4 because they were doing works hateful to you, through unjust medicines and sacrifices,
5 and the merciless murderers of their own sons, and the eaters of human entrails, and the devourers of blood apart from your community sacrament,
6 and the sellers performing the ceremonies of helpless souls, you willed to destroy by the hands of our parents,
7 so that they might worthily secure the sojourn of the children of God, in the land which is most beloved by you.
8 Yet, so that you were lenient even to these men, you sent wasps, forerunners of your army, so that you might destroy them little by little,
9 not because you were unable to subdue the impious under the just by war or by cruel beasts, or with a harsh word to exterminate them at once,
10 but, in judging by degrees, you were giving them a place of repentance, not unaware that their nation is wicked, and their malice is inherent, and that their thinking could never be changed.