¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(A)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(B)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[a] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(C)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(D)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(E)to answer back to God? ^(F)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (G)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(H)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(I)vessels of wrath ^(J)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(K)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(L)has prepared beforehand for glory—