Deuteronomy 32

New International Version

32 Listen,^(A) you heavens,^(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^(C)
²Let my teaching fall like rain^(D)
    and my words descend like dew,^(E)
like showers^(F) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^(G) the name of the Lord.^(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness^(I) of our God!
⁴He is the Rock,^(J) his works are perfect,^(K)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God^(L) who does no wrong,
    upright^(M) and just is he.^(N)

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^(O)
⁶Is this the way you repay^(P) the Lord,
    you foolish^(Q) and unwise people?^(R)
Is he not your Father,^(S) your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you?^(T)

⁷Remember the days of old;^(U)
    consider the generations long past.^(V)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.^(W)
⁸When the Most High^(X) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,^(Y)
he set up boundaries^(Z) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.^[b]^(AA)
⁹For the Lord’s portion^(AB) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.^(AC)

¹⁰In a desert^(AD) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.^(AE)
He shielded^(AF) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^(AG)
¹¹like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,^(AH)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.^(AI)
¹²The Lord alone led^(AJ) him;^(AK)
    no foreign god was with him.^(AL)

¹³He made him ride on the heights^(AM) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,^(AN)
    and with oil^(AO) from the flinty crag,
¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan^(AP)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.^(AQ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^(AR)

¹⁵Jeshurun^[c]^(AS) grew fat^(AT) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned^(AU) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock^(AV) their Savior.
¹⁶They made him jealous^(AW) with their foreign gods
    and angered^(AX) him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷They sacrificed^(AY) to false gods,^(AZ) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,^(BA)
    gods that recently appeared,^(BB)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot^(BC) the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw this and rejected them^(BD)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.^(BE)
²⁰“I will hide my face^(BF) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,^(BG)
    children who are unfaithful.^(BH)
²¹They made me jealous^(BI) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.^(BJ)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.^(BK)
²²For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,^(BL)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.^(BM)
It will devour^(BN) the earth and its harvests^(BO)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.^(BP)

²³“I will heap calamities^(BQ) on them
    and spend my arrows^(BR) against them.
²⁴I will send wasting famine^(BS) against them,
    consuming pestilence^(BT) and deadly plague;^(BU)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,^(BV)
    the venom of vipers^(BW) that glide in the dust.^(BX)
²⁵In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror^(BY) will reign.^(BZ)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.^(CA)
²⁶I said I would scatter^(CB) them
    and erase their name from human memory,^(CC)
²⁷but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand^(CD)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”^(CE)

²⁸They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment^(CF) in them.
²⁹If only they were wise and would understand this^(CG)
    and discern what their end will be!^(CH)
³⁰How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,^(CI)
unless their Rock had sold them,^(CJ)
    unless the Lord had given them up?^(CK)
³¹For their rock is not like our Rock,^(CL)
    as even our enemies concede.^(CM)
³²Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom^(CN)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,^(CO)
    and their clusters with bitterness.^(CP)
³³Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.^(CQ)

³⁴“Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?^(CR)
³⁵It is mine to avenge;^(CS) I will repay.^(CT)
    In due time their foot will slip;^(CU)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.^(CV)”

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

³⁹“See now that I myself am he!^(DC)
    There is no god besides me.^(DD)
I put to death^(DE) and I bring to life,^(DF)
    I have wounded and I will heal,^(DG)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.^(DH)
⁴⁰I lift my hand^(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,^(DJ)
⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword^(DK)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance^(DL) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.^(DM)
⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood,^(DN)
    while my sword devours flesh:^(DO)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³Rejoice,^(DP) you nations, with his people,^[e]^[f]
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;^(DQ)
he will take vengeance on his enemies^(DR)
and make atonement for his land and people.^(DS)

⁴⁴Moses came with Joshua^[g]^(DT) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. ⁴⁵When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,^(DU) so that you may command^(DV) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.^(DW) By them you will live long^(DX) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

