וַיַּ֥רְא יְהוָ֖ה וַיִּנְאָ֑ץ מִכַּ֥עַס בָּנָ֖יו וּבְנֹתָֽיו׃

The Lord saw and scorned, due to the anger caused by the idolatrous ways of His sons and His daughters.

וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַסְתִּ֤ירָה פָנַי֙ מֵהֶ֔ם אֶרְאֶ֖ה מָ֣ה אַחֲרִיתָ֑ם כִּ֣י ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ הֵ֔מָּה בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם׃

He, God, said: I will conceal My face from them. I will not reveal Myself to them, and I will remove My providence from them. I will see what their end is. As God is aware of everything that will befall them, this is clearly a rhetorical statement, meaning: Without My guidance and intervention they will not survive. As they are a generation of fickleness, children in whom there is no faithfulness.

הֵ֚ם קִנְא֣וּנִי בְלֹא־אֵ֔ל כִּעֲס֖וּנִי בְּהַבְלֵיהֶ֑ם וַאֲנִי֙ אַקְנִיאֵ֣ם בְּלֹא־עָ֔ם בְּג֥וֹי נָבָ֖ל אַכְעִיסֵֽם׃

They have infuriated Me with their allegiance to a non-god, which has no significance or power whatsoever. They have angered Me with their futilities, as idolatry involves a primitive belief in charms and fortunes. And therefore, in a similar manner, I will infuriate them with a non-people, an enemy that is not a genuine nation. With a crude nation, a mixture of ignoble peoples, I will anger them.

כִּי־אֵשׁ֙ קָדְחָ֣ה בְאַפִּ֔י וַתִּיקַ֖ד עַד־שְׁא֣וֹל תַּחְתִּ֑ית וַתֹּ֤אכַל אֶ֙רֶץ֙ וִֽיבֻלָ֔הּ וַתְּלַהֵ֖ט מוֹסְדֵ֥י הָרִֽים׃

For I was enraged; a fire blazed in My nostrils, and it burned to the lowest depths, and it consumed the earth and its produce, and set ablaze the foundations of mountains. The fire of My anger will shock the entire world.

אַסְפֶּ֥ה עָלֵ֖ימוֹ רָע֑וֹת חִצַּ֖י אֲכַלֶּה־בָּֽם׃

I will add evils upon them aside from those already mentioned; I will exhaust all My arrows, instruments of My punishment, on them. Arrows will rain down upon them until none remain.

מְזֵ֥י רָעָ֛ב וּלְחֻ֥מֵי רֶ֖שֶׁף וְקֶ֣טֶב מְרִירִ֑י וְשֶׁן־בְּהֵמוֹת֙ אֲשַׁלַּח־בָּ֔ם עִם־חֲמַ֖ת זֹחֲלֵ֥י עָפָֽר׃

They, His sons and daughters, will be wasted from hunger, and consumed by demons and evil spirits . Alternatively, they will be consumed by a terrible plague. And the teeth of animals I will also dispatch at them, with the venom of crawlers in the dust. Not only venomous snakes, but even domesticated animals, will bite them. Although this may seem like a milder punishment than the others mentioned here, those attacks will cause them to despair, as they will feel that they are under attack from all directions.

מִחוּץ֙ תְּשַׁכֶּל־חֶ֔רֶב וּמֵחֲדָרִ֖ים אֵימָ֑ה גַּם־בָּחוּר֙ גַּם־בְּתוּלָ֔ה יוֹנֵ֖ק עִם־אִ֥ישׁ שֵׂיבָֽה׃

Outside their homes, the sword will bereave families, and

אָמַ֖רְתִּי אַפְאֵיהֶ֑ם אַשְׁבִּ֥יתָה מֵאֱנ֖וֹשׁ זִכְרָֽם׃

I said I would scatter them [ af’eihem ] across the corners of the earth. The similar word pe’a meaning corners refers to the produce in the corner of the field left for the poor. Alternatively, the verse means: I said I would stab them. I would terminate their memory from man.

לוּלֵ֗י כַּ֤עַס אוֹיֵב֙ אָג֔וּר פֶּֽן־יְנַכְּר֖וּ צָרֵ֑ימוֹ פֶּן־יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ יָדֵ֣ינוּ רָ֔מָה וְלֹ֥א יְהוָ֖ה פָּעַ֥ל כָּל־זֹֽאת׃

Indeed, because of their insolence, ingratitude, and infidelity, I would destroy Israel, were it not that I dread [ agur ] the enemy’s anger. Alternatively, agur means gathered, i.e., were it not that the enemy’s anger was pent up. Yet another interpretation: Were it not that the enemy of Israel was angry. However, under the circumstances, I am concerned lest their adversaries misapprehend, lest they say: Our hand is mighty; with our strength we subdued Israel, and it is not the Lord who did all this.

כִּי־ג֛וֹי אֹבַ֥ד עֵצ֖וֹת הֵ֑מָּה וְאֵ֥ין בָּהֶ֖ם תְּבוּנָֽה׃

For they, Israel’s enemies, are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. Therefore, they will fail to recognize that their ascent to greatness was not through their own merit but because Israel was involved in those events.