³ “For I will proclaim the name of Adonai.
Come, declare the greatness of our God!
⁴ The Rock! His work is perfect,
for all his ways are just.
A trustworthy God who does no wrong,
he is righteous and straight.

⁵ “He is not corrupt; the defect is in his children,
a crooked and perverted generation.
⁶ You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom,
is this how you repay Adonai?
He is your father, who made you his!
It was he who formed and prepared you!

(ii) ⁷ “Remember how the old days were;
think of the years through all the ages.
Ask your father — he will tell you;
your leaders too — they will inform you.
⁸ “When ‘Elyon gave each nation its heritage,
when he divided the human race,
he assigned the boundaries of peoples
according to Isra’el’s population;
⁹ but Adonai’s share was his own people,
Ya‘akov his allotted heritage.

¹⁰ “He found his people in desert country,
in a howling, wasted wilderness.
He protected him and cared for him,
guarded him like the pupil of his eye,
¹¹ like an eagle that stirs up her nest,
hovers over her young,
spreads out her wings, takes them
and carries them as she flies.

¹² “Adonai alone led his people;
no alien god was with him.
(iii) ¹³ He made them ride on the heights of the earth.
They ate the produce of the fields.
He had them suck honey from the rocks
and olive oil from the crags,
¹⁴ curds from the cows and milk from the sheep,
with lamb fat, rams from Bashan and goats,
with the finest wheat flour;
and you drank sparkling wine from the blood of grapes.

¹⁵ “But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked
(you grew fat, thick, gross!).
He abandoned God his Maker;
he scorned the Rock, his salvation.
¹⁶ They roused him to jealousy with alien gods,
provoked him with abominations.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, non-gods,
gods that they had never known,
new gods that had come up lately,
which your ancestors had not feared.
¹⁸ You ignored the Rock who fathered you,
you forgot God, who gave you birth.

(iv) ¹⁹ “Adonai saw and was filled with scorn
at his sons’ and daughters’ provocation.
²⁰ He said, ‘I will hide my face from them
and see what will become of them;
for they are a perverse generation,
untrustworthy children.
²¹ They aroused my jealousy with a non-god
and provoked me with their vanities;
I will arouse their jealousy with a non-people
and provoke them with a vile nation.

²² “‘For my anger has been fired up.
It burns to the depths of Sh’ol,
devouring the earth and its crops,
kindling the very roots of the hills.
²³ I will heap disasters on them
and use up all my arrows against them.

²⁴ “‘Fatigued by hunger, they will be
consumed by fever and bitter defeat;
I will send them the fangs of wild beasts,
and the poison of reptiles crawling in the dust.
²⁵ Outside, the sword makes parents childless;
inside, there is panic,
as young men and girls alike are slain,
sucklings and graybeards together.

²⁶ “‘I considered putting an end to them,
erasing their memory from the human race;
²⁷ but I feared the insolence of their enemy,
feared that their foes would mistakenly think,
“We ourselves accomplished this;
Adonai had nothing to do with it.”

²⁸ “‘They are a nation without common sense,
utterly lacking in discernment.
(v) ²⁹ If they were wise they could figure it out
and understand their destiny.
³⁰ After all, how can one chase a thousand
and two put ten thousand to rout,
unless their Rock sells them to their enemies,
unless Adonai hands them over?
³¹ For our enemies have no rock like our Rock —
even they can see that!

³² “‘Rather, their vine is from the vine of S’dom,
from the fields of ‘Amora —
their grapes are poisonous,
their clusters are bitter;
³³ their wine is snake poison,
the cruel venom of vipers.
³⁴     “‘Isn’t this hidden with me,
sealed in my storehouses?

³⁵ Vengeance and payback are mine
for the time when their foot slips;
for the day of their calamity is coming soon,
their doom is rushing upon them.’

³⁶ “Yes, Adonai will judge his people,
taking pity on his servants,
when he sees that their strength is gone,
that no one is left, slave or free.
³⁷ Then he will ask, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they trusted?
³⁸ Who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let him get up and help you,
let him protect you!
³⁹ See now that I, yes, I, am he;
and there is no god beside me.
I put to death, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
no one saves anyone from my hand!

(vi) ⁴⁰ “‘For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear,
“As surely as I am alive forever,
⁴¹ if I sharpen my flashing sword
and set my hand to judgment,
I will render vengeance to my foes,
repay those who hate me.
⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
my sword will devour flesh —
the blood of the slain and the captives,
flesh from the wild-haired heads of the enemy.”’

⁴³ “Sing out, you nations, about his people!
For he will avenge the blood of his servants.
He will render vengeance to his adversaries
and make atonement for the land of his people.”

^5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them freely;
for my anger has turned from him.
^6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;
he will blossom like a lily
and strike roots like the L’vanon.
^7 (6) His branches will spread out,
his beauty be like an olive tree
and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
^8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;
they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be
like the wine of the L’vanon.
^9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I
to do any more with idols?’
And I, I answer and affirm him;
I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
^10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,
and let the discerning know them.
For the ways of Adonai are straight,
And the righteous walk in them,
but in them sinners stumble.

¹⁸ Who is a God like you,
pardoning the sin and overlooking the crimes
of the remnant of his heritage?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in grace.
¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us,
he will subdue our iniquities.
You will throw all their sins
into the depths of the sea.
²⁰ You will show truth to Ya‘akov
and grace to Avraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
since days of long ago.

¹⁵ “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly.”

¹⁶ Gather the people; consecrate the congregation;
assemble the leaders; gather the children,
even infants sucking at the breast;
let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride the bridal chamber.
¹⁷ Let the cohanim, who serve Adonai,
stand weeping between the vestibule and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Adonai!
Don’t expose your heritage to mockery,
or make them a byward among the Goyim.
Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

¹⁸ Then Adonai will become jealous for his land
and have pity on his people.
¹⁹ Here is how Adonai will answer his people:
“I will send you grain, wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy you;
and no longer will I make you
a mockery among the Goyim.
²⁰ No, I will take the northerner away,
far away from you,
and drive him to a land
that is waste and barren;
with his vanguard toward the eastern sea
and his rearguard toward the western sea,
his stench and his rottenness will rise,
because he has done great things.”

²¹ Don’t fear, O soil; be glad! rejoice!
for Adonai has done great things.
²² Don’t be afraid, wild animals;
for the desert pastures are green,
the trees are putting out their fruit,
the fig tree and vine are giving full yield.
²³ Be glad, people of Tziyon!
rejoice in Adonai your God!
For he is giving you
the right amount of rain in the fall,
he makes the rain come down for you,
the fall and spring rains — this is what he does first.
²⁴ Then the floors will be full of grain
and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil.

²⁵ “I will restore to you the years that the locusts ate,
the grasshoppers, shearer-worms and cutter-worms,
my great army that I sent against you.
²⁶ You will eat until you are satisfied
and will praise the name of Adonai your God,
who has done with you such wonders.
Then my people will never again be shamed.
²⁷ You will know that I am with Isra’el
and that I am Adonai your God,
and that there is no other.
Then my people will never again be shamed.

¹³ “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call Shabbat a delight,
Adonai’s holy day, worth honoring;
then honor it by not doing your usual things
or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.
¹⁴ If you do, you will find delight in Adonai —
I will make you ride on the heights of the land
and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya‘akov,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”

“Adonai says, ‘Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.’”^[a]

²⁰ On the contrary,

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For by doing this, you will heap
fiery coals [of shame] on his head.”^[b]

“Our God is a consuming fire!”^[a]