Deuteronomy 33

MOSES’S BLESSINGS

33This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.^{p 2}He said:

The Lord came from Sinai

and appeared to them from Seir;^q

he shone on them from Mount Paran^r

and came with ten thousand holy ones,^A

with lightning^B from his right hand^C for them.^s

³Indeed he loves the people.^Dt

All your^E holy ones are in your hand,

and they assemble^F at your feet.

Each receives your words.

⁴Moses gave us instruction,

a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵So he became King in Jeshurun^a

when the leaders of the people gathered

with the tribes of Israel.

⁶Let Reuben live and not die

though his people become few.^b

⁷He said this about Judah:

Lord, hear Judah’s cry and bring him to his people.

He fights for his cause^H with his own hands,

but may you be a help against his foes.

⁸He said about Levi:

Your Thummim and Urim^c belong to your faithful one;^I

you tested him at Massah

and contended with him at the Waters of Meribah.^d

⁹He said about his father and mother,

“I do not regard them.”

He disregarded his brothers

and didn’t acknowledge his sons,

for they kept your word

and maintained your covenant.^e

¹⁰They will teach your ordinances to Jacob

and your instruction to Israel;^f

they will set incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹Lord, bless his possessions,^A

and accept the work of his hands.

Break the back^B of his adversaries and enemies,

so that they cannot rise again.

¹²He said about Benjamin:

The Lord’s beloved rests^C securely on him.

He^D shields him all day long,

and he rests on his shoulders.^E

¹³He said about Joseph:

May his land be blessed by the Lord

with the dew of heaven’s bounty

and the watery depths that lie beneath;^g

¹⁴with the bountiful harvest from the sun

and the abundant yield of the seasons;

¹⁵with the best products of the ancient mountains

and the bounty of the eternal hills;^h

¹⁶with the choice gifts of the land

and everything in it;

and with the favor of him

who appeared^F in the burning bush.ⁱ

May these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince of his brothers.^j

¹⁷His firstborn bull has^G splendor,

and horns like^H those of a wild ox;

he gores all the peoples with them

to the ends of the earth.

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸He said about Zebulun:

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys,

and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They summon the peoples to a mountain;

there they offer acceptable sacrifices.

For they draw from the wealth of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.^k

²⁰He said about Gad:

The one who enlarges Gad’s territory

will be blessed.

He lies down like a lion

and tears off an arm or even a head.^l

²¹He chose the best part for himself,

because a ruler’s portion was assigned there for him.

He came with the leaders of the people;

he carried out the Lord’s justice

and his ordinances for Israel.^m

²²He said about Dan:

Dan is a young lion,

leaping out of Bashan.ⁿ

²³He said about Naphtali:

Naphtali, enjoying approval,

full of the Lord’s blessing,

take^I possession to the west and the south.

²⁴He said about Asher:

May Asher be the most blessed of the sons;

may he be the most favored among his brothers

and dip his foot in olive oil.^a

²⁵May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze,

and your strength last as long as you live.

²⁶There is none like the God of Jeshurun,

who rides the heavens to your aid,

the clouds in his majesty.^b

²⁷The God of old is your dwelling place,^c

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

He drives out the enemy before you

and commands, “Destroy!”

²⁸So Israel dwells securely;^d

Jacob lives untroubled^Be

in a land of grain and new wine;

even his skies drip with dew.^f

²⁹How happy you are, Israel!

Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord?

He is the shield that protects you,

the sword you boast in.

Your enemies will cringe before you,^g

and you will tread on their backs.^Ch