AUV(i)
5 So, now also, there is a small minority which has been selected by God’s unearned favor [i.e., to be saved].
6 And if [they were selected] by God’s unearned favor, [then] the choice is not based on the good that people may do. Otherwise, God’s favor would not be [really] unearned.
7 What then? [Just this]: The very thing that the Israelites are looking for [i.e., a right relationship with God], they have not found. But God’s selected ones obtained [this right relationship with Him] and the rest [of the Israelites] were made insensitive to God’s call,
8 as it has been written [Isa. 19:10], “God gave them a spirit of numbness [i.e., they developed a spiritual insensitivity to God and His word]. [He gave them] eyes to see with [but they would not look], and ears to hear with [but they did not listen]. And they still have this spirit.”
9 And King David said [Psa. 69:22-23], “Let their table ensnare and trap them [i.e., let the Jews’ devotion to such things as lavish feasts become the occasion for leading them astray], and become an occasion for their falling [away from God]. And let them be repaid [for such conduct with punishment].
10 Let their eyes become [spiritually] dim so they cannot see, and may their backs always bend [i.e., under heavy burdens].”