Deuteronomy 33

Moses’s Final Blessing on Israel

³³This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death.^{* 2}He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai

and dawned from Seir upon us;^j

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

With him were myriads of holy ones,^k

at his right, a host of his own.^l*

³Indeed, O favorite among^m peoples,

all his holy ones were in your charge;

they marched at your heels,

accepted direction from you.^*

⁴Moses charged us with the law

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.^*

⁵There arose a king in Jeshurun

when the leaders of the people assembled,

the united tribes of Israel.

⁶May Reuben live and not die out,

even though his numbers are few.”

⁷And this he said of Judah,

“O Lord, give heed to Judah,

and bring him to his people;

strengthen his hands for him,ⁿ

and be a help against his adversaries.”^*

⁸And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi^o your Thummim

and your Urim to your loyal one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah,^*

⁹who said of his father and mother,

‘I regard them not’;

he ignored his kin

and did not acknowledge his children.

For they observed your word

and kept your covenant.^*

¹⁰They teach Jacob your ordinances

and Israel your law;

they place incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.^*

¹¹Bless, O Lord, his substance,

and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”^*

¹²Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—

the Most High^p surrounds him all day long—

and he rests between his shoulders.”

¹³And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed by the Lord be his land,

with the choice gifts of heaven above

and of the deep that lies beneath,^*

¹⁴with the choice fruits of the sun

and the rich yield of the months,

¹⁵with the finest produce of the ancient mountains

and the abundance of the everlasting hills,^*

¹⁶with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.^q

Let these come on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.^*

¹⁷A firstborn^r bull—majesty is his!

His horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he gores the peoples

all together to the ends of the earth;

such are the myriads of Ephraim,

such the thousands of Manasseh.”^*

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and Issachar, in your tents.^*

¹⁹They call peoples to the mountain;

there they offer the right sacrifices,

for they suck the affluence of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.”^*

²⁰And of Gad he said,

“Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!

Like a lion he lives;

he tears at arm and scalp.^*

²¹He chose the best for himself,

for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;

he came at the head of the people;

he executed the justice of the Lord

and his ordinances with Israel.”^*

²²And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s whelp

that leaps forth from Bashan.”^*

²³And of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, sated with favor,

full of the blessing of the Lord,

possess the west and the south.”^*

²⁴And of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons be Asher;

may he be the favorite of his brothers,

and may he dip his foot in oil.^*

²⁵Your bars are iron and bronze,

and as your days, so is your strength.^s*

²⁶There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

who rides through the heavens to your help,

majestic through the clouds.^*

²⁷He subdues the ancient gods,^t

shatters^u the forces of old;^v

he drove out the enemy before you

and said, ‘Destroy!’^*

²⁸So Israel lives in safety,

untroubled is Jacob’s abode^w

in a land of grain and wine,

where the heavens drop down dew.^*

²⁹Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord,

the shield of your help

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

but you shall tread on their backs.”^*