26 ‘I would have said, “aI will cut them to pieces,

bI will remove the memory of them from men,”

27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,

That their adversaries would misjudge,

That they would say, “aOur hand is 1triumphant,

And the Lord has not done all this.” ’

28 “aFor they are a nation 1lacking in counsel,

And there is no understanding in them.

29 “aWould that they were wise, that they understood this,

bThat they would discern their 1future!

30 “aHow could one chase a thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Unless their bRock had sold them,

And the Lord had given them up?

31 “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,

aEven our enemies 1themselves judge this.

32 “For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,

And from the fields of Gomorrah;

Their grapes are grapes of apoison,

Their clusters, bitter.

33 “Their wine is the venom of 1serpents,

And the 2deadly poison of cobras.