2 Maccabees 6:12-14

Good News Translation

The Lord Punishes and Shows Mercy

¹² I beg you not to become discouraged as you read about the terrible things that happened. Consider that this was the Lord's way of punishing his people, not of destroying them. ¹³ In fact, it is a sign of kindness to punish a person immediately for his sins, rather than to wait a long time. ¹⁴ The Lord does not treat us as he does other nations: he waits patiently until they have become deeply involved in sin before he punishes them,