⁴⁸On that same day the Lord told Moses,^(DY) ⁴⁹“Go up into the Abarim^(DZ) Range to Mount Nebo^(EA) in Moab, across from Jericho,^(EB) and view Canaan,^(EC) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. ⁵⁰There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die^(ED) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died^(EE) on Mount Hor^(EF) and was gathered to his people. ⁵¹This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh^(EG) in the Desert of Zin^(EH) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.^(EI) ⁵²Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;^(EJ) you will not enter^(EK) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

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

Deuteronomy 32

New American Standard Bible

The Song of Moses

32 “^(A)Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
²^(B)May my teaching drip as the rain,
My speech trickle as the dew,
^(C)As droplets on the fresh grass,
And as the showers on the vegetation.
³^(D)For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
^(E)Ascribe greatness to our God!
⁴^(F)The Rock! His work is perfect,
^(G)For all His ways are ^[a]just;
^(H)A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and just is He.
⁵^[b]^(I)They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
^(J)But are a perverse and crooked generation.
⁶Is this what you ^(K)do to the Lord,
^(L)You foolish and unwise people?
^(M)Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
^(N)He has made you and established you.
⁷Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
^(O)Ask your father and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
⁸^(P)When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of ^[c]mankind,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
^(Q)According to the number of the ^[d]sons of Israel.
⁹^(R)For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
¹⁰^(S)He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as ^(T)the ^[e]apple of His eye.
¹¹^(U)As an eagle stirs up its nest,
And hovers over its young,
^(V)He spread His wings, He caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
¹²^(W)The Lord alone guided him,
^(X)And there was no foreign god with him.
¹³^(Y)He had him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
^(Z)And He had him suck honey from the rock,
And ^[f]^(AA)oil from the flinty rock,
¹⁴Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats,
^(AB)With the best of the wheat;
And you drank wine of the ^(AC)blood of grapes.

¹⁵“^(AD)But ^[g]Jeshurun became fat and kicked—
You have become fat, thick, and obstinate—
^(AE)Then he abandoned God ^(AF)who made him,
And ^[h]rejected ^(AG)the Rock of his salvation.
¹⁶^(AH)They made Him jealous with strange gods;
^(AI)With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
¹⁷^(AJ)They sacrificed to demons, who were not God,
^(AK)To gods whom they have not known,
^(AL)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not know.
¹⁸You forgot ^(AM)the Rock who fathered you,
^(AN)And forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹“^(AO)The Lord saw this, and spurned them
^(AP)Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
²⁰Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
^(AQ)I will see what their end will be;
^(AR)For they are a perverse generation,
^(AS)Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
²¹^(AT)They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their ^[i]^(AU)idols.
^(AV)So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
²²^(AW)For a fire has flared in My anger,
And it burns to the lowest part of ^[j]Sheol,
^(AX)And devours the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³‘^(AY)I will add misfortunes to them;
^(AZ)I will use up My arrows on them.
²⁴^(BA)They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by ^[k]plague
^(BB)And a bitter epidemic;
^(BC)And the teeth of beasts I will send against them,
^(BD)With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
²⁵^(BE)Outside the sword will make them childless,
And inside, terror—
^(BF)Both young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hair.
²⁶I would have said, “^(BG)I will wipe them out,
^(BH)I will remove the mention of ^[l]their name from humanity,”
²⁷Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “^(BI)Our hand is ^[m]triumphant,
And the Lord has not performed all this.”’

²⁸“^(BJ)For they are a nation ^[n]destitute of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
²⁹^(BK)If only they were wise and they understood this;
^(BL)If only they would discern their ^[o]future!
³⁰^(BM)How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their ^(BN)Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
³¹Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
^(BO)Even our enemies ^[p]themselves judge this.
³²For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of ^(BP)poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
³³Their wine is the venom of ^[q]serpents,
And the ^[r]deadly poison of vipers.

