Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 32:24-30 
Context32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 1
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 2 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. 3
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
32:27 But I fear the reaction 4 of their enemies,
for 5 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 6
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,
and there is no understanding among them.
32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 7
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 8
and the Lord had handed them over?
1 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
2 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
3 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).
4 tn Heb “anger.”
5 tn Heb “lest.”
6 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
7 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
