²² The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.

¹³ I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”

⁷ “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! ⁸ Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

⁹ For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?”

⁶ And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

²⁹ For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

² You have been set apart as holy to the Lord your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.

⁹ But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,^[a] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.