³⁴‘^(BQ)Is it not stored up with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
³⁵^(BR)Vengeance is Mine, and retribution;
^(BS)In due time their foot will slip.
^(BT)For the day of their disaster is near,
And the impending things are hurrying to them.’
³⁶^(BU)For the Lord will vindicate His people,
^(BV)And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their ^[s]strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
³⁷And He will say, ‘^(BW)Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge?
³⁸^(BX)Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
^(BY)Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your protection!
³⁹^(BZ)See now that I, I am He,
^(CA)And there is no god besides Me;
^(CB)It is I who put to death and give life.
^(CC)I have wounded and it is I who heal,
^(CD)And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.
⁴⁰Indeed, ^(CE)I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
⁴¹^(CF)If I have sharpened ^[t]My flashing sword,
And My hand has taken hold of justice,
^(CG)I will return vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
⁴²^(CH)I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
^(CI)And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired ^[u]leaders of the enemy.’
⁴³^(CJ)Rejoice, you nations, with His people;
^(CK)For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
^(CL)And will return vengeance on His adversaries,
^(CM)And will atone for His land and His people.”

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with ^[v]^(CN)Joshua the son of Nun. ⁴⁵When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them, “^(CO)Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command ^(CP)your sons to ^[w]follow carefully, all the words of this Law. ⁴⁷For it is not a ^[x]trivial matter for you; indeed ^(CQ)it is your life. And ^(CR)by this word you will prolong your days in the land, ^[y]which you are about to cross the Jordan to ^[z]possess.”

⁴⁸Now ^(CS)the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, ⁴⁹“^(CT)Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab ^[aa]opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. ⁵⁰Then you are to die on the mountain where you ascend, and be ^(CU)gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹^(CV)because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the ^(CW)wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. ⁵²^(CX)For you will see the land at a distance but ^(CY)you will not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 32:4 Or judgment
Deuteronomy 32:5 Lit It has
Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Adam
Deuteronomy 32:8 As in MT; DSS sons of God; LXX angels of God
Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit pupil
Deuteronomy 32:13 I.e., olive oil
Deuteronomy 32:15 I.e., Israel
Deuteronomy 32:15 Lit declared void
Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit nonexistent things
Deuteronomy 32:22 I.e., the netherworld
Deuteronomy 32:24 Lit burning heat
Deuteronomy 32:26 Lit them
Deuteronomy 32:27 Lit high
Deuteronomy 32:28 Lit perishing of
Deuteronomy 32:29 Or latter end
Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit are judges
Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit dragons
Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit cruel
Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit hand
Deuteronomy 32:41 Lit the lightning of My sword
Deuteronomy 32:42 Lit head
Deuteronomy 32:44 Lit Hoshea
Deuteronomy 32:46 Lit be careful to perform
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit empty word
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit where
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit possess it
Deuteronomy 32:49 Lit which is opposite

Deuteronomy 32

English Standard Version

32 “Give ear, ^(A)O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let ^(B)the earth hear the words of my mouth.
²May ^(C)my teaching drop as the rain,
    my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and ^(D)like showers upon the herb.
³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe ^(E)greatness to our God!

⁴^(F)“The Rock, ^(G)his work is perfect,
    for ^(H)all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and ^(I)without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.
⁵They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children ^(J)because they are blemished;
    they are ^(K)a crooked and twisted generation.
⁶Do you thus repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he ^(L)your father, who ^(M)created you,
    who ^(N)made you and established you?
⁷^(O)Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
^(P)ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
⁸When the Most High ^(Q)gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he ^(R)divided mankind,
he fixed the borders^[a] of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of God.^[b]
⁹But the Lord's portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted heritage.

¹⁰“He found him ^(S)in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he ^(T)encircled him, he cared for him,
    he ^(U)kept him as the apple of his eye.
¹¹^(V)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^(W)the Lord alone guided him,
    ^(X)no foreign god was with him.
¹³^(Y)He made him ride on the high places of the land,
    and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with ^(Z)honey out of the rock,
    and ^(AA)oil out of ^(AB)the flinty rock.
¹⁴Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat^[c] of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
    with the very finest^[d] of the wheat—
    and you drank foaming wine made from ^(AC)the blood of the grape.

