Deuteronomy 32:25-27

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

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.
²⁶ I thought to scatter them^[a]
    and blot out the memory of them from humankind;
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.”