Deuteronomy 32
1 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My speech shall distil as the dew, As the small rain upon the tender grass, And as the showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah: Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish; They are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee, and established thee.
7 Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For Jehovah’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, That fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bare them on his pinions.
12 Jehovah alone did lead him, And there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he did eat the increase of the field; And he made him to suck honey out of the rock, And oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods; With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God, To gods that they knew not, To new gods that came up of late, Which your fathers dreaded not.
18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
19 And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred them, Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: For they are a very perverse generation, Children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest Sheol, And devoureth the earth with its increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap evils upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them:
24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat And bitter destruction; And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
25 Without shall the sword bereave, And in the chambers terror; It shall destroy both young man and virgin, The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
27 Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should judge amiss, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, And Jehovah hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.
29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had sold them, And Jehovah had delivered them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, And of the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, Sealed up among my treasures?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
36 For Jehovah will judge his people, And repent himself for his servants; When he seeth that their power is gone, And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 And he will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge;
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink-offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live for ever,
41 If I whet my glittering sword, And my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, And will recompense them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, And my sword shall devour flesh; With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel;46 And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law.47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.
48 And Jehovah spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,49 Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession;50 and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:51 because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.52 For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32
Invocation of Witnesses
1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My teaching will drop like the rain,
my sayings will drip like the dew,t
as rain drops upon the grass,
and showers upon new growth.
3 For I will proclaim the names of the Lord;
you must acknowledge the greatness of our God.
4 As for the Rock,ss his work is perfect,
for all his ways are just.
He is a reliable God who is never unjust,
he is fairt and upright.
5 His people have been unfaithfulst to him;
they have not acted like his childrent – this is their sin.t
They are a perverset and deceitful generation.
6 Is this how you repayt the Lord,
you foolish, unwise people?
Is he not your father, your creator?
He has made you and established you.
7 Remember the ancient days;
bear in minds the years of past generations.t
Ask your father and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most Hight gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided up humankind,t
he set the boundaries of the peoples,
according to the number of the heavenly assembly.s
9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people,
Jacob is his special possession.s
10 The Lordt found himt in a desolate land,
in an empty wasteland where animals howl.t
He continually guarded himt and taught him;t
he continually protected himt like the pupilt of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that stirs upt its nest,
that hovers over its young,
so the Lordt spread out his wings and took him,t
he lifted him up on his pinions.
12 The Lord alone was guiding him,t
no foreign god was with him.
13 He enabled himt to travel over the high terrain of the land,
and he ate of the produce of the fields.
He provided honey for him from the cliffs,t
and olive oilt from the hardest oft rocks,s
14 butter from the herd
and milk from the flock,
along with the fat of lambs,
rams and goats of Bashan,
along with the best of the kernels of wheat;
and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
Israel’s Rebellion
15 But Jeshurunts became fat and kicked,
yous got fat, thick, and stuffed!
Then he deserted the God who made him,
and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.
16 They made him jealous with other gods,s
they enraged him with abhorrent idols.t
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to gods they had not known;
to new gods who had recently come along,
gods your ancestorst had not known about.
18 You have forgottens the Rock who fathered you,
and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.
A Word of Judgment
19 But the Lord took note and despised them
because his sons and daughters enraged him.
20 He said, “I will reject them,t
I will see what will happen to them;
for they are a perverse generation,
childrent who show no loyalty.
21 They have made me jealouss with false gods,t
enraging me with their worthless gods;t
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize,t
with a nation slow to learnt I will enrage them.
22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,
and it burns to lowest Sheol;ts
it consumes the earth and its produce,
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will increase theirt disasters,
I will use up my arrows on them.
24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung;t
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroyt both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
The Weakness of Other Gods
26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces.s
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
27 But I fear the reactiont of their enemies,
fort their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great,t
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,
and there is no understanding among them.
29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
30 How can one man chase a thousand of them,t
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up,t
and the Lord had handed them over?
31 For our enemies’t rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
32 For their vine is from the stockt of Sodom,
and from the fields of Gomorrah.s
Their grapes contain venom,
their clusters of grapes are bitter.
33 Their wine is snakes’ poison,
the deadly venom of cobras.
34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord,t
“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?
35 I will get revenge and pay them back
at the time their foot slips;
for the day of their disaster is near,
and the impending judgmentt is rushing upon them!”
36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerningt his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they sought security,
38 who ate the best of their sacrifices,
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise and help you;
let them be your refuge!
The Vindication of the Lord
39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord,t
“and there is no other god besides me.
I kill and give life,
I smash and I heal,
and none can resistt my power.
40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment;t
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me!t
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh –
the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
the chieft of the enemy’s leaders!’”
43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,
for he will avenge his servants’ blood;
he will take vengeance against his enemies,
and make atonement for his land and people.
Narrative Interlude
44 Then Moses went with Joshuat son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel46 he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law.
47 For this is no idle word for you – it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
Instructions about Moses’ Death
48 Then the Lord said to Moses that same day,49 “Go up to this Abarims hill country, to Mount Nebo (which is in the land of Moab opposite Jerichos) and look at the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites as a possession.50 You will diet on the mountain that you ascend and join your deceased ancestors,t just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hors and joined his deceased ancestors,51 for both of yout rebelled against me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the desert of Zin when you did not show me proper respectt among the Israelites.
52 You will see the land before you, but you will not enter the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”