Deuteronomy 32:19-43

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.

31The gods of our enemies are not strong like our Rock. Even our enemies know that their own gods are weak.

32Our enemies are like grapes full of poison. They are like grapes that have grown in the fields of Sodom and Gomorrah.

33The wine from their grapes kills people, like dangerous poison from snakes.

34The Lord says, ‘I will not forget to punish Israel's enemies. I have already decided what I will do, and I will do it!

35When the right time comes, I will punish them as they deserve. They will suddenly fall and great trouble will quickly destroy them.’

36At that time, the Lord will bring justice for his people. He will forgive his servants. He will rescue them when he sees that they are weak, and very few of them remain, as slaves or free people.

37Then the Lord will ask his people, ‘Why could your gods not help you? Those were the gods that you thought would keep you safe.

38You fed them with the best part of your sacrifices. You let them drink the wine from your offerings. So they should be there to help you! They should keep you safe!

39Realize the truth! I alone am God. There is no other god as well as me. I can kill and I can give life. I can hurt people and I can make them well again. Nobody can stop me doing what I choose to do.

40I lift up my hand to heaven and I make this strong promise: “I promise you this, as surely as I live for ever:

41I will make my sword very sharp. It will move like lightning as I hold it in my hand. I will punish my enemies as they deserve. I will pay back everyone who hates me.

42My arrows will have blood all over them. My sword will cut into the bodies of my enemies. Everyone that I take hold of will die. I will cut off the heads of their leaders.” ’

43So you people of other nations, join with God's people to praise him! He will punish those who have killed his servants. He will punish all his enemies. But he will forgive the sins of his people, and he will make their land clean again.