Deuteronomy 32:15-30

15The Israelites became rich and fat. They turned against God. They were full of good food, but they turned away from God. He was the one who made them. He was the strong Rock who kept them safe. But they no longer respected him.

16They worshipped foreign gods. So the Lord became angry and jealous. They made idols which he hated.

17They offered sacrifices to demons, instead of to God. They worshipped new gods which they had not known before. Your ancestors had never respected those gods.

18You forgot about your strong Rock, the God who gave you life.

19When the Lord saw this, he turned away from them. His sons and daughters had made him angry.

20He said, ‘I will not continue to help them. I will see what happens to them when I leave them alone. They are children who do not obey me. They have not served me faithfully.

21They have made me jealous as they serve false gods. They have made me angry as they worship useless idols. So I will make them jealous as I help a useless nation. I will make them angry as I bless a foolish nation.

22I will become so angry that I punish them very much. I will destroy them like a hot fire. It will be like a fire that reaches deep down into the place of dead people. It will destroy the ground and everything that grows on it. It will burn deep down to the foundations of the mountains.

23I will cause them to have many kinds of trouble. I will attack them like a soldier who shoots all his arrows.

24They will become weak and hungry. They will have bad diseases that give them much pain. I will cause wild animals to attack them. Snakes will bite them and they will die.

25If they go out of their homes, their enemies will kill them. If they stay at home, they will die from fear. Young men and young women will die. Babies and old men will also die.

26I wanted to remove my people completely, so that nobody would ever remember them.

27But then their enemies would boast. They would not understand. They would say, “We have destroyed these people with our own strength! The Lord has not done this!” ’

28Israel is a nation without wisdom. They do not understand what will happen to them.

29If they were wise, they would understand. They would know what would happen to them in the end.

30One man can chase away 1,000 of my people! Two men can chase away 10,000 of them! How can that happen? God, their strong Rock, has left them. The Lord has given their enemies power over them.