¹⁵“But ^(AD)Jeshurun grew fat, and ^(AE)kicked;
    ^(AF)you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
^(AG)then he forsook God ^(AH)who made him
    and scoffed at ^(AI)the Rock of his salvation.
¹⁶^(AJ)They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with abominations they provoked him to anger.
¹⁷^(AK)They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
    to gods they had never known,
to ^(AL)new gods that had come recently,
    whom your fathers had never dreaded.
¹⁸You were unmindful of ^(AM)the Rock that bore^[e] you,
    and you ^(AN)forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹^(AO)“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
    because of the provocation of ^(AP)his sons and his daughters.
²⁰And he said, ^(AQ)‘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^(AR)They have made me jealous with what is no god;
    they have provoked me to anger ^(AS)with their idols.
So ^(AT)I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
    I will provoke them to anger with ^(AU)a foolish nation.
²²For ^(AV)a fire is kindled by my anger,
    and it burns to ^(AW)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;
    ^(AX)I will spend my arrows on them;
²⁴they shall be wasted with hunger,
    and devoured by plague
    and poisonous pestilence;
I will send ^(AY)the teeth of beasts against them,
    with the venom of ^(AZ)things that crawl in the dust.
²⁵^(BA)Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
    and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
    the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
²⁶^(BB)I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
    ^(BC)I will wipe them from human memory,”
²⁷had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, ^(BD)“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 ^(BE)no understanding in them.
²⁹^(BF)If they were wise, they would understand this;
    they would ^(BG)discern their latter end!
³⁰How could ^(BH)one have chased a thousand,
    and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock ^(BI)had sold them,
    and the Lord had given them up?
³¹For ^(BJ)their rock is not as our Rock;
    ^(BK)our enemies are by themselves.
³²For their vine ^(BL)comes from the vine of Sodom
    and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of ^(BM)poison;
    their clusters are bitter;
³³their wine is the poison of ^(BN)serpents
    and the cruel venom of asps.

³⁴“‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
    ^(BO)sealed up in my treasuries?
³⁵^(BP)Vengeance is mine, and recompense,^[f]
    ^(BQ)for the time when their foot shall slip;
for ^(BR)the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.’
³⁶For ^(BS)the Lord will vindicate^[g] his people
    ^(BT)and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
    and there is none remaining, ^(BU)bond or free.
³⁷Then he will say, ^(BV)‘Where are their gods,
    ^(BW)the rock in which they took refuge,
³⁸who 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 ^(BX)I, even I, am he,
    and there is no god beside me;
^(BY)I kill and I make alive;
    ^(BZ)I wound and I heal;
    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
⁴⁰For ^(CA)I lift up my hand to heaven
    and swear, As I live forever,
⁴¹if I ^(CB)sharpen my flashing sword^[h]
    and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and will repay those who hate me.
⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and ^(CC)my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the ^(CD)long-haired heads of the enemy.’

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

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

Moses' Death Foretold

⁴⁸That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, ⁴⁹“Go up ^(CK)this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as ^(CL)Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹^(CM)because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. ⁵²For ^(CN)you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 32:8 Or territories
Deuteronomy 32:8 Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel
Deuteronomy 32:14 That is, with the best
Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew with the kidney fat
Deuteronomy 32:18 Or fathered
Deuteronomy 32:35 Septuagint and I will repay
Deuteronomy 32:36 Septuagint judge
Deuteronomy 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword
Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations
Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text lacks bow down to him, all gods
Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants
Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him
Deuteronomy 32:43 Or atones for
Deuteronomy 32:43 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people
Deuteronomy 32:44 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea

Deuteronomy 32

Contemporary English Version

32 Earth and Sky,
    listen to what I say!
²Israel, I will teach you.
My words will be like gentle rain
    on tender young plants,
    or like dew on the grass.

