26. I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory,”
27. had I not feared provocation by the enemy,lest their adversaries should misunderstand,lest they should say, “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 no understanding in them.
29. If they were wise, they would understand this;they would discern their latter end!
30. How could one have chased a thousand,and two have put ten thousand to flight,unless their Rock had sold them,and the Lord had given them up?
31. For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.
32. For their vine comes from the vine of Sodomand from the fields of Gomorrah;their grapes are grapes of poison;their clusters are bitter;
33. their wine is the poison of serpentsand the cruel venom of asps.
34. “‘Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries?
35. Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip;for the day of their calamity is at hand,and their doom comes swiftly.’
36. For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants,when he sees that their power is goneand there is none remaining, bond or free.
37. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,
38. who ate the fat of their sacrificesand drank the wine of their drink offering?Let them rise up and help you;let them be your protection!
39. “‘See now that I, even I, am he,and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal;and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40. For I lift up my hand to heavenand swear, As I live forever,
41. if I sharpen my flashing swordand my hand takes hold on judgment,I will take vengeance on my adversariesand will 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 long-haired heads of the enemy.’
43. “Rejoice with him, O heavens;bow down to him, all gods,for he avenges the blood of his childrenand takes vengeance on his adversaries.He repays those who hate himand cleanses his people’s land.”