Again. There is no "again" in the original, but merely the usual yaw conjunctive. Still, in the thought, there is no doubt an abrupt transition. The writer turns to the darker side of the picture. They are minished and brought low.
God shows his providence, not merely in blessing, but also in chastising. Even the very nation which has been the most highly favored may, by misconduct, fall under his displeasure and suffer at his hands.
Their population is diminished; they arc "bowed down" (Revised Version), or "brought low." Calamities of various kinds befall them. Sometimes their decline is brought about through oppression, which may be either the cruel rule of a native monarch, such as Saul, or the still heavier yoke of a foreign power, like Egypt or Babylon.
Sometimes it comes from such an affliction as bad harvests, plagues of locusts, or pestilence. Sometimes it is brought about by sorrow—the death of a good ruler in the flower of his age, the extinction of a royal stock, the destruction of a nation's best and bravest on battle-fields, and the like.
But in all calamities alike it is God's hand that deals the blow.