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1Therefore those people were deservedly punished through such creatures[#v 9 ; Ex 8.2, 17, 24; Wis 11.15, 16; 12.23, 27; #16.1 Gk they]
and were tormented by a multitude of animals.
2Instead of this punishment you showed kindness to your people,[#Ex 16.13; Num 11.31; Wis 19.11, 12]
and you prepared quails to eat,
a delicacy to satisfy the desire of appetite,
3in order that those people, when they desired food,[#Ex 8.3, 5, 24, 28; 16.3]
might lose the least remnant of appetite
because of the odious creatures sent to them,
while your people, after suffering want a short time,
might partake of delicacies.
4For it was necessary that upon those oppressors inescapable want should come,[#Wis 11.8, 9]
while to these others it was merely shown how their enemies were being tormented.
5For when the terrible rage of wild animals came upon your people[#Num 21.6; Wis 11.18; #16.5 Gk them]
and they were being destroyed by the bites of writhing serpents,
your wrath did not continue to the end;
6they were troubled for a little while as a warning[#Num 21.8, 9; Wis 11.10; Jn 3.14, 15]
and received a symbol of deliverance to remind them of your law’s command.
7For the one who turned toward it was saved not by the thing that was beheld[#2 Kings 18.4; Jn 3.14; 1 Tim 4.10]
but by you, the Savior of all.
8And by this also you convinced our enemies
that it is you who deliver from every evil.
9For they were killed by the bites of locusts and flies,[#Ex 8.24; 10.14–17; Ps 78.45; Rev 16.6]
and no healing was found for them
because they deserved to be punished by such things.
10But your children were not conquered even by the fangs of venomous serpents,[#Num 21.6, 8, 9; Jn 3.14, 15]
for your mercy came to their help and healed them.
11To remind them of your oracles they were bitten[#Acts 7.38; Rom 3.2; Heb 5.12]
and then were quickly delivered,
so that they would not fall into deep forgetfulness
and become unresponsive to your kindness.
12For neither herb nor poultice cured them,[#Ex 15.26; Ps 107.20]
but it was your word, O Lord, that heals all people.
13For you have power over life and death;[#Deut 32.39; Tob 13.2; Rev 1.18]
you lead mortals down to the gates of Hades and back again.
14A person in wickedness kills another[#Mt 10.28]
but cannot bring back the departed spirit
or set free the imprisoned soul.
15To escape from your hand is impossible,
16for the ungodly, refusing to know you,[#Ex 5.2; 9.23, 24; Deut 4.34; Wis 12.27]
were flogged by the strength of your arm,
pursued by unusual rains and hail and relentless storms
and utterly consumed by fire.
17For—most incredible of all—in water, which quenches all things,[#v 24 ; Ex 9.24; Wis 19.20]
the fire had still greater effect,
for the universe defends the righteous.
18At one time the flame was restrained,[#Wis 19.21]
so that it might not consume the creatures sent against the ungodly,
but that seeing this they might know
that they were being pursued by the judgment of God,
19and at another time even in the midst of water it burned more intensely than fire,[#v 22 ; Ex 9.24; Wis 19.20]
to destroy the crops of the unrighteous land.
20Instead of these things you gave your people food of angels,[#Ex 16.13, 14; Ps 78.25; 2 Esd 1.19; Jn 6.31]
and without their toil you supplied them from heaven with bread ready to eat,
providing every pleasure and suited to every taste.
21For your sustenance manifested your sweetness toward your children,[#Ps 34.8]
and the bread, ministering to the desire of the one who took it,
was changed to suit everyone’s liking.
22Snow and ice withstood fire without melting,[#v 19 ; Ex 9.23, 24; Wis 19.20, 21]
so that they might know that the crops of their enemies
were being destroyed by the fire that blazed in the hail
and flashed in the showers of rain;
23whereas the fire, in order that the righteous might be fed,[#16.23 Gk this]
even forgot its native power.
24For creation, serving you who made it,[#v 17 ; Wis 19.6]
exerts itself to punish the unrighteous
and in kindness relaxes on behalf of those who trust in you.
25Therefore at that time also, changed into all forms,[#Wis 19.6]
it served your all-nourishing bounty,
according to the desire of those who had need,
26so that your children, whom you loved, O Lord, might learn[#Deut 8.3]
that it is not the production of crops that feeds humankind
but that your word sustains those who trust in you.
27For what was not destroyed by fire[#v 22 ; Ex 16.21]
was melted when simply warmed by a fleeting ray of the sun,
28to make it known that one must rise before the sun to give you thanks[#Ps 5.3; 57.8; 88.13; 119.62]
and must pray to you at the dawning of the light,
29for the hope of an ungrateful person will melt like wintry frost
and flow away like wastewater.