Deuteronomy 32-34 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 32

 ¹Earth 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] 6}Israel, 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

    ⁸that God Most High

   gave land to every nation.

   He assigned a guardian angel

   to each of them, ^{[c] 9}but the LORD himself

   takes care of Israel. ^{[d] 10}Israel, the LORD discovered you

   in a barren desert

   filled with howling winds.

   God became your fortress,

   protecting you

   as though

   you were his own eyes.

    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.

    ¹⁷You 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.

    ²¹You 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] 32}Our 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.

    ³⁵Soon our enemies will get

   what they deserve ^[l] -- suddenly they will slip,

   and total disaster

   will quickly follow.

    ³⁶When 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}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] 44-45}Moses 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

 ⁴⁸Later 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.

Deuteronomy 33

Moses Blesses the Tribes of Israel

 ¹Moses was a prophet, and before he died, he blessed the tribes of Israel by saying:

    ²The LORD came from Mount Sinai.

   From Edom, he gave light

   to his people,

   and his glory was shining

   from Mount Paran.

   Thousands of his warriors

   were with him,

   and fire

   was at his right hand. ^{[r] 3}The LORD loves the tribes

   of Israel, ^[s] and he protects his people.

   They listen to his words

   and worship at his feet.

    ⁴I called a meeting

   of the tribes of Israel ^[t] and gave you God's Law.

    ⁵Then you and your leaders

   made the LORD your king.

    ⁶Tribe of Reuben, you will live,

   even though your tribe

   will always be small. ^{[u] 7}The LORD will listen to you,

   tribe of Judah,

   as you beg

   to come safely home.

   You fought your enemies alone; ^[v] now the LORD will help you.

    ⁸At Massah and Meribah Spring, ^[w] the LORD tested you,

   tribe of Levi.

   You were faithful, ^[x] and so the priesthood ^[y] belongs to the Levi tribe.

    ⁹Protecting Israel's agreement

   with the LORD

   was more important to you

   than the life of your father

   or mother,

   or brothers or sisters,

   or your own children. ^{[z] 10}You teach God's laws to Israel, ^[aa] and at the place of worship

   you offer sacrifices

   and burn incense.

    ¹¹I pray that the LORD will bless

   everything you do,

   and make you strong enough

   to crush your enemies.

    ¹²The LORD Most High ^[ab] loves you, tribe of Benjamin.

   He will live among your hills

   and protect you.

    ¹³Descendants of Joseph,

   the LORD will bless you

   with precious water

   from deep wells

   and with dew from the sky.

    ¹⁴Month by month, your fruit

   will ripen in the sunshine.

    ¹⁵You will have a rich harvest

   from the slopes

   of the ancient hills.

    ¹⁶The LORD who appeared

   in the burning bush

   wants to give you the best

   the land can produce,

   and it will be a princely crown

   on Joseph's head.

    ¹⁷The armies of Ephraim

   and Manasseh

   are majestic and fierce

   like a bull or a wild ox.

   They will run their spears

   through faraway nations.

    ¹⁸Be happy, Zebulun,

   as your boats set sail;

   be happy, Issachar,

   in your tents.

    ¹⁹The sea will make you wealthy,

   and from the sandy beach

   you will get treasure. ^[ac] So invite the other tribes ^[ad] to celebrate with you

   and offer sacrifices to God.

    ²⁰Tribe of Gad,

   the LORD will bless you

   with more land.

   So shout his praises!

   Your tribe is like a lion

   ripping up its victim.

    ²¹Your leaders met together

   and chose the best land

   for your tribe,

   but you obeyed the LORD

   and helped the other tribes. ^{[ae] 22}Tribe of Dan,

   you are like a lion cub,

   startled by a snake. ^{[af] 23}The LORD is pleased with you,

   people of Naphtali.

   He will bless you

   and give you the land

   to the west and the south. ^{[ag] 24}The LORD's greatest blessing

   is for you, tribe of Asher.

   You will be the favorite

   of all the other tribes.

   You will be rich with olive oil

    ²⁵and have strong town gates

   with bronze and iron bolts.

   Your people will be powerful

   for as long as they live.

    ²⁶Israel, ^[ah] no other god is like ours--

   the clouds are his chariot

   as he rides across the skies

   to come and help us.

    ²⁷The eternal God

   is our hiding place;

   he carries us in his arms.

   When God tells you

   to destroy your enemies,

   he will make them run.

    ²⁸Israel, you will live in safety;

   your enemies will be gone. ^[ai] The dew will fall from the sky,

   and you will have plenty

   of grain and wine.

    ²⁹The LORD has rescued you

   and given you more blessings

   than any other nation.

   He protects you like a shield

   and is your majestic sword.

   Your enemies will bow in fear,

   and you will trample

   on their backs.

   

Deuteronomy 34

The Death of Moses

 ¹Sometime later, Moses left the lowlands of Moab. He went up Mount Pisgah to the peak of Mount Nebo, ^[aj] which is across the Jordan River from Jericho. The LORD showed him all the land as far north as Gilead and the town of Dan. ²He let Moses see the territories that would soon belong to the tribes of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah, as far west as the Mediterranean Sea. ³The LORD also showed him the land in the south, from the valley near the town of Jericho, known as The City of Palm Trees, down to the town of Zoar. ⁴The LORD said, " Moses, this is the land I was talking about when I solemnly promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give land to their descendants. I have let you see it, but you will not cross the Jordan and go in."

    ⁵And so, Moses the LORD's servant died there in Moab, just as the LORD had said. ⁶The LORD buried him in a valley near the town of Beth-Peor, but even today no one knows exactly where. ⁷Moses was a hundred twenty years old when he died, yet his eyesight was still good, and his body was strong.

    ⁸The people of Israel stayed in the lowlands of Moab, where they mourned and grieved thirty days for Moses, as was their custom.

   

Joshua Becomes the Leader of Israel

 ⁹Before Moses died, he had placed his hands on Joshua, and the LORD had given Joshua wisdom. The Israelites paid attention to what Joshua said and obeyed the commands that the LORD had given Moses.

   

Moses Was a Great Prophet

 ¹⁰There has never again been a prophet in Israel like Moses. The LORD spoke face to face with him ¹¹and sent him to perform powerful miracles in the presence of the king of Egypt and his entire nation. ¹²No one else has ever had the power to do such great things as Moses did for everyone to see.