Verses 32-33 describe how worthless are the pagan enemies, how corrupt and sinful they are. Notice the careful progression: their vine … their grapes … their clusters … their wine.

Some background information on Sodom and Gomorrah may be supplied in a footnote (see below), to make the text clear to the reader.

Good News Translation has shifted slightly and made the enemies themselves the term of comparison, not their actions; Bible en français courant does this also, “As for them, they are no better than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah…,” with a footnote, “The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were well known for their immorality; see Gen 18.20-21; 19.4-11.” This is a good alternative model to follow. However, we may also keep the picture of a vine and translate as follows:

• Their enemies are like a grapevine
planted in the fields of Sodom and Gomorrah. *

Their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter: these two lines have the same meaning. It is unlikely that a literal translation will make sense in any language. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje provides a good model to follow: “They are like grapevines that bear worthless grapes, bitter and poisonous grapes,” or following on from the first two lines:
* They [the vines] produce grapes [or, fruit]
that are bitter and poisonous [or, full of bitter poison].

Verse 33 should continue without a break, if possible. Its two lines also have the same meaning. Again Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje is a good model: “they are like wine made of snake’s poison, the deadly poison of serpents.”

Serpents … asps: in this context these nouns mean the same. In modern English serpents (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible) no longer makes much sense. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “asps … vipers,” New Jerusalem Bible “snakes … vipers.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .