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Deuteronomy 32
International Standard Version
Deuteronomy 32
International Standard Version
The Song of Moses
32 Hear, heavens, and I will speak!
Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!
2 May my instructions descend like rain
and may my words flow like dew,
as light rain upon the grass,
and as showers upon new plants.
3 For I’ll proclaim the name of our Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 Flawless is the work of the Rock,
because all his ways are just.
A faithful God—never unjust—
righteous and upright is he.
5 But those who are not his children
acted corruptly against him;
they are a defective and perverted generation.
6 This is not the way to repay the Lord, is it,
you foolish and witless people?
Is he not your father,
who bought you, formed you, and established you?
An Exhortation to Remember God’s Work
7 Remember the days of old,
reflect on the years of previous generations.
Ask your father,
and he’ll tell you;
your elders will inform you.
8 When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance,
when he separated the human race,
he set boundaries for the people
according to the number of the children of God.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people;
Jacob is his allotted portion.
The Lord’s Work on Behalf of Israel
10 The Lord[b] found him[c] in a desert land,
in a barren, eerie[d] wilderness.
He surrounded, cared for, and guarded him
as the pupil of his eye.
11 Like an eagle stirs its nest,
hovering near its young,
spreading out his wings to take him
and carry him on his pinions,
12 the Lord alone guided him.
There was no foreign god with him.
13 He mounted him on a high place above the earth,
feeding him from the produce of the field.
He nourished[e] him with honey from the rock
and with oil from the flint rock,
14 with curds from cattle and with milk from sheep,
with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan,
with the fat of goats, with the finest[f] of wheat—
and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
Israel’s Rebellion
15 Jacob dined until satisfied;[g]
Jeshurun[h] grew fat and kicked.
He[i] grew fat, coarse, and gross,
so that he abandoned the God who made him
and spurned the Rock that was his salvation.
16 They provoked him to jealousy over foreigners
and to anger over detestable things.
17 They sacrificed to demons—
not to the real God—
gods whom they didn’t know,
new neighbors who had recently appeared,
whom your ancestors never feared.
18 You[j] neglected the Rock that fathered you;
you abandoned God, who was awaiting your birth.[k]
The Lord’s Response
19 The Lord saw it and became jealous,[l]
provoked by his sons and daughters.
20 So he said:
“Let me hide my face from them.
I will observe what their end will be,
because they are a perverted generation,
children within whom there is no loyalty.
21 They provoked me to jealousy over non-gods,
and to be angry over their vanity.
Now I’ll provoke them to jealousy over a non-people;
and over a foolish nation I’ll provoke them to anger.
22 For a fire breaks out in my anger—
burning to the deepest part of[m] the afterlife,[n]
consuming the earth and its produce
and igniting the foundations of the mountains.
23 I’ll bury them in misfortunes
and bring them to an end with my arrows.
24 Emaciated from famine,
feverish from plague,
and destroyed by bitterness,
I’ll send fanged beasts against them,
along with poisonous snakes that glide through the dust.
25 Outside, the sword will cause bereavement;
within,[o] there will be terror
for the young man and virgin alike,
also for the nursing infant and the aged man.”[p]
26 “I said,
‘I will scatter them,[q]
erasing their memory from the human race,[r]
27 if it weren’t for dreading the taunting of their enemies—
otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say,
“Our power is great.
It isn’t the Lord who made all of this happen.”’”
Moses Warns Israel
28 They are a nation devoid of purpose
and without insight.
29 O, that they were wise to understand this
and consider their future![s]
30 How can one person[t] chase a thousand of them
and two put a myriad[u] to flight,
unless their Rock delivers them
and the Lord gives them up?
31 For their rock isn’t like our Rock,
as even[v] our enemies admit.[w]
32 Instead,[x] their vine is from the vines of Sodom
and the vineyards of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poisonous,
their clusters bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
a poisonous cobra.
The Lord’s Response
34 “Is this not kept in reserve,
sealed up with me in my treasury?
35 To me belong vengeance and recompense.
In due time their feet will slip,
because their time of calamity is near
and the things prepared for them draw near.
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and bring comfort to his servants,
because he will observe that their power[y] has waned,
when neither prisoner[z] nor free person remain.
37 “He will say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their offerings
and drank the wine that was their drink offering?
Let them rise and help you
and be your hiding place!’
39 “Look now! I AM,[aa]
and there is no other god besides me.
I myself cause death
and I sustain life;
I wound severely
and I also heal;
from my power[ab] no one can deliver.
40 “I solemnly swear[ac] to heaven—
I say ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living forever,
41 I’ll whet my shining sword,
with my hands in firm grasp of judgment.
