Repentance and Forgiveness

30 (A)“And (B)when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and (C)you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and (D)return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God (E)will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will (F)gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. (G)If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. (H)And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And (I)the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, (J)so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. (K)The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. (L)For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death

11 “For this commandment that I command you today (M)is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 (N)It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 “See, (O)I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God[a] that I command you today, (P)by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,[b] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if (Q)your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 (R)I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, (S)blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice (T)and holding fast to him, for (U)he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in (V)the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am (W)120 years old today. I am no longer able to (X)go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, (Y)‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The Lord your God (Z)himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, (AA)as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them (AB)as he did to Sihon (AC)and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them (AD)according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. (AE)Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, (AF)for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. (AG)He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Then (AH)Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, (AI)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord (AJ)who goes before you. He will be with you; (AK)he will not leave you or forsake you. (AL)Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

Then Moses (AM)wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, (AN)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, (AO)“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at (AP)the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes (AQ)to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, (AR)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 (AS)Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, (AT)who have not known it, (AU)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, (AV)as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

14 And the Lord said to Moses, (AW)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that (AX)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And (AY)the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, (AZ)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and (BA)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will (BB)forsake me and (BC)break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and (BD)I will forsake them and (BE)hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, (BF)‘Have not these evils come upon us because (BG)our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because (BH)they have turned to other gods.

19 “Now therefore write (BI)this song and (BJ)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be (BK)a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land (BL)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and (BM)grown fat, (BN)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and (BO)despise me and (BP)break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as (BQ)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For (BR)I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

23 (BS)And the Lord[c] commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, (BT)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. (BU)I will be with you.”

24 When Moses had finished (BV)writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25 Moses commanded (BW)the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 26 “Take this Book of the Law (BX)and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for (BY)a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and (BZ)stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, (CA)you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak (CB)these words in their ears and (CC)call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death (CD)you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And (CE)in the days to come (CF)evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, (CG)provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

32 “Give ear, (CH)O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let (CI)the earth hear the words of my mouth.
May (CJ)my teaching drop as the rain,
    my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and (CK)like showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe (CL)greatness to our God!

(CM)“The Rock, (CN)his work is perfect,
    for (CO)all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and (CP)without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children (CQ)because they are blemished;
    they are (CR)a crooked and twisted generation.
Do you thus repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he (CS)your father, who (CT)created you,
    who (CU)made you and established you?
(CV)Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
(CW)ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High (CX)gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he (CY)divided mankind,
he fixed the borders[d] of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of God.[e]
But the Lord's portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted heritage.

10 “He found him (CZ)in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he (DA)encircled him, he cared for him,
    he (DB)kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 (DC)Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
    that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
    bearing them on its pinions,
12 (DD)the Lord alone guided him,
    (DE)no foreign god was with him.
13 (DF)He made him ride on the high places of the land,
    and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with (DG)honey out of the rock,
    and (DH)oil out of (DI)the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat[f] of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
    with the very finest[g] of the wheat—
    and you drank foaming wine made from (DJ)the blood of the grape.

15 “But (DK)Jeshurun grew fat, and (DL)kicked;
    (DM)you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
(DN)then he forsook God (DO)who made him
    and scoffed at (DP)the Rock of his salvation.
16 (DQ)They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 (DR)They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
    to gods they had never known,
to (DS)new gods that had come recently,
    whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of (DT)the Rock that bore[h] you,
    and you (DU)forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 (DV)“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
    because of the provocation of (DW)his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, (DX)‘I will hide my face from them;
    I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
    children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 (DY)They have made me jealous with what is no god;
    they have provoked me to anger (DZ)with their idols.
So (EA)I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
    I will provoke them to anger with (EB)a foolish nation.
22 For (EC)a fire is kindled by my anger,
    and it burns to (ED)the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
    (EE)I will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
    and devoured by plague
    and poisonous pestilence;
I will send (EF)the teeth of beasts against them,
    with the venom of (EG)things that crawl in the dust.
25 (EH)Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
    and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
    the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 (EI)I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
    (EJ)I will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, (EK)“Our hand is triumphant,
    it was not the Lord who did all this.”’

