Deuteronomy 32:19–43

¹⁹When the LORD saw this, He rejected them,

provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

²⁰He said: “I will hide My face from them;

I will see what will be their end.

For they are a perverse generation—

children of unfaithfulness.

²¹They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God;

they have enraged Me with their worthless idols.

So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people;^f

I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.^g

²²For a fire has been kindled by My anger,

and it burns to the depths of Sheol;

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

²³I will heap disasters upon them;

I will spend My arrows against them.

²⁴They will be wasted from hunger

and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;

I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them,

with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.

²⁵Outside, the sword will take their children,

and inside, terror will strike

the young man and the young woman,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

²⁶I would have said that I would cut them to pieces

and blot out their memory from mankind,

²⁷if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest their adversaries misunderstand and say:

‘Our own hand has prevailed;

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

²⁸Israel is a nation devoid of counsel,

with no understanding among them.

²⁹If only they were wise, they would understand it;

they would comprehend their fate.

³⁰How could one man pursue a thousand,

or two put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

unless the LORD had given them up?

³¹For their rock is not like our Rock,

even our enemies concede.^h

³²But their vine is from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are poisonous;

their clusters are bitter.

³³Their wine is the venom of serpents,

the deadly poison of cobras.

³⁴“Have I not stored up these things,

sealed up within My vaults?

³⁵Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.ⁱ

In due time their foot will slip;

for their day of disaster is near,

and their doom is coming quickly.”

³⁶For the LORD will vindicate His people^j

and have compassion on His servants

when He sees that their strength is gone

and no one remains, slave or free.

³⁷He will say: “Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

³⁸which ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up and help you;

let them give you shelter!

³⁹See now that I am He;

there is no God besides Me.

I bring death and I give life;

I wound and I heal,

and there is no one

who can deliver from My hand.

⁴⁰For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare:

As surely as I live forever,

⁴¹when I sharpen My flashing sword,

and My hand grasps it in judgment,

I will take vengeance on My adversaries

and repay those who hate Me.

⁴²I will make My arrows drunk with blood,

while My sword devours flesh—

the blood of the slain and captives,

the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³Rejoice, [O heavens, with Him,

and let all God’s angels worship Him.]^k

Rejoice, O nations, with His people;^l

for He will avenge the blood of His children.^m

He will take vengeance on His adversaries

[and repay those who hate Him];ⁿ

He will cleanse His land

and His people.