Deuteronomy 32:1–34:12
32 Listen,s you heavens,t and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.u
2 Let my teaching fall like rainv
and my words descend like dew,w
like showersx on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaimy the name of the Lord.z
Oh, praise the greatnessa of our God!
4 He is the Rock,b his works are perfect,c
and all his ways are just.
A faithful Godd who does no wrong,
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.g
6 Is this the way you repayh the Lord,
you foolishi and unwise people?j
Is he not your Father,k your Creator,a
who made you and formed you?l
7 Remember the days of old;m
consider the generations long past.n
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.o
8 When the Most Highp gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,q
he set up boundariesr for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.b s
9 For the Lord’s portiont is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.u
10 In a desertv land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.w
He shieldedx him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,y
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,z
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.a
no foreign god was with him.d
13 He made him ride on the heightse of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,f
and with oilg from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashanh
and the finest kernels of wheat.i
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.j
15 Jeshurunc k grew fatl and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandonedm the God who made them
and rejected the Rockn their Savior.
16 They made him jealouso with their foreign gods
and angeredp him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificedq to false gods,r which are not God—
gods they had not known,s
gods that recently appeared,t
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgotu the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected themv
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.w
20 “I will hide my facex from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,y
children who are unfaithful.z
21 They made me jealousa by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.b
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.c
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,d
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.e
It will devourf the earth and its harvestsg
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.h
23 “I will heap calamitiesi on them
and spend my arrowsj against them.
24 I will send wasting faminek against them,
consuming pestilencel and deadly plague;m
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,n
the venom of viperso that glide in the dust.p
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terrorq will reign.r
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with gray hair.s
26 I said I would scattert them
and erase their name from human memory,u
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstandv
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.’ ”w
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernmentx in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand thisy
and discern what their end will be!z
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,a
unless their Rock had sold them,b
unless the Lord had given them up?c
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,d
as even our enemies concede.e
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodomf
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,g
and their clusters with bitterness.h
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.i
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?j
35 It is mine to avenge;k I will repay.l
In due time their foot will slip;m
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.n”
36 The Lord will vindicate his peopleo
and relentp concerning his servantsq
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slaver or free.d
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,s
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?t
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am he!u
There is no god besides me.v
I put to deathw and I bring to life,x
I have wounded and I will heal,y
and no one can deliver out of my hand.z
40 I lift my handa to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,b
41 when I sharpen my flashing swordc
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeanced on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.e
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,f
while my sword devours flesh:g
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice,h you nations, with his people,e,f
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;i
he will take vengeance on his enemiesj
and make atonement for his land and people.k
44 Moses came with Joshuag l son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,m so that you may commandn your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.o By them you will live longp in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,q 49 “Go up into the Abarimr Range to Mount Nebos in Moab, across from Jericho,t and view Canaan,u the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will diev and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron diedw on Mount Horx and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadeshy in the Desert of Zinz and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.a 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;b you will not enterc the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
33 This is the blessingd that Moses the man of Gode pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2 He said:
“The Lord came from Sinaif
and dawned over them from Seir;g
he shone forthh from Mount Paran.i
He came witha myriads of holy onesj
from the south, from his mountain slopes.b
3 Surely it is you who lovek the people;
all the holy ones are in your hand.l
At your feet they all bow down,m
and from you receive instruction,
4 the law that Moses gave us,n
the possession of the assembly of Jacob.o
5 He was kingp over Jeshurunc q
when the leaders of the people assembled,
along with the tribes of Israel.
6 “Let Reuben live and not die,
7 And this he said about Judah:s
“Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah;
bring him to his people.
With his own hands he defends his cause.
Oh, be his help against his foes!”
8 About Levit he said:
“Your Thummim and Urimu belong
to your faithful servant.v
You testedw him at Massah;
you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.x
9 He said of his father and mother,y
‘I have no regard for them.’
He did not recognize his brothers
or acknowledge his own children,
but he watched over your word
and guarded your covenant.z
10 He teachesa your precepts to Jacob
and your law to Israel.b
He offers incense before youc
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.d
11 Bless all his skills, Lord,
and be pleased with the work of his hands.e
Strike down those who rise against him,
his foes till they rise no more.”
12 About Benjaminf he said:
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,g
for he shields him all day long,h
and the one the Lord lovesi rests between his shoulders.j”
13 About Josephk he said:
“May the Lord bless his land
with the precious dew from heaven above
and with the deep waters that lie below;l
14 with the best the sun brings forth
and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountainsm
and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.n
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince amonge his brothers.o
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;
his hornsp are the horns of a wild ox.q
With them he will gorer the nations,
even those at the ends of the earth.
Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;s
such are the thousands of Manasseh.t”
18 About Zebulunu he said:
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and you, Issachar,v in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountainw
and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous;x
they will feast on the abundance of the seas,y
on the treasures hidden in the sand.”
20 About Gadz he said:
“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain!a
Gad lives there like a lion,
tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself;b
the leader’s portion was kept for him.c
When the heads of the people assembled,
he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,d
and his judgments concerning Israel.”
22 About Dane he said:
“Dan is a lion’s cub,
springing out of Bashan.”
23 About Naphtalif he said:
“Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord
and is full of his blessing;
he will inherit southward to the lake.”
24 About Asherg he said:
“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
let him be favored by his brothers,
and let him bathe his feet in oil.h