Deuteronomy 32

Chapter 32

1 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!
Hear, O earth, the words that I say!2 Let my teaching fall on you like rain;
let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
how glorious is our God!4 He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!5 “But they have acted corruptly toward him;
when they act so perversely,
are they really his children?t
They are a deceitful and twisted generation.6 Is this the way you repay the LORD,
you foolish and senseless people?
Isn’t he your Father who created you?
Has he not made you and established you?7 Remember the days of long ago;
think about the generations past.
Ask your father, and he will inform you.
Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you.8 When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,
when he divided up the human race,
he established the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number in his heavenly court.t9 “For the people of Israel belong to the LORD;
Jacob is his special possession.10 He found them in a desert land,
in an empty, howling wasteland.
He surrounded them and watched over them;
he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.t11 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks
and hovers over her young,
so he spread his wings to take them up
and carried them safely on his pinions.12 The LORD alone guided them;
they followed no foreign gods.13 He let them ride over the highlands
and feast on the crops of the fields.
He nourished them with honey from the rock
and olive oil from the stony ground.14 He fed them yogurt from the herd
and milk from the flock,
together with the fat of lambs.
He gave them choice rams from Bashan, and goats,
together with the choicest wheat.
You drank the finest wine,
made from the juice of grapes.15 “But Israelt soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!
Then they abandoned the God who had made them;
they made light of the Rock of their salvation.16 They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods;
they provoked his fury with detestable deeds.17 They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God,
to gods they had not known before,
to new gods only recently arrived,
to gods their ancestors had never feared.18 You neglected the Rock who had fathered you;
you forgot the God who had given you birth.19 “The LORD saw this and drew back,
provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.20 He said, ‘I will abandon them;
then see what becomes of them.
For they are a twisted generation,
children without integrity.21 They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God;
they have provoked my anger with their useless idols.
Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people;
I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.22 For my anger blazes forth like fire
and burns to the depths of the grave.t
It devours the earth and all its crops
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.23 I will heap disasters upon them
and shoot them down with my arrows.24 I will weaken them with famine,
burning fever, and deadly disease.
I will send the fangs of wild beasts
and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.25 Outside, the sword will bring death,
and inside, terror will strike
both young men and young women,
both infants and the aged.26 I would have annihilated them,
wiping out even the memory of them.27 But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy,
who might misunderstand and say,
“Our own power has triumphed!
The LORD had nothing to do with this!”’28 “But Israel is a senseless nation;
the people are foolish, without understanding.29 Oh, that they were wise and could understand this!
Oh, that they might know their fate!30 How could one person chase a thousand of them,
and two people put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the LORD had given them up?31 But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock,
as even they recognize.t32 Their vine grows from the vine of Sodom,
from the vineyards of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison,
and their clusters are bitter.33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.34 “The LORD says, ‘Am I not storing up these things,
sealing them away in my treasury?35 I will take revenge; I will pay them back.
In due time their feet will slip.
Their day of disaster will arrive,
and their destiny will overtake them.’36 “Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people,
and he will change his mind aboutt his servants,
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave or free.37 Then he will ask, ‘Where are their gods,
the rocks they fled to for refuge?38 Where now are those gods,
who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their offerings?
Let those gods arise and help you!
Let them provide you with shelter!39 Look now; I myself am he!
There is no other god but me!
I am the one who kills and gives life;
I am the one who wounds and heals;
no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!40 Now I raise my hand to heaven
and declare, “As surely as I live,41 when I sharpen my flashing sword
and begin to carry out justice,
I will take revenge on my enemies
and repay those who reject me.42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh—
the blood of the slaughtered and the captives,
and the heads of the enemy leaders.”’43 “Rejoice with him, you heavens,
and let all of God’s angels worship him.t
Rejoice with his people, you nations,
and let all the angels be strengthened in him.t
For he will avenge the blood of his servants;
he will take revenge against his enemies.
He will repay those who hate himt
and cleanse the land for his people.”

44 So Moses came with Joshuat son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.
45 When Moses had finished reciting all these words to the people of Israel,46 he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions.

47 These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

48 That same day the LORD said to Moses,49 “Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river,t and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own special possession.50 Then you will die there on the mountain. You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors.51 For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesht in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there.

52 So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

DEUTERONOMY 32

1 Earth and Sky,
listen to what I say!

2 Israel, I will teach you.
My words will be like gentle rain
on tender young plants,
or like dew on the grass.

3 Join with me in praising
the wonderful name
of the [Lord] our God.

4 The [Lord] is a mighty rock, t
and he never does wrong.
God can always be trusted
to bring justice.

5 But you lie and cheat
and are unfaithful to him.
You have disgraced yourselves
and are no longer worthy
to be his children.t

6 Israel, the [Lord] is your Father,
the one who created you,
but you repaid him
by being foolish.

7 Think about past generations.
Ask your parents
or any of your elders.
They will tell you

8  t that God Most High
gave land to every nation.
He assigned a guardian angel
to each of them, t

9 but the [Lord] himself
takes care of Israel.t

10 Israel, the [Lord] discovered you
in a barren desert
filled with howling winds.
God became your fortress,
protecting you as though
you were his own eyes.

