¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done.

²⁸ Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

⁵ Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of^[a] the builders.”

¹⁰ Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. ¹¹ Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”

¹¹ So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. ¹² Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

² I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. ³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

³¹ But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.

¹⁸ So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.