Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
I do not this for your sakes - i:e., not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part there is everything to call down confirmed severity (cf. Deuteronomy 9:5-6). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant-grace, which He must vindicate from the dishonour brought on it by the Jews before the pagan (Psalms 106:45).