¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’^[a](A)

¹⁵ For he says to Moses,

¹⁶ So it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{(B) 18} So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.

God’s Wrath and Mercy

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”^{(C) 20} But who indeed are you, a human, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?”^{(D) 21} Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?^{(E) 22} What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction,^{(F) 23} and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the gentiles?

⁹ Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor^[a] might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.^(A)

²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly.

²³ but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!