³ For now they will say:
    “We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord,
    and a king—what could he do for us?”

¹⁹ The Lord saw it and was jealous;^[c]
    he spurned^[d] his sons and daughters.^(E)
20 He said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
    I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
    children in whom there is no faithfulness.^(F)
21 They made me jealous with what is no god,
    provoked me with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with what is no people,
    provoke them with a foolish nation.^(G)
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger
    and burns to the depths of Sheol;
it devours the earth and its increase
    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.^(H)
23 I will heap disasters upon them,
    spend my arrows against them:^(I)
24 wasting hunger,
    burning consumption,
    bitter pestilence.
The teeth of beasts I will send against them,
    with venom of things crawling in the dust.^(J)
25 In the street the sword shall bereave,
    and in the chambers terror
for young man and woman alike,
    nursing child and old gray head.^(K)
26 I said, “I will make an end of them^[e]
    and blot out the memory of them from humankind,”^(L)
27 but I feared provocation by the enemy,
    for their adversaries might misunderstand
and say, “Our hand is triumphant;
    it was not the Lord who did all this.” ’^(M)

²⁸ They are a nation void of sense;
    there is no understanding in them.
²⁹ If they were wise, they would understand this;
    they would discern what their end would be.^(N)
30 How could one have routed a thousand
    and two put a myriad to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
    the Lord had given them up?^(O)
31 Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
    our enemies are fools.^[f](P)
32 Their vine comes from the vinestock of Sodom,
    from the vineyards of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
    their clusters are bitter;
³³ their wine is the poison of serpents,
    the cruel venom of asps.^(Q)

³⁴ Is not this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up in my treasuries,^(R)
35 for the day of vengeance^[g] and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip?
Because the day of their calamity is at hand;
    their doom comes swiftly.^(S)

³⁶ Indeed, the Lord will vindicate his people,
    have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone,
    neither bond nor free remaining.^(T)
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge,^(U)
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their libations?
Let them rise up and help you;
    let them be your protection!

³⁹ See now that I, even I, am he;
    there is no god besides me.
I kill, and I make alive;
    I wound, and I heal;
    and no one can deliver from my hand.^(V)
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven
    and swear, As I live forever,
⁴¹ when I whet my flashing sword
    and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and will repay those who hate me.^(W)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the long-haired enemy.’^(X)

⁴³ Praise, O heavens,^[h] his people;
    worship him, all you gods!^[i]
For he will avenge the blood of his children^[j]
    and take vengeance on his adversaries;
he will repay those who hate him^[k]
    and cleanse the land for his people.”^[l](Y)