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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 complete:

32 (A)Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
(B)Let what I have learned drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
(C)As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.
(D)For I proclaim the name of Yahweh;
(E)Ascribe greatness to our God!
(F)The Rock! His work is [a]perfect,
(G)For all His ways are [b]just;
(H)A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
[c](I)They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children because of their defect;
(J)But are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do you thus (K)repay Yahweh,
(L)O people who are wickedly foolish and without wisdom?
(M)Is not He your Father who has bought you?
(N)He has made you and established you.
Remember the ancient days,
Consider the years from generation to generation.
(O)Ask your father, and he will declare to you,
Your elders, and they will speak to you.
(P)When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of [d]man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
(Q)According to the number of the [e]sons of Israel.
(R)For Yahweh’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 (S)He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him; He cared for him;
He guarded him as (T)the pupil of His eye.
11 (U)Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
(V)He spread His wings and caught them;
He carried them on His pinions.
12 (W)Yahweh alone guided him,
(X)And there was no foreign god with him.
13 (Y)He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
(Z)And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And (AA)oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
(AB)With the finest of the wheat—
And of the (AC)blood of grapes you drank wine.

15 (AD)But [f]Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—
You grew fat, thick, and sleek—
(AE)Then he abandoned God (AF)who made him,
And treated (AG)the Rock of his salvation with wicked foolishness.
16 (AH)They made Him jealous with strange gods;
(AI)With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 (AJ)They sacrificed to demons who were not God,
(AK)To gods whom they have not known,
(AL)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.
18 You neglected (AM)the Rock who begot you,
(AN)And forgot the God who brought you forth.

19 (AO)And Yahweh saw this and spurned them
(AP)Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them;
(AQ)I will see what their end shall be;
(AR)For they are a perverse generation,
(AS)Sons in whom is no faithfulness.
21 (AT)They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their [g](AU)idols.
(AV)So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a wickedly foolish nation,
22 (AW)For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol,
(AX)And it consumes the earth with its produce,
And it sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 (AY)I will heap calamities on them;
(AZ)I will exhaust My arrows on them.
24 (BA)They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by [h]plague
(BB)And bitter destruction;
(BC)And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,
(BD)With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 (BE)Outside the sword will bereave,
And inside terror—
(BF)Both choice man and virgin,
The nursing baby with the man of gray hair.
26 I would have said, “(BG)I will cut them to pieces;
(BH)I will cause the memory of them to cease from men,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
Lest their adversaries misjudge,
Lest they say, “(BI)Our hand is [i]triumphant,
And Yahweh has not done all this.”’

28 (BJ)For they are a nation where counsel perishes,
And there is no discernment in them.
29 (BK)Would that they were wise, that they had insight into this,
(BL)That they would understand their [j]future!
30 (BM)How could one pursue one thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their (BN)Rock had sold them,
And Yahweh had handed them over?
31 Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,
(BO)Even our enemies [k]themselves judge this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of (BP)poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of [l]serpents,
And the [m]deadly poison of cobras.

34 (BQ)Is it not laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
35 (BR)Vengeance is Mine, and retribution,
(BS)In due time their foot will stumble;
(BT)For the day of their disaster is near,
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’
36 (BU)For Yahweh will render justice to His people,
(BV)And will have compassion on His slaves,
When He sees that their [n]strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 And He will say, ‘(BW)Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 (BX)Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
(BY)Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your hiding place!
39 (BZ)See now that I, I am He,
(CA)And there is no god besides Me;
(CB)It is I who put to death and give life.
(CC)I have wounded, and it is I who heal,
(CD)And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
40 Indeed, (CE)I lift up My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 (CF)If I sharpen My [o]flashing sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
(CG)I will render vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
42 (CH)I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
(CI)And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired [p]leaders of the enemy.’
43 (CJ)O nations, cause His people to shout for joy;
(CK)For He will avenge the blood of His slaves,
(CL)And He will render vengeance on His adversaries,
(CM)And He will atone for His land and His people.”

44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and [q](CN)Joshua the son of Nun. 45 Then Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 and he said to them, “(CO)Place in your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command (CP)your sons to be careful to do, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is not an idle word for you; indeed (CQ)it is your life. And (CR)by this word you will prolong your days in the land, [r]which you are about to cross the Jordan to [s]possess.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:4 Or blameless, cf. 2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30
  2. Deuteronomy 32:4 Or judgment
  3. Deuteronomy 32:5 Lit It has
  4. Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Adam
  5. Deuteronomy 32:8 Gr angels of God; DSS number of the sons of God
  6. Deuteronomy 32:15 A poetic name for Israel, cf. 33:5, 26; Is 44:2
  7. Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit vanities
  8. Deuteronomy 32:24 Lit burning heat
  9. Deuteronomy 32:27 Lit high
  10. Deuteronomy 32:29 Or latter end
  11. Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit are judges
  12. Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit dragons
  13. Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit cruel
  14. Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit hand
  15. Deuteronomy 32:41 Or lightning
  16. Deuteronomy 32:42 Lit head
  17. Deuteronomy 32:44 Lit Hoshea
  18. Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit where
  19. Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit possess it

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

32 Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear 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 grass,
And as the showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
The Rock, his work is perfect;
For all his ways are justice:
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.
They have [a]dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, [b]it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite Jehovah,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he thy father that hath [c]bought thee?
He hath made thee, and established thee.
Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
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 Jehovah’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 compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
[d]He spread abroad his wings, he took them,
He bare them on his pinions.
12 Jehovah alone did lead him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he did eat the increase of the field;
And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the [e]finest of the wheat;
And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:
Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;
Then he forsook God who made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods;
With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God,
To gods that they knew not,
To new gods that came up of late,
Which your fathers dreaded not.
18 Of the Rock that [f]begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
19 And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred 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 shall 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:
And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And burneth unto the lowest Sheol,
And devoureth the earth with its increase,
And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap evils upon them;
I will spend mine arrows upon them:
24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with [g]burning heat
And bitter destruction;
And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,
With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
25 Without shall the sword bereave,
And in the chambers