Font Size
Deuteronomy 31:19-32:43
New King James Version
Deuteronomy 31:19-32:43
New King James Version
19 “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be (A)a witness for Me against the children of Israel. 20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves (B)and grown fat, (C)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it shall be, (D)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for (E)I know the inclination (F)of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”
22 Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. 23 (G)Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, (H)“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
24 So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26 “Take this Book of the Law, (I)and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there (J)as a witness against you; 27 (K)for I know your rebellion and your (L)stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? 28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing (M)and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will (N)become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And (O)evil will befall you (P)in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”
The Song of Moses
30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended:
The Song of Moses
32 “Give (Q)ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O (R)earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let (S)my [a]teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
(T)As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
3 For I proclaim the (U)name of the Lord:
(V)Ascribe greatness to our God.
4 He is (W)the Rock, (X)His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
(Y)A God of truth and (Z)without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.
5 “They(AA) have corrupted themselves;
They are not His children,
Because of their blemish:
A (AB)perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus (AC)deal[b] with the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is He not (AD)your Father, who (AE)bought you?
Has He not (AF)made you and established you?
7 “Remember(AG) the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
(AH)Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you:
8 When the Most High (AI)divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He (AJ)separated the sons of Adam,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the [c]children of Israel.
9 For (AK)the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the place of His inheritance.
10 “He found him (AL)in a desert land
And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
He encircled him, He instructed him,
He (AM)kept him as the [d]apple of His eye.
11 (AN)As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings,
12 So the Lord alone led him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 “He(AO) made him ride in the heights of the earth,
That he might eat the produce of the fields;
He made him draw honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock;
14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock,
(AP)With fat of lambs;
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the choicest wheat;
And you drank wine, the (AQ)blood of the grapes.
15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
(AR)You grew fat, you grew thick,
You are obese!
Then he (AS)forsook God who (AT)made him,
And scornfully esteemed the (AU)Rock of his salvation.
16 (AV)They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With [e]abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 (AW)They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.
18 (AX)Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful,
And have (AY)forgotten the God who fathered you.
19 “And(AZ) when the Lord saw it, He spurned them,
Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
20 And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
(BA)Children in whom is no faith.
21 (BB)They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;
They have moved Me to anger (BC)by their [f]foolish idols.
But (BD)I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.
22 For (BE)a fire is kindled in My anger,
And shall burn to the [g]lowest [h]hell;
It shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will (BF)heap disasters on them;
(BG)I will spend My arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the (BH)teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword shall destroy outside;
There shall be terror within
For the young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 (BI)I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces,
I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,”
27 Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
Lest they should say, (BJ)“Our hand is high;
And it is not the Lord who has done all this.” ’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
Nor is there any understanding in them.
29 (BK)Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their (BL)latter end!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock (BM)had sold them,
And the Lord had surrendered them?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,
(BN)Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For (BO)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 (BP)the poison of serpents,
And the cruel (BQ)venom of cobras.
34 ‘Is this not (BR)laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up among My treasures?
35 (BS)Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
(BT)For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’
36 “For(BU) the Lord will judge His people
(BV)And have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their power is gone,
And (BW)there is no one remaining, bond or free.
37 He will say: (BX)‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise and help you,
And be your refuge.
39 ‘Now see that (BY)I, even I, am He,
And (BZ)there is no God besides Me;
(CA)I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
40 For I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, “As I live forever,
41 (CB)If I [i]whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And repay those who hate Me.
