rome” (1:1, 1:7), a church he had often planned to visit but had not yet reached (1:13), as he prepares to go to Jerusalem to serve the saints (15:25). The letter presents the Good News as “the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek” (1:16 to 17), then turns to how believers live in response to God’s mercy (12:1). Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) outlines it as an introduction (1:1 to 15), the gospel of righteousness by faith (1:16 to 11:36), practical instruction (12:1 to 15:13) and a conclusion with many personal greetings (15:14 to the end). Easton places it in Corinth in AD 58; Phoebe, commended in 16:1, may have carried it.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Romans 10 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Paul speaks plainly about what he wants. “my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.” He grants that his people have zeal for God. His worry is that zeal without knowledge keeps them from the righteousness God gives.

He sets two ways of speaking side by side. Moses writes of a righteousness that comes by doing the law. The righteousness of faith says that no one needs to climb to heaven or descend to the deep, because the word is near, in the mouth and in the heart. To confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him is to be saved. There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, and “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

But how will people call without hearing, and hear without a preacher? “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Background

This is the middle chapter of Paul’s three-chapter reflection on Israel in Romans 9 to 11. He writes as a Jew who prays for his own people, and the tone is love, not blame. The phrase “Christ is the fulfillment of the law” can also be translated as the end or goal of the law, and readers weigh those senses. The chapter’s emphasis on sending and hearing has long shaped Christian thinking about preaching and mission. Like all of Romans, it was meant to be read aloud to a gathered church.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 16 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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