Deuteronomy 32:1–43

Listen,^s you heavens,^t and I will speak;

hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^u

²Let my teaching fall like rain^v

and my words descend like dew,^w

like showers^x on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^y the name of the Lord.^z

Oh, praise the greatness^a of our God!

⁴He is the Rock,^b his works are perfect,^c

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God^d who does no wrong,

upright^e and just is he.^f

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;

to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^g

⁶Is this the way you repay^h the Lord,

you foolishⁱ and unwise people?^j

Is he not your Father,^k your Creator,^a

who made you and formed you?^l

⁷Remember 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

⁸When the Most High^p gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided all mankind,^q

he set up boundaries^r for the peoples

according to the number of the sons of Israel.^bs

⁹For the Lord’s portion^t is his people,

Jacob his allotted inheritance.^u

¹⁰In a desert^v land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.^w

He shielded^x him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^y

¹¹like 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

¹²The Lord alone led^b him;^c

no foreign god was with him.^d

¹³He made him ride on the heights^e of the land

and fed him with the fruit of the fields.

He nourished him with honey from the rock,^f

and with oil^g from the flinty crag,

¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock

and with fattened lambs and goats,

with choice rams of Bashan^h

and the finest kernels of wheat.ⁱ

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^j

¹⁵Jeshurun^ck grew fat^l and kicked;

filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandoned^m the God who made them

and rejected the Rockⁿ their Savior.

¹⁶They made him jealous^o with their foreign gods

and angered^p him with their detestable idols.

¹⁷They sacrificed^q 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.

¹⁸You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgot^u the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw this and rejected them^v

because he was angered by his sons and daughters.^w

²⁰“I will hide my face^x from them,” he said,

“and see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,^y

children who are unfaithful.^z

²¹They made me jealous^a 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

²²For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,^d

one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.^e

It will devour^f the earth and its harvests^g

and set afire the foundations of the mountains.^h

²³“I will heap calamitiesⁱ on them

and spend my arrows^j against them.

²⁴I will send wasting famine^k against them,

consuming pestilence^l and deadly plague;^m

I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,ⁿ

the venom of vipers^o that glide in the dust.^p

²⁵In the street the sword will make them childless;

in their homes terror^q will reign.^r

The young men and young women will perish,

the infants and those with gray hair.^s

²⁶I said I would scatter^t them

and erase their name from human memory,^u

²⁷but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest the adversary misunderstand^v

and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;

the Lord has not done all this.’ ”^w

²⁸They are a nation without sense,

there is no discernment^x in them.

²⁹If only they were wise and would understand this^y

and discern what their end will be!^z

³⁰How 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

³¹For their rock is not like our Rock,^d

as even our enemies concede.^e

³²Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom^f

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are filled with poison,^g

and their clusters with bitterness.^h

³³Their 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

³⁵It 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”

³⁶The Lord will vindicate his people^o

and relent^p concerning his servants^q

when he sees their strength is gone

and no one is left, slave^r or free.^d

³⁷He will say: “Now where are their gods,

the rock they took refuge in,^s

³⁸the 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 death^w and I bring to life,^x

I have wounded and I will heal,^y

and no one can deliver out of my hand.^z

⁴⁰I lift my hand^a to heaven and solemnly swear:

As surely as I live forever,^b

⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword^c

and my hand grasps it in judgment,

I will take vengeance^d on my adversaries

and repay those who hate me.^e

⁴²I 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.”

⁴³Rejoice,^h you nations, with his people,^ef

for he will avenge the blood of his servants;ⁱ

he will take vengeance on his enemies^j

and make atonement for his land and people.^k