28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
    and there is (EL)no understanding in them.
29 (EM)If they were wise, they would understand this;
    they would (EN)discern their latter end!
30 How could (EO)one have chased a thousand,
    and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock (EP)had sold them,
    and the Lord had given them up?
31 For (EQ)their rock is not as our Rock;
    (ER)our enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine (ES)comes from the vine of Sodom
    and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of (ET)poison;
    their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of (EU)serpents
    and the cruel venom of asps.

34 “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
    (EV)sealed up in my treasuries?
35 (EW)Vengeance is mine, and recompense,[i]
    (EX)for the time when their foot shall slip;
for (EY)the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For (EZ)the Lord will vindicate[j] his people
    (FA)and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
    and there is none remaining, (FB)bond or free.
37 Then he will say, (FC)‘Where are their gods,
    (FD)the rock in which they took refuge,
38 who ate 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 (FE)I, even I, am he,
    and there is no god beside me;
(FF)I kill and I make alive;
    (FG)I wound and I heal;
    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For (FH)I lift up my hand to heaven
    and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I (FI)sharpen my flashing sword[k]
    and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and (FJ)my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the (FK)long-haired heads of the enemy.’

43 (FL)“Rejoice with him, O heavens;[l]
    bow down to him, all gods,[m]
for he (FM)avenges the blood of his children[n]
    and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him[o]
    and cleanses[p] his people's land.”[q]

44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and (FN)Joshua[r] the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, (FO)“Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, (FP)that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, (FQ)but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:16 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God
  2. Deuteronomy 30:16 Or his just decrees
  3. Deuteronomy 31:23 Hebrew he
  4. Deuteronomy 32:8 Or territories
  5. Deuteronomy 32:8 Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel
  6. Deuteronomy 32:14 That is, with the best
  7. Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew with the kidney fat
  8. Deuteronomy 32:18 Or fathered
  9. Deuteronomy 32:35 Septuagint and I will repay
  10. Deuteronomy 32:36 Septuagint judge
  11. Deuteronomy 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword
  12. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations
  13. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text lacks bow down to him, all gods
  14. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants
  15. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him
  16. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or atones for
  17. Deuteronomy 32:43 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people
  18. Deuteronomy 32:44 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses(A) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,(B) and when you and your children return(C) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart(D) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a](E) and have compassion(F) on you and gather(G) you again from all the nations where he scattered(H) you.(I) Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,(J) from there the Lord your God will gather(K) you and bring you back.(L) He will bring(M) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous(N) than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,(O) so that you may love(P) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses(Q) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.(R) You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.(S) The Lord will again delight(T) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law(U) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.(V)

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.(W) 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven(X) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”(Y) 13 Nor is it beyond the sea,(Z) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”(AA) 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.(AB)

15 See, I set before you today life(AC) and prosperity,(AD) death(AE) and destruction.(AF) 16 For I command you today to love(AG) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live(AH) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.(AI) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you(AJ) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.(AK) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love(AL) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,(AM) and he will give(AN) you many years in the land(AO) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old(AP) and I am no longer able to lead you.(AQ) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’(AR) The Lord your God himself will cross(AS) over ahead of you.(AT) He will destroy these nations(AU) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross(AV) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,(AW) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver(AX) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous.(AY) Do not be afraid or terrified(AZ) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;(BA) he will never leave you(BB) nor forsake(BC) you.”

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said(BD) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,(BE) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;(BF) he will never leave you nor forsake you.(BG) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

So Moses wrote(BH) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried(BI) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,(BJ) during the Festival of Tabernacles,(BK) 11 when all Israel comes to appear(BL) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,(BM) you shall read this law(BN) before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn(BO) to fear(BP) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children,(BQ) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death(BR) is near. Call Joshua(BS) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.(BT)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.(BU)

15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.(BV) 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,(BW) and these people will soon prostitute(BX) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake(BY) me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry(BZ) with them and forsake(CA) them; I will hide(CB) my face(CC) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(CD) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(CE) 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

