15. that your all-powerful word had leaped down from heaven, the royal throne. Like a fierce warrior, he had entered the land that was marked for destruction.
16. He carried with him your unchanging declaration like a sharp sword. He stood up and filled everything with death; he reached the sky while still standing on the ground.
17. Immediately the visions of their nightmares shook them. Unexpected fears assaulted them.
18. One here, then another there, fell to the ground half-dead. They shouted out to tell those around them why they were dying.
19. The dreams that had so bothered them had foretold that this was to happen. And so they perished knowing full well why they were suffering.
20. Those who did what is right were also touched by a test of death when many fell in the desert. But that wrath didn’t last long,
21. because a man in whom no blame could be found was already running to join the fight. He took up prayer and the reconciling incense as his weapons. He stood strong against the fury. In doing so, he limited the damage that was done. He showed that he was your servant.
22. He overcame divine anger not by bodily strength or by the power of weapons. He subdued the punisher by the word. He reminded him of the solemn pledges that had been made to our ancestors and of the covenants that had been given to them.
23. The dead already lay fallen one upon another in heaps when he stood between the punisher and the people and stopped the assault. He cut off the punisher’s access to the living.