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11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights^* in the desert towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— ¹²a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgement against them.
²² ‘For my people are foolish,
   they do not know me;
they are stupid children,
   they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
   but do not know how to do good.’

²³ I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
   and to the heavens, and they had no light.
²⁴ I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
   and all the hills moved to and fro.
²⁵ I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,
   and all the birds of the air had fled.
²⁶ I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
   and all its cities were laid in ruins
   before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
²⁸ Because of this the earth shall mourn,
   and the heavens above grow black;
for I have spoken, I have purposed;
   I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Gratitude for Mercy

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.^* Amen.