³Join with me in praising
the wonderful name
    of the Lord our God.
⁴The Lord is a mighty rock,^[a]
    and he never does wrong.
God can always be trusted
    to bring justice.
⁵But you lie and cheat
    and are unfaithful to him.
You have disgraced yourselves
and are no longer worthy
    to be his children.^[b]
⁶Israel, the Lord is your Father,
    the one who created you,
but you repaid him
    by being foolish.
⁷Think about past generations.
Ask your parents
    or any of your elders.
They will tell you
⁸^(A) that God Most High
    gave land to every nation.
He assigned a guardian angel
    to each of them,^[c]
⁹but the Lord himself
    takes care of Israel.^[d]

¹⁰Israel, 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.
¹¹The Lord was like an eagle
    teaching its young to fly,
always ready to swoop down
    and catch them on its back.
¹²Israel, the Lord led you,
and without the aid
    of a foreign god,
¹³he 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.
¹⁴Your 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.

¹⁵Israel,^[e] you grew fat and rebelled
    against God, your Creator
you rejected the Mighty Rock,^[f]
    your only place of safety.
¹⁶You made God jealous and angry
by worshiping disgusting idols
    and foreign gods.
¹⁷^(B) You offered sacrifices
to demons, those useless gods^[g]
    that never helped you,
new gods that your ancestors
    never worshiped.
¹⁸You turned away
    from God, your Creator;
you forgot the Mighty Rock,^[h]
    the source of your life.
¹⁹You were the Lord's children,
    but you made him angry.
Then he rejected you ²⁰and 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^(C) You worshiped worthless idols,
and made me jealous
    and angry!
Now I will send a cruel^[i]
    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.
²³I'll send disaster after disaster
    to strike you like arrows.
²⁴You'll be struck by starvation
    and deadly diseases,
by the fangs of wild animals
    and poisonous snakes.
²⁵Young 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.
²⁷But I dreaded the sound
    of your enemies saying,
‘We defeated Israel with no help
    from the Lord.’ ”

²⁸People of Israel,
that's what the Lord
    has said to you.
But you don't have good sense,
and you never listen
    to advice.
²⁹If you did, you could see
    where you are headed.
³⁰How 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.
³¹Even our enemies know
that only our God
    is a Mighty Rock.^[j]

³²Our enemies are grapevines
rooted in the fields
    of Sodom and Gomorrah.^[k]
The grapes they produce
    are full of bitter poison;
³³their wine is more deadly
    than cobra venom.
³⁴But the Lord has written
a list of their sins
    and locked it in his vault.
³⁵^(D) Soon our enemies will get
    what they deserve^[l]—
suddenly they will slip,
and total disaster
    will quickly follow.

³⁶^(E) 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.

³⁷But first the Lord will say,
“You ran for safety to other gods—
    couldn't they help you?
³⁸You offered them wine
    and your best sacrifices.
Can't those gods help you now
    or give you protection?
³⁹Don'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,
⁴¹I will take revenge
    on my hateful enemies.
I will sharpen my sword
and let it flash
    like lightning.
⁴²My 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.”^[m]

⁴³^(F) Tell the heavens to celebrate
and all gods to bow down
    to the Lord,^[n]
because he will take revenge
on those hateful enemies
    who killed his people.
He will forgive the sins of Israel
    and purify their land.^[o]

^44-45Moses spoke the words of the song so that all the Israelites could hear, and Joshua^[p] helped him. When Moses had finished, ⁴⁶he 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. ⁴⁷The 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^(G) Later that day the Lord said to Moses:

⁴⁹Go 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. ⁵⁰Then you will die and be buried on the mountaintop, just as your brother Aaron died and was buried on Mount Hor. ⁵¹Both of you were unfaithful to me at Meribah Spring near Kadesh in the Zin Desert.^[q] I am God, but there in front of the Israelites, you did not treat me with the honor and respect I deserve. ⁵²So I will give the land to the people of Israel, but you will only get to see it from a distance.

