¹⁶ So it doesn’t depend on what people want or what they do. It depends on God’s mercy. ¹⁷ In Scripture, God says to Pharaoh, “I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to use you to show my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth.” (Exodus 9:16) ¹⁸ So God does what he wants to do. He shows mercy to one person and makes another stubborn.