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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, Ofoolish 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.

48 And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, 49 Get thee up into this mountain 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 among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
Let 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.

I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
He 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)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
Is 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)

Remember 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)
When 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)
For the Lord’s portion(AB) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AC)

10 In 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)
11 like 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)
12 The Lord alone led(AJ) him;(AK)
    no foreign god was with him.(AL)

13 He 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,
14 with 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)

15 Jeshurun[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.
16 They made him jealous(AW) with their foreign gods
    and angered(AX) him with their detestable idols.
17 They 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.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(BC) the God who gave you birth.

19 The 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)
21 They 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)
22 For 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.
24 I 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)
25 In 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)
26 I said I would scatter(CB) them
    and erase their name from human memory,(CC)
27 but 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)

28 They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment(CF) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(CG)
    and discern what their end will be!(CH)
30 How 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)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(CL)
    as even our enemies concede.(CM)
32 Their 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)
33 Their 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)
35 It 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)

36 The 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]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,(DA)
38 the 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)
40 I lift my hand(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,(DJ)
41 when 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)
42 I 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.”

43 Rejoice,(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)

44 Moses came with Joshua[g](DT) 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,(DU) so that you may command(DV) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They 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

48 On 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. 50 There 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. 51 This 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) 52 Therefore, 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

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

32 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!
    Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
Let my teaching fall on you like rain;
    let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass,
    like gentle showers on young plants.
I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    how glorious is our God!
He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
    Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
    how just and upright he is!

“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.
Is this the way you repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people?
Isn’t he your Father who created you?
    Has he not made you and established you?
Remember the days of long ago;
    think about the generations past.
Ask your father, and he will inform you.
    Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,
    when he divided up the human race,
he established the boundaries of the peoples
    according to the number in his heavenly court.[b]

“For the people of Israel belong to the Lord;
    Jacob is his special possession.
10 He found them in a desert land,
    in an empty, howling wasteland.
He surrounded them and watched over them;
    he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.[c]
11 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks
    and hovers over her young,
so he spread his wings to take them up
    and carried them safely on his pinions.
12 The Lord alone guided them;
    they followed no foreign gods.
13 He let them ride over the highlands
    and feast on the crops of the fields.
He nourished them with honey from the rock
    and olive oil from the stony ground.
14 He fed them yogurt from the herd
    and milk from the flock,
    together with the fat of lambs.
He gave them choice rams from Bashan, and goats,
    together with the choicest wheat.
You drank the finest wine,
    made from the juice of grapes.

15 “But 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.
16 They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods;
    they provoked his fury with detestable deeds.
17 They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God,
    to gods they had not known before,
to new gods only recently arrived,
    to gods their ancestors had never feared.
18 You neglected the Rock who had fathered you;
    you forgot the God who had given you birth.

19 “The Lord saw this and drew back,
    provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.
20 He said, ‘I will abandon them;
    then see what becomes of them.
For they are a twisted generation,
    children without integrity.
21 They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God;
    they have provoked my anger with their useless idols.
Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people;
    I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.
22 For my anger blazes forth like fire
    and burns to the depths of the grave.[e]
It devours the earth and all its crops
    and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap disasters upon them
    and shoot them down with my arrows.
24 I will weaken them with famine,
    burning fever, and deadly disease.
I will send the fangs of wild beasts
    and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.
25 Outside, the sword will bring death,
    and inside, terror will strike
both young men and young women,
    both infants and the aged.
26 I would have annihilated them,
    wiping out even the memory of them.
27 But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy,
    who might misunderstand and say,
“Our own power has triumphed!
    The Lord had nothing to do with this!”’

28 “But Israel is a senseless nation;
    the people are foolish, without understanding.
29 Oh, that they were wise and could understand this!
    Oh, that they might know their fate!
30 How could one person chase a thousand of them,
    and two people put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
    unless the Lord had given them up?
31 But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock,
    as even they recognize.[f]
32 Their vine grows from the vine of Sodom,
    from the vineyards of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison,
    and their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.

34 “The Lord says, ‘Am I not storing up these things,
    sealing them away in my treasury?
35 I will take revenge; I will pay them back.
    In due time their feet will slip.
Their day of disaster will arrive,
    and their destiny will overtake them.’

36 “Indeed, the Lord will give justice to his people,
    and he will change his mind about[g] his servants,
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave or free.
37 Then he will ask, ‘Where are their gods,
    the rocks they fled to for refuge?
38 Where now are those gods,
    who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their offerings?
Let those gods arise and help you!
    Let them provide you with shelter!
39 Look now; I myself am he!
    There is no other god but me!
I am the one who kills and gives life;
    I am the one who wounds and heals;
    no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!
40 Now I raise my hand to heaven
    and declare, “As surely as I live,
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword
    and begin to carry out justice,
I will take revenge on my enemies
    and repay those who reject me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and my sword will devour flesh—
the blood of the slaughtered and the captives,
    and the heads of the enemy leaders.”’

43 “Rejoice with him, you heavens,
    and let all of God’s angels worship him.[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.”

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

45 When Moses had finished reciting all these words to the people of Israel, 46 he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. 47 These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

48 That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 “Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river,[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. 50 Then you will die there on the mountain. You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. 51 For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh[n] in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. 52 So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. 32:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 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.
  3. 32:10 Hebrew as the pupil of his eye.
  4. 32:15 Hebrew Jeshurun, a term of endearment for Israel.
  5. 32:22 Hebrew of Sheol.
  6. 32:31 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Greek version reads our enemies are fools.
  7. 32:36 Or will take revenge for.
  8. 32:43a As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks the first two lines. Compare Heb 1:6.
  9. 32:43b As in Greek version; Hebrew text lacks this sentence. Compare Rom 15:10.
  10. 32:43c As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads his servants.
  11. 32:43d As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks this line.
  12. 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant name for Joshua.
  13. 32:49 Hebrew the mountains of Abarim.
  14. 32:51 Hebrew waters of Meribath-kadesh.