But you say,\par ‘God punishes a child\par for his father’s sins.’\par No! Let God punish the evil person himself.\par Then that evil person will know\par he is being punished for his own sins!\par
You did these bad things,\par and I said nothing.\par So you thought\par that I was just like you.\par Well, I won’t be quiet any longer!\par I will make it very clear to you,\par and I will criticize you to your face!\par
We sinned and turned against the Lord.\par We turned away from him and left him.\par We planned evil things.\par We planned things that are against God.\par We have thought of these things\par and planned them in our hearts.\par
But Felix became afraid when Paul spoke about things like living right, self-control, and the judgment that will come in the future. Felix said, “Go away now! When I have more time, I will call you.”
My friends, don’t try to punish people when they do wrong to you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: “I am the One who punishes; I will pay people back,” {\cf2\super [132]} says the Lord.
Yes, you must show mercy to other people. If you do not show mercy, then God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear when he is judged.