¹⁷ I will send these enemy troops among you
    like poisonous snakes you cannot charm.
They will bite you, and you will die.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

¹¹ If a snake bites before you charm it,
    what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

⁴ They spit venom like deadly snakes;
    they are like cobras that refuse to listen,
⁵ ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers,
    no matter how skillfully they play.

²⁴ I will weaken them with famine,
    burning fever, and deadly disease.
I will send the fangs of wild beasts
    and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.

³ Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
    I will search them out and capture them.
Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
    I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.

²⁹ Do not rejoice, you Philistines,
    that the rod that struck you is broken—
    that the king who attacked you is dead.
For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born,
    a fiery serpent to destroy you!