32:23 I will increase their 1 disasters,
I will use up my arrows on them.
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 2
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 3 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. 4
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
32:27 But I fear the reaction 5 of their enemies,
for 6 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 7
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,
and there is no understanding among them.
1 tn Heb “upon them.”
2 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
3 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
4 tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).
5 tn Heb “anger.”
6 tn Heb “lest.”
7 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”