42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
And My sword shall devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the heads of the leaders of the enemy.” ’
43 “Rejoice,(CC) O Gentiles, with His [j]people;
For He will (CD)avenge the blood of His servants,
And render vengeance to His adversaries;
He (CE)will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:2 doctrine
- Deuteronomy 32:6 repay the
- Deuteronomy 32:8 LXX, DSS angels of God; Symmachus, Lat. sons of God
- Deuteronomy 32:10 pupil
- Deuteronomy 32:16 detestable acts
- Deuteronomy 32:21 foolishness, lit. vanities
- Deuteronomy 32:22 lowest part of
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Or Sheol
- Deuteronomy 32:41 sharpen
- Deuteronomy 32:43 DSS fragment adds And let all the gods (angels) worship Him; cf. LXX and Heb. 1:6
Deuteronomy 31:19-32:43
New International Version
Deuteronomy 31:19-32:43
New International Version
19 “Now write(A) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(B) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(C) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(D) and worship them,(E) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(F) 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,(G) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,(H) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote(I) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The Lord gave this command(J) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,(K) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
24 After Moses finished writing(L) in a book the words of this law(M) from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried(N) 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.(O) 27 For I know how rebellious(P) and stiff-necked(Q) 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! 28 Assemble 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.(R) 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt(S) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster(T) 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
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
32 Listen,(U) you heavens,(V) and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(W)
2 Let my teaching fall like rain(X)
and my words descend like dew,(Y)
like showers(Z) on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim(AA) the name of the Lord.(AB)
Oh, praise the greatness(AC) of our God!
4 He is the Rock,(AD) his works are perfect,(AE)
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(AF) who does no wrong,
upright(AG) and just is he.(AH)
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(AI)
6 Is this the way you repay(AJ) the Lord,
you foolish(AK) and unwise people?(AL)
Is he not your Father,(AM) your Creator,[a]
who made you and formed you?(AN)
7 Remember the days of old;(AO)
consider the generations long past.(AP)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.(AQ)
8 When the Most High(AR) gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,(AS)
he set up boundaries(AT) for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b](AU)
9 For the Lord’s portion(AV) is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AW)
10 In a desert(AX) land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.(AY)
He shielded(AZ) him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(BA)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,(BB)
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.(BC)
12 The Lord alone led(BD) him;(BE)
no foreign god was with him.(BF)
13 He made him ride on the heights(BG) of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(BH)
and with oil(BI) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(BJ)
and the finest kernels of wheat.(BK)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(BL)
15 Jeshurun[c](BM) grew fat(BN) and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(BO) the God who made them
and rejected the Rock(BP) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(BQ) with their foreign gods
and angered(BR) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(BS) to false gods,(BT) which are not God—
gods they had not known,(BU)
gods that recently appeared,(BV)
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot(BW) the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(BX)
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(BY)
20 “I will hide my face(BZ) from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(CA)
children who are unfaithful.(CB)
21 They made me jealous(CC) by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.(CD)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(CE)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(CF)
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(CG)
It will devour(CH) the earth and its harvests(CI)
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(CJ)
23 “I will heap calamities(CK) on them
and spend my arrows(CL) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(CM) against them,
consuming pestilence(CN) and deadly plague;(CO)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(CP)
the venom of vipers(CQ) that glide in the dust.(CR)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror(CS) will reign.(CT)
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with gray hair.(CU)
26 I said I would scatter(CV) them
and erase their name from human memory,(CW)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstand(CX)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.’”(CY)
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment(CZ) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(DA)
and discern what their end will be!(DB)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,(DC)
unless their Rock had sold them,(DD)
unless the Lord had given them up?(DE)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(DF)
as even our enemies concede.(DG)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(DH)
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(DI)
and their clusters with bitterness.(DJ)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.(DK)
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?(DL)
35 It is mine to avenge;(DM) I will repay.(DN)
In due time their foot will slip;(DO)
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.(DP)”
36 The Lord will vindicate his people(DQ)
and relent(DR) concerning his servants(DS)
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave(DT) or free.[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,(DU)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(DV)
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am he!(DW)
There is no god besides me.(DX)
I put to death(DY) and I bring to life,(DZ)
I have wounded and I will heal,(EA)
and no one can deliver out of my hand.(EB)
40 I lift my hand(EC) to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,(ED)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(EE)
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(EF) on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.(EG)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(EH)
while my sword devours flesh:(EI)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
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, /
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.