23 ‘I will (A)heap disasters on them;
(B)I will spend My arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the (C)teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword shall destroy outside;
There shall be terror within
For the young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 (D)I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces,
I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,”
27 Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
Lest they should say, (E)“Our hand is high;
And it is not the Lord who has done all this.” ’

28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
Nor is there any understanding in them.
29 (F)Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their (G)latter end!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock (H)had sold them,
And the Lord had surrendered them?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,
(I)Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For (J)their vine is of the vine of Sodom
And of the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is (K)the poison of serpents,
And the cruel (L)venom of cobras.

34 Is this not (M)laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up among My treasures?
35 (N)Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
(O)For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’

36 “For(P) the Lord will judge His people
(Q)And have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their power is gone,
And (R)there is no one remaining, bond or free.
37 He will say: (S)‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise and help you,
And be your refuge.

39 ‘Now see that (T)I, even I, am He,
And (U)there is no God besides Me;
(V)I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
40 For I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, “As I live forever,
41 (W)If I [a]whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And repay those who hate Me.
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 heads of the leaders of the enemy.” ’

43 “Rejoice,(X) O Gentiles, with His [b]people;
For He will (Y)avenge the blood of His servants,
And render vengeance to His adversaries;
He (Z)will provide atonement for His land and His people.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:41 sharpen
  2. Deuteronomy 32:43 DSS fragment adds And let all the gods (angels) worship Him; cf. LXX and Heb. 1:6

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