21 They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no god; they have provoked me with their idols. So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people; I will provoke them with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of the Grave, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 "'And I will heap evils upon them; I will spend my arrows upon them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and poisonous pestilence; and I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with venom of crawling things of the dust.
Clearly, this is not going to lead us to a happy and worthy end.
25 In the open the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers shall be terror, destroying both young man and virgin, the sucking child with the man of gray hairs.
26 I would have said, "I will scatter them afar, I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men,"
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge amiss, lest they should say, "Our hand is triumphant, YHVH has not wrought all this."'
28 "For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand this, they would discern their latter end!
This is a sentiment we can all share - Would that we were wise, that we understood.
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and YHVH had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomor'rah; their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps.
The reference to Sodom and Gomorrah has to do with an imbalance between the masculine and the feminine. When they are out of balance, the passionate nature may destroy us. The passions of the heart (and body) must always be balanced by the intellect.
34 "Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.
36 For YHVH will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 Then he will say, 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, let them be your protection!
39 "'See now that I, even I, am he, and there are no gods beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to the heavens, and swear, As I live forever,
Clearly, Moses is fully conscious of who his is. He is illumined. When we have followed the path and done the Great Work, we also shall say, "I live forever."
41 if I whet my glittering sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will requite those who hate me.