Romans 10:14-21

14But people will never ask Christ to help them if they have not believed in him. And they will never believe in him if they have not heard about him. And they will not hear about him unless somebody tells God's message to them.

15And nobody can go to tell God's message to people unless God sends them. This is written in the Bible: ‘When people arrive to tell us good news, we say “welcome!” ’

16But not every person who hears the good news obeys its message. Isaiah said this: ‘Lord God, it seems that nobody has believed our message.’

17So then, people must hear the message before they can trust God. And people hear that message when someone tells them about Christ.

18Let me ask you this: ‘Did Israel's people hear that message?’ They certainly did! The Bible says: ‘People have spoken God's message everywhere. People have heard his message in every part of the world.’

19So I ask this too: ‘When Israel's people heard God's message, did they understand it?’ First, think about what Moses wrote. God said to Israel's people: ‘I will make you jealous because of people who are not my people. I will make you angry because of people who know nothing about me.’

20Also, this is what Isaiah said very bravely: ‘God says: Those people who were not looking for me have found me. I showed myself to people who were not even asking about me.’

21But Isaiah says this about Israel's people: ‘God says: For a very long time, I have been asking my people to return to me. But they refused to obey me. They turned against me.’