I’ll show vengeance on my adversary
and repay those who keep on hating me.
42 I’ll make my arrows drunk with blood.
My sword will devour flesh,
along with the blood of the slain,
and I’ll take their enemy leaders captive.’
43 “Sing for joy, nations!
Sing for joy,[ad] people who belong to him!
For he’ll avenge the blood of his servants,
turn on his adversary,
and cleanse both his land and his people.”
Moses’ Final Counsel
44 So Moses and Nun’s son Joshua came and recited all the words of this song while the people were assembled. 45 When Moses had finished addressing all of these words to all Israel, 46 he told them, “Take to heart my entire testimony against you today. Command your children to observe carefully every word of this Law, 47 because they’re not just empty words for you—they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess.”
Moses Forbidden to Enter Canaan
48 Later that day, the Lord told Moses, 49 “Ascend this Abarim mountain range[ae] toward Mount Nebo in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and look out over the land of Canaan that I’m about to give to the Israelis as a possession. 50 You will die on the mountain that you are about to ascend and be taken to be with your ancestors, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was taken to be with his ancestors. 51 Both of you acted unfaithfully against me among the Israelis at Meribah-kadesh in the desert of Zin, when you failed to uphold my holiness among the Israelis. 52 You’ll see the land from a distance, but you won’t be able to enter the land that I am about to give to the Israelis.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:8 So with LXX and DSS 4QDeut. MT reads the Israelis
- Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit. He
- Deuteronomy 32:10 I.e. Jacob as a personification of national Israel; and so throughout the song
- Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit. howling
- Deuteronomy 32:13 Or nursed
- Deuteronomy 32:14 Lit. kernel
- Deuteronomy 32:15 So DSS Q Sam and LXX; the Heb. lacks Jacob dined until satisfied
- Deuteronomy 32:15 I.e. a poetic term for national Israel; the Heb. name means Upright One
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Lit. You
- Deuteronomy 32:18 I.e. the nation of Israel personified in the second person sing. pronoun, and so throughout the verse
- Deuteronomy 32:18 Or who was giving birth to you
- Deuteronomy 32:19 So DSS, LXX. MT reads and was repulsed
- Deuteronomy 32:22 The Heb. lacks part of
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Lit. Sheol
- Deuteronomy 32:25 Lit. within the room
- Deuteronomy 32:25 Lit. and a man of gray hair
- Deuteronomy 32:26 Or will break them to pieces
- Deuteronomy 32:26 Lit. from among men
- Deuteronomy 32:29 Lit. end
- Deuteronomy 32:30 The Heb. lacks person
- Deuteronomy 32:30 Or put countless ones; Lit. put ten thousand
- Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit. and
- Deuteronomy 32:31 Or concede
- Deuteronomy 32:32 Lit. Because
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit. hand
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Or slave
- Deuteronomy 32:39 So LXX; MT reads I, I myself, am he
- Deuteronomy 32:39 Lit. hand
- Deuteronomy 32:40 Lit. raise my hand
- Deuteronomy 32:43 The Heb. lacks Sing for joy
- Deuteronomy 32:49 The Heb. lacks range
Deuteronomy 32
New International Version
Deuteronomy 32
New International Version
32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
2 Let 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.
3 I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
4 He 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)
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
6 Is 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)
7 Remember 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)
8 When 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)
9 For the Lord’s portion(AB) is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AC)
10 In 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)
11 like 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)
12 The Lord alone led(AJ) him;(AK)
no foreign god was with him.(AL)
13 He 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,
14 with 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)
15 Jeshurun[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.
16 They made him jealous(AW) with their foreign gods
and angered(AX) him with their detestable idols.
17 They 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.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot(BC) the God who gave you birth.
19 The 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)
21 They 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)
22 For 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.
24 I 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)
25 In 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)
26 I said I would scatter(CB) them
and erase their name from human memory,(CC)
27 but 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)
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment(CF) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(CG)
and discern what their end will be!(CH)
30 How 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)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(CL)
as even our enemies concede.(CM)
32 Their 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)
33 Their 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)
35 It 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)”
36 The 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]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,(DA)
38 the 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)
40 I lift my hand(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,(DJ)
41 when 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)
42 I 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.”
43 Rejoice,(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)
44 Moses came with Joshua[g](DT) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he 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. 47 They 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
48 On 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. 50 There 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. 51 This 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) 52 Therefore, 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
Deuteronomy 32
King James Version
Deuteronomy 32
King James Version
32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 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:
3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4 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.
5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 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?
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
48 And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
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