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

Isaiah 59

New International Version

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm^(A) of the Lord is not too short^(B) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.^(C)
²But your iniquities have separated^(D)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.^(E)
³For your hands are stained with blood,^(F)
    your fingers with guilt.^(G)
Your lips have spoken falsely,^(H)
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴No one calls for justice;^(I)
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely^(J) on empty arguments, they utter lies;^(K)
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.^(L)
⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers^(M)
    and spin a spider’s web.^(N)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.^(O)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence^(P) are in their hands.
⁷Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.^(Q)
They pursue evil schemes;^(R)
    acts of violence mark their ways.^(S)
⁸The way of peace they do not know;^(T)
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;^(U)
    no one who walks along them will know peace.^(V)

⁹So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;^(W)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰Like the blind^(X) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble^(Y) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.^(Z)
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.^(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹²For our offenses^(AB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify^(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:^(AD)
¹³rebellion^(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs^(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,^(AG)
    uttering lies^(AH) our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴So justice^(AI) is driven back,
    and righteousness^(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth^(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth^(AL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.^(AM)
¹⁶He saw that there was no one,^(AN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;^(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation^(AP) for him,
    and his own righteousness^(AQ) sustained him.
¹⁷He put on righteousness as his breastplate,^(AR)
    and the helmet^(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments^(AT) of vengeance^(AU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal^(AV) as in a cloak.
¹⁸According to what they have done,
    so will he repay^(AW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands^(AX) their due.
¹⁹From the west,^(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,^(AZ) they will revere his glory.^(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath^(BB) of the Lord drives along.^[a]

²⁰“The Redeemer^(BC) will come to Zion,^(BD)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”^(BE)
declares the Lord.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant^(BF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,^(BG) who is on you, will not depart from you,^(BH) and my words that I have put in your mouth^(BI) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.