14. The Lord does not treat us as he does other nations; he waits patiently until they have become deeply involved in sin before he punishes them,
15. but he punishes us before we have sinned too much.
16. So the Lord is always merciful to us, his own people. Although he punishes us with disasters, he never abandons us.
17. I have made these few observations by way of reminder. We will now get on with the story.