Deuteronomy 32:19-43

19“The Lord saw this and drew back, provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.

20He said, ‘I will abandon them; then see what becomes of them. For they are a twisted generation, children without integrity.

21They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God; they have provoked my anger with their useless idols. Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people; I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.

22For my anger blazes forth like fire and burns to the depths of the grave. It devours the earth and all its crops and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

23I will heap disasters upon them and shoot them down with my arrows.

24I will weaken them with famine, burning fever, and deadly disease. I will send the fangs of wild beasts and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.

25Outside, the sword will bring death, and inside, terror will strike both young men and young women, both infants and the aged.

26I would have annihilated them, wiping out even the memory of them.

27But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy, who might misunderstand and say, “Our own power has triumphed! The Lord had nothing to do with this!”’

28“But Israel is a senseless nation; the people are foolish, without understanding.

29Oh, that they were wise and could understand this! Oh, that they might know their fate!

30How could one person chase a thousand of them, and two people put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?

31But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock, as even they recognize.

32Their vine grows from the vine of Sodom, from the vineyards of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison, and their clusters are bitter.

33Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.

34“The Lord says, ‘Am I not storing up these things, sealing them away in my treasury?

35I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.’

36“Indeed, the Lord will give justice to his people, and he will change his mind about his servants, when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.

37Then he will ask, ‘Where are their gods, the rocks they fled to for refuge?

38Where now are those gods, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their offerings? Let those gods arise and help you! Let them provide you with shelter!

39Look now; I myself am he! There is no other god but me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!

40Now I raise my hand to heaven and declare, “As surely as I live,

41when I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will take revenge on my enemies and repay those who reject me.

42I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh— the blood of the slaughtered and the captives, and the heads of the enemy leaders.”’

43“Rejoice with him, you heavens, and let all of God’s angels worship him. Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles, and let all the angels be strengthened in him. For he will avenge the blood of his children; he will take revenge against his enemies. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse his people’s land.”