Jewish unbelief and the calling of the Gentiles
After this the Jew says: “Or did he come down for this, that we might disbelieve?” To him it will be said: He did not come for this, to produce unbelief in the Jews; but knowing beforehand that it would come about, he foretold it, and he made use of the Jews’ unbelief for the calling of the Gentiles. For “through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:11). Of these Gentiles the Christ who speaks in the prophets says: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me” (Psalm 18:43–44); and “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for me” (Isaiah 65:1; compare Romans 10:20). And it is clear that the Jews also suffered punishment in this life, after they had done to Jesus what they did.
But if the Jews bring charges against us, let them answer this: “Wonderful indeed is God’s providence and kindness toward you, who are being punished and have been deprived of Jerusalem, of what is called the sanctuary, and of the most solemn worship!” For whatever they say in defence of God’s providence, we shall establish it more firmly and better, saying that God’s providence has been wonderful, since it made use of that people’s sin so that those from the Gentiles, “strangers to the covenants” (Ephesians 2:12) and aliens to the promises, might be called through Jesus into the kingdom of God.
The prophets also foretold this: that because of the sins of the Hebrew people God would choose not one nation but picked people from every quarter, and that, choosing “the foolish things of the world” (1 Corinthians 1:27), he would make the senseless nation (compare Deuteronomy 32:21) become versed in the divine words, with the kingdom of God taken from them and given to these (Matthew 21:43). For the present it is enough, out of many, to set down the prophecy about the calling of the Gentiles from the Song in Deuteronomy, which runs thus and is spoken in the person of the Lord: “For they made me jealous with what are no gods; they provoked me to anger with their idols; and I will make them jealous with what is no nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke them to anger” (Deuteronomy 32:21).
Greek
Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει ὁ Ἰουδαῖος· ἢ ἐπὶ τούτῳ κατῆλθεν, ἵν᾿ ἀπιστήσωμεν; πρὸς ὃν λελέξεται· οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μὲν ἦλθεν, ἵν᾿ ἐργάσηται τὴν ἀπιστίαν Ἰουδαίοις, προγινώσκων δ᾿ αὐτὴν ἐσομένην προεῖπε καὶ συνεχρήσατο τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων πρὸς τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν. τῷ γὰρ ἐκείνων „παραπτώματι ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσι“ γεγένηται, περὶ ὧν ὁ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Χριστός φησι· „λαὸς, ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων, ἐδούλευσέ μοι· εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέ μου,“ καὶ „εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσι.“ καὶ σαφὲς ὅτι καὶ τὴν ἐν βίῳ κόλασιν Ἰουδαῖοι μετὰ τὸ διαθεῖναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἃ διέθηκαν ἐκολάσθησαν. λεγέτωσαν δ᾿ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐὰν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλοῦντες φάσκωσιν· θαυμαστή γε ὑμῖν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ πρόνοια καὶ φιλανθρωπία, κολαζομένοις καὶ στερηθεῖσι καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τοῦ λεγομένου ἁγιάσματος καὶ τῆς σεμνοτάτης λατρείας· ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν εἴπωσιν ἀπολογούμενοι περὶ τῆς προνοίας τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡμεῖς μᾶλλον κατασκευάσομεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον λέγοντες θαυμαστὴν γεγονέναι πρόνοιαν τοῦ θεοῦ, συγχρησαμένην τῷ ἁμαρτήματι τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκείνου εἰς τὸ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ κληθῆναι, τοὺς ξένους „τῶν διαθηκῶν“ καὶ ἀλλοτρίους τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν εἰς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ προεῖπον οἱ προφῆται, ὡς ἄρα διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ τῶν Ἑβραίων λαοῦ ἐκλέξεται ὁ θεὸς οὐχὶ ἔθνος ἀλλὰ λογάδας πανταχόθεν, καὶ „τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου“ ἐκλεξάμενος ποιήσει τὸ ἀσύνετον ἔθνος γενέσθαι ἐν τοῖς θείοις λόγοις, αἰρομένης μὲν ἀπ᾿ ἐκείνων τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείας τούτοις δὲ διδομένης. ἀρκεῖ δ᾿ ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾠδῆς τοῦ Δευτερονομίου προφητείαν περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως οὕτως ἔχουσαν. λεγομένην ἐκ προσώπου κυρίου· „αὐτοὶ γὰρ παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπ᾿ οὐ θεοῖς, παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπ᾿ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπ᾿ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς.“