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30 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

32 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak.
    Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine will drop as the rain.
    My speech will condense as the dew,
    as the misty rain on the tender grass,
    as the showers on the herb.
For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name.
    Ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock: his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are just.
    A God of faithfulness who does no wrong,
    just and right is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him.
    They are not his children, because of their defect.
    They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Is this the way you repay Yahweh,
    foolish and unwise people?
Isn’t he your father who has bought you?
    He has made you and established you.
Remember the days of old.
    Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
    your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he separated the children of men,
he set the bounds of the peoples
    according to the number of the children of Israel.
For Yahweh’s portion is his people.
    Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
    in the waste howling wilderness.
He surrounded him.
    He cared for him.
    He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest,
    that flutters over her young,
he spread abroad his wings,
    he took them,
    he bore them on his feathers.
12 Yahweh alone led him.
    There was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth.
    He ate the increase of the field.
He caused him to suck honey out of the rock,
    oil out of the flinty rock;
14 butter from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat of lambs,
    rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
    with the finest of the wheat.
    From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.
    You have grown fat.
    You have grown thick.
    You have become sleek.
Then he abandoned God who made him,
    and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods.
    They provoked him to anger with abominations.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
    to gods that they didn’t know,
    to new gods that came up recently,
    which your fathers didn’t dread.
18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful,
    and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
19 Yahweh saw and abhorred,
    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 He said, “I will hide my face from them.
    I will see what their end will be;
for they are a very perverse generation,
    children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God.
    They have provoked me to anger with their vanities.
I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people.
    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in my anger,
    that burns to the lowest Sheol,[a]
    devours the earth with its increase,
    and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

23 “I will heap evils on them.
    I will spend my arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
    and devoured with burning heat
    and bitter destruction.
I will send the teeth of animals on them,
    with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 Outside the sword will bereave,
    and in the rooms,
    terror on both young man and virgin,
    the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.
26 I said that I would scatter them afar.
    I would make their memory to cease from among men;
27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should judge wrongly,
    lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted,
    Yahweh has not done all this.’”

28 For they are a nation void of counsel.
    There is no understanding in them.
29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,
    that they would consider their latter end!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
    and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
    and Yahweh had delivered them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock,
    even our enemies themselves concede.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
    of the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison grapes.
    Their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents,
    the cruel venom of asps.

34 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up among my treasures?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    at the time when their foot slides;
for the day of their calamity is at hand.
    Their doom rushes at them.”

36 For Yahweh will judge his people,
    and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone;
    that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge;
38 which ate the fat of their sacrifices,
    and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you!
    Let them be your protection.

39 “See now that I myself am he.
    There is no god with me.
I kill and I make alive.
    I wound and I heal.
    There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare,
    as I live forever,
41 if I sharpen my glittering sword,
    my hand grasps it in judgment;
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
    and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood.
    My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”

43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people,
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants.
    He will take vengeance on his adversaries,
    and will make atonement for his land and for his people.[b]

44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel. 46 He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47 For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

Footnotes

  1. 32:22 Sheol is the place of the dead.
  2. 32:43 For this verse, LXX reads: Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice you Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.

30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

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, O foolish 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.