19 “Now write(CF) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(CG) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(CH) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(CI) and worship them,(CJ) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(CK) 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,(CL) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,(CM) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote(CN) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

23 The Lord gave this command(CO) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,(CP) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

24 After Moses finished writing(CQ) in a book the words of this law(CR) from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried(CS) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.(CT) 27 For I know how rebellious(CU) and stiff-necked(CV) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.(CW) 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt(CX) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster(CY) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32 Listen,(CZ) you heavens,(DA) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(DB)
Let my teaching fall like rain(DC)
    and my words descend like dew,(DD)
like showers(DE) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim(DF) the name of the Lord.(DG)
    Oh, praise the greatness(DH) of our God!
He is the Rock,(DI) his works are perfect,(DJ)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(DK) who does no wrong,
    upright(DL) and just is he.(DM)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(DN)
Is this the way you repay(DO) the Lord,
    you foolish(DP) and unwise people?(DQ)
Is he not your Father,(DR) your Creator,[b]
    who made you and formed you?(DS)

Remember the days of old;(DT)
    consider the generations long past.(DU)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.(DV)
When the Most High(DW) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,(DX)
he set up boundaries(DY) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.[c](DZ)
For the Lord’s portion(EA) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.(EB)

10 In a desert(EC) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.(ED)
He shielded(EE) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(EF)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,(EG)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.(EH)
12 The Lord alone led(EI) him;(EJ)
    no foreign god was with him.(EK)

13 He made him ride on the heights(EL) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(EM)
    and with oil(EN) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(EO)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.(EP)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(EQ)

15 Jeshurun[d](ER) grew fat(ES) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(ET) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock(EU) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(EV) with their foreign gods
    and angered(EW) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(EX) to false gods,(EY) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,(EZ)
    gods that recently appeared,(FA)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(FB) the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(FC)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(FD)
20 “I will hide my face(FE) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(FF)
    children who are unfaithful.(FG)
21 They made me jealous(FH) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(FI)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(FJ)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(FK)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(FL)
It will devour(FM) the earth and its harvests(FN)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(FO)

23 “I will heap calamities(FP) on them
    and spend my arrows(FQ) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(FR) against them,
    consuming pestilence(FS) and deadly plague;(FT)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(FU)
    the venom of vipers(FV) that glide in the dust.(FW)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror(FX) will reign.(FY)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.(FZ)
26 I said I would scatter(GA) them
    and erase their name from human memory,(GB)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand(GC)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”(GD)

28 They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment(GE) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(GF)
    and discern what their end will be!(GG)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,(GH)
unless their Rock had sold them,(GI)
    unless the Lord had given them up?(GJ)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(GK)
    as even our enemies concede.(GL)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(GM)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(GN)
    and their clusters with bitterness.(GO)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.(GP)

34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?(GQ)
35 It is mine to avenge;(GR) I will repay.(GS)
    In due time their foot will slip;(GT)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.(GU)

36 The Lord will vindicate his people(GV)
    and relent(GW) concerning his servants(GX)
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave(GY) or free.[e]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,(GZ)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(HA)
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

39 “See now that I myself am he!(HB)
    There is no god besides me.(HC)
I put to death(HD) and I bring to life,(HE)
    I have wounded and I will heal,(HF)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.(HG)
40 I lift my hand(HH) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,(HI)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(HJ)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(HK) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.(HL)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(HM)
    while my sword devours flesh:(HN)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

43 Rejoice,(HO) you nations, with his people,[f][g]
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(HP)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(HQ)
    and make atonement for his land and people.(HR)

44 Moses came with Joshua[h](HS) 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,(HT) so that you may command(HU) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(HV) By them you will live long(HW) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity
  2. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
  3. Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
  4. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
  5. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
  6. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
  7. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
  8. Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua

30 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

31 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.

And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.

And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.

And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

11 When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

15 And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?

28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.

29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord'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 led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12 So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of 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 froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

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 which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.

28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

29 O 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 the Lord had shut 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 dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

35 To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and 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: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon 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 be merciful unto his land, and to 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 hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is not a 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 Jordan to possess it.