23  “ ‘And I will heap disasters upon them;

hI will spend my arrows on them;

24  they shall be wasted with hunger,

and devoured by plague

and poisonous pestilence;

I will send ithe teeth of beasts against them,

with the venom of jthings that crawl in the dust.

25  kOutdoors the sword shall bereave,

and indoors terror,

for young man and woman alike,

the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

26  lI would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;

mI will wipe them from human memory,”

27  had I not feared provocation by the enemy,

lest their adversaries should misunderstand,

lest they should say, n“Our hand is triumphant,

it was not the Lord who did all this.” ’

28  “For they are a nation void of counsel,

and there is ono understanding in them.

29  pIf they were wise, they would understand this;

they would qdiscern their latter end!

30  How could rone have chased a thousand,

and two have put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock shad sold them,

and the Lord had given them up?

31  For ttheir rock is not as our Rock;

uour enemies are by themselves.

32  For their vine vcomes from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of wpoison;

their clusters are bitter;

33  their wine is the poison of xserpents

and the cruel venom of asps.

34  “ ‘Is not this laid up in store with me,

ysealed up in my treasuries?

35  zVengeance is mine, and recompense,6

afor the time when their foot shall slip;

for bthe day of their calamity is at hand,

and their doom comes swiftly.’

36  For cthe Lord will vindicate7 his people

dand have compassion on his servants,

when he sees that their power is gone

and there is none remaining, ebond or free.

37  Then he will say, f‘Where are their gods,

gthe rock in which they took refuge,

38  who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise up and help you;

let them be your protection!

39  “ ‘See now that hI, even I, am he,

and there is no god beside me;

iI kill and I make alive;

jI wound and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

40  For kI lift up my hand to heaven

and swear, As I live forever,

41  if I lsharpen my flashing sword8

and my hand takes hold on judgment,

I will take vengeance on my adversaries

and will repay those who hate me.

42  I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and mmy sword shall devour flesh—

with the blood of the slain and the captives,

from the nlong-haired heads of the enemy.’