11 The [Lord] was like an eagle
teaching its young to fly,
always ready to swoop down
and catch them on its back.

12 Israel, the [Lord] led you,
and without the aid
of a foreign god,

13 he helped you
capture the land.
Your fields were rich
with grain.
Olive trees grew
in your stony soil,
and honey was found
among the rocks.

14 Your flocks and herds
produced milk and yogurt,
and you got choice meat
from your sheep and goats
that grazed in Bashan.
Your wheat was the finest,
and you drank the best wine.

15 Israel, t you grew fat and rebelled
against God, your Creator
you rejected the Mighty Rock, t
your only place of safety.

16 You made God jealous and angry
by worshiping disgusting idols
and foreign gods.

17  t You offered sacrifices
to demons, those useless godst
that never helped you,
new gods that your ancestors
never worshiped.

18 You turned away
from God, your Creator;
you forgot the Mighty Rock, t
the source of your life.

19 You were the [Lord]'s children,
but you made him angry.
Then he rejected you

20 and said,
“You are unfaithful
and can't be trusted.
So I won't answer your prayers;
I'll just watch and see
what happens to you.

21  t You worshiped worthless idols,
and made me jealous
and angry!
Now I will send a cruelt
and worthless nation
to make you jealous and angry.

22 “My people, I will breathe out fire
that sends you down
to the world of the dead.
It will scorch your farmlands
and burn deep down
under the mountains.

23 I'll send disaster after disaster
to strike you like arrows.

24 You'll be struck by starvation
and deadly diseases,
by the fangs of wild animals
and poisonous snakes.

25 Young and old alike
will be killed in the streets
and terrified at home.

26 “I wanted to scatter you,
so no one would remember
that you had ever lived.

27 But I dreaded the sound
of your enemies saying,
‘We defeated Israel with no help
from the [Lord].’ ”

28 People of Israel,
that's what the [Lord]
has said to you.
But you don't have good sense,
and you never listen
to advice.

29 If you did, you could see
where you are headed.

30 How could one enemy soldier
chase a thousand
of Israel's troops?
Or how could two of theirs
pursue ten thousand of ours?
It can only happen if the [Lord]
stops protecting Israel
and lets the enemy win.

31 Even our enemies know
that only our God
is a Mighty Rock.t

32 Our enemies are grapevines
rooted in the fields
of Sodom and Gomorrah.t
The grapes they produce
are full of bitter poison;

33 their wine is more deadly
than cobra venom.

34 But the [Lord] has written
a list of their sins
and locked it in his vault.

35  t Soon our enemies will get
what they deservet—
suddenly they will slip,
and total disaster
will quickly follow.

36  t When only a few
of the [Lord]'s people remain,
when their strength is gone,
and some of them are slaves,
the [Lord] will feel sorry for them
and give them justice.

37 But first the [Lord] will say,
“You ran for safety to other gods—
couldn't they help you?

38 You offered them wine
and your best sacrifices.
Can't those gods help you now
or give you protection?

39 Don't you understand?
I am the only God;
there are no others.
I am the one who takes life
and gives it again.
I punished you with suffering.
But now I will heal you,
and nothing can stop me!

40 “I make this solemn promise:
Just as I live forever,

41 I will take revenge
on my hateful enemies.
I will sharpen my sword
and let it flash
like lightning.

42 My arrows will get drunk
on enemy blood;
my sword will taste the flesh
and the blood of the enemy.
It will kill prisoners,
and cut off the heads
of their leaders.”t

43  t Tell the heavens to celebrate
and all gods to bow down
to the [Lord], t
because he will take revenge
on those hateful enemies
who killed his people.
He will forgive the sins of Israel
and purify their land.t
44-45 Moses spoke the words of the song so that all the Israelites could hear, and Joshuat helped him. When Moses had finished, 46 he said, “Always remember this song I have taught you today. And let it be a warning that you must teach your children to obey everything written in The Book of God's Law.

47 The Law isn't empty words. It can give you a long life in the land that you are going to take.”

Moses Will See the Land

48  t Later that day the [Lord] said to Moses:
49 Go up into the Abarim Mountain range here in Moab across the Jordan River valley from Jericho. And when you reach the top of Mount Nebo, you will be able to see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to Israel. 50 Then you will die and be buried on the mountaintop, just as your brother Aaron died and was buried on Mount Hor. 51 Both of you were unfaithful to me at Meribah Spring near Kadesh in the Zin Desert.t I am God, but there in front of the Israelites, you did not treat me with the honor and respect I deserve. 52 So I will give the land to the people of Israel, but you will only get to see it from a distance.