24. They shall be wasted with hunger,Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;I will also send against them the teeth of beasts,With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25. The sword shall destroy outside;There shall be terror withinFor the young man and virgin,The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26. 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, “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. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,That they would consider their latter end!
30. How could one chase a thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight,Unless their Rock had sold them,And the Lord had surrendered them?
31. For their rock is not like our Rock,Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32. For their vine is of the vine of SodomAnd of the fields of Gomorrah;Their grapes are grapes of gall,Their clusters are bitter.
33. Their wine is the poison of serpents,And the cruel venom of cobras.
34. ‘Is this not laid up in store with Me,Sealed up among My treasures?
35. Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;Their foot shall slip in due time;For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things to come hasten upon them.’
36. “For the Lord will judge His peopleAnd have compassion on His servants,When He sees that their power is gone,And there is no one remaining, bond or free.