²⁴ I will send wasting famine^(A) against them,
    consuming pestilence^(B) and deadly plague;^(C)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,^(D)
    the venom of vipers^(E) that glide in the dust.^(F)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror^(G) will reign.^(H)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.^(I)
26 I said I would scatter^(J) them
    and erase their name from human memory,^(K)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand^(L)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”^(M)

²⁸ They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment^(N) in them.
²⁹ If only they were wise and would understand this^(O)
    and discern what their end will be!^(P)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,^(Q)
unless their Rock had sold them,^(R)
    unless the Lord had given them up?^(S)

²⁴ I will send wasting famine^(A) against them,
    consuming pestilence^(B) and deadly plague;^(C)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,^(D)
    the venom of vipers^(E) that glide in the dust.^(F)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror^(G) will reign.^(H)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.^(I)
26 I said I would scatter^(J) them
    and erase their name from human memory,^(K)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand^(L)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”^(M)

²⁸ They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment^(N) in them.
²⁹ If only they were wise and would understand this^(O)
    and discern what their end will be!^(P)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,^(Q)
unless their Rock had sold them,^(R)
    unless the Lord had given them up?^(S)