Deuteronomy 31:14-32

New International Version

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

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

¹⁵Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^(E) ¹⁶And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(F) and these people will soon prostitute^(G) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(H) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷And in that day I will become angry^(I) with them and forsake^(J) them; I will hide^(K) my face^(L) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(M) 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?’^(N) ¹⁸And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

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

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

²⁴After Moses finished writing^(Z) in a book the words of this law^(AA) from beginning to end, ²⁵he gave this command to the Levites who carried^(AB) 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.^(AC) ²⁷For I know how rebellious^(AD) and stiff-necked^(AE) 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! ²⁸Assemble 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.^(AF) ²⁹For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(AG) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(AH) 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

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

32 Listen,^(AI) you heavens,^(AJ) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^(AK)
²Let my teaching fall like rain^(AL)
    and my words descend like dew,^(AM)
like showers^(AN) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

³I will proclaim^(AO) the name of the Lord.^(AP)
    Oh, praise the greatness^(AQ) of our God!
⁴He is the Rock,^(AR) his works are perfect,^(AS)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God^(AT) who does no wrong,
    upright^(AU) and just is he.^(AV)

⁵They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^(AW)
⁶Is this the way you repay^(AX) the Lord,
    you foolish^(AY) and unwise people?^(AZ)
Is he not your Father,^(BA) your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you?^(BB)

⁷Remember the days of old;^(BC)
    consider the generations long past.^(BD)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.^(BE)
⁸When the Most High^(BF) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,^(BG)
he set up boundaries^(BH) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.^[b]^(BI)
⁹For the Lord’s portion^(BJ) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.^(BK)

¹⁰In a desert^(BL) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.^(BM)
He shielded^(BN) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^(BO)
¹¹like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,^(BP)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.^(BQ)
¹²The Lord alone led^(BR) him;^(BS)
    no foreign god was with him.^(BT)

¹³He made him ride on the heights^(BU) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,^(BV)
    and with oil^(BW) from the flinty crag,
¹⁴with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan^(BX)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.^(BY)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^(BZ)