³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord^(A) your God had made his spirit stubborn^(B) and his heart obstinate^(C) in order to give him into your hands,^(D) as he has now done.

²³ But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory.^(A) He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz,^(B) he fought with Israel.^(C)

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders^(A) I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart^(B) so that he will not let the people go.^(C)

¹⁹ Except for the Hivites^(A) living in Gibeon,^(B) not one city made a treaty of peace^(C) with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. ²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts^(D) to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(E)

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,^(A) and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

¹⁷ For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[a](A) 18} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(B)

¹⁹ One of you will say to me:^(C) “Then why does God still blame us?^(D) For who is able to resist his will?”^{(E) 20} But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^(F) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,^(G) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”^{[b](H) 21} Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?^(I)

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(J) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(K) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(L) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(M)—