Footnotes

32.4 mighty rock: The Hebrew text has “rock,” which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the Lord to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
32.5 and are unfaithful … children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
32.8 He assigned … them: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “So there were as many nations as Israel (that is, Jacob) had children.”
32.9 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Jacob,” another name for Israel's ancestor.
32.15 Israel: The Standard Hebrew Text has “Jeshurun,” a rare name for Israel related to a word meaning “honest.” The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation also use “Jacob,” another name for the ancestor of the nation of Israel.
32.15 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
32.16,17 disgusting idols … foreign gods … demons … those useless gods: Different ways of referring to gods of other nations.
32.18 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
32.21 cruel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
32.31 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
32.32 Sodom and Gomorrah: Two cities that the Lord destroyed because their people were so evil (see Genesis 18.16—19.28).
32.35 our enemies … deserve: The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “I will pay them back.”
32.42 leaders: Or “long-haired warriors,” who let their hair grow to show that they had made sacred promises to their gods.
32.43 Tell … Lord: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “Let the nations, his people, celebrate.”
32.43 because he will … land: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
32.44,45 Joshua: The Hebrew text has “Hoshea,” another form of Joshua's name.
32.51 Both of you were unfaithful … the Zin Desert: See Numbers 20.1-13.

Deuteronomy 32

New Living Translation

32 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!
    Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
²Let 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.
³I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    how glorious is our God!
⁴He 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?^[a]
    They are a deceitful and twisted generation.
⁶Is 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?
⁷Remember 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.
⁸When 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.^[b]

⁹“For the people of Israel belong to the Lord;
    Jacob is his special possession.
¹⁰He 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.^[c]
¹¹Like 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.
¹²The Lord alone guided them;
    they followed no foreign gods.
¹³He 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.
¹⁴He 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 Israel^[d] 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.
¹⁶They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods;
    they provoked his fury with detestable deeds.
¹⁷They 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.
¹⁸You 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.
²⁰He said, ‘I will abandon them;
    then see what becomes of them.
For they are a twisted generation,
    children without integrity.
²¹They 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.
²²For my anger blazes forth like fire
    and burns to the depths of the grave.^[e]
It devours the earth and all its crops
    and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
²³I will heap disasters upon them
    and shoot them down with my arrows.
²⁴I 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.
²⁵Outside, the sword will bring death,
    and inside, terror will strike
both young men and young women,
    both infants and the aged.
²⁶I would have annihilated them,
    wiping out even the memory of them.
²⁷But 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.
²⁹Oh, that they were wise and could understand this!
    Oh, that they might know their fate!
³⁰How 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?
³¹But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock,
    as even they recognize.^[f]
³²Their vine grows from the vine of Sodom,
    from the vineyards of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison,
    and their clusters are bitter.
³³Their 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?
³⁵I 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 about^[g] his servants,
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave or free.
³⁷Then he will ask, ‘Where are their gods,
    the rocks they fled to for refuge?
³⁸Where 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!
³⁹Look 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!
⁴⁰Now I raise my hand to heaven
    and declare, “As surely as I live,
⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword
    and begin to carry out justice,
I will take revenge on my enemies
    and repay those who reject me.
⁴²I 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.^[h]
Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles,
    and let all the angels be strengthened in him.^[i]
For he will avenge the blood of his children^[j];
    he will take revenge against his enemies.
He will repay those who hate him^[k]
    and cleanse his people’s land.”

⁴⁴So Moses came with Joshua^[l] son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.

⁴⁵When Moses had finished reciting all these words to the people of Israel, ⁴⁶he 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. ⁴⁷These 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

⁴⁸That same day the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁹“Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river,^[m] 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. ⁵⁰Then 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. ⁵¹For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh^[n] in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. ⁵²So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

32:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
32:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, which read the number of the sons of God, and Greek version, which reads the number of the angels of God; Masoretic Text reads the number of the sons of Israel.
32:10 Hebrew as the pupil of his eye.
32:15 Hebrew Jeshurun, a term of endearment for Israel.
32:22 Hebrew of Sheol.
32:31 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Greek version reads our enemies are fools.
32:36 Or will take revenge for.
32:43a As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks the first two lines. Compare Heb 1:6.
32:43b As in Greek version; Hebrew text lacks this sentence. Compare Rom 15:10.
32:43c As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads his servants.
32:43d As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks this line.
32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant name for Joshua.
32:49 Hebrew the mountains of Abarim.
32:51 Hebrew waters of Meribath-kadesh.

New International Version (NIV)