The Lord God has sworn by His holiness: Behold, the days are coming upon you when they will take you away with hooks, the last one of you with fishhooks.
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He spoken, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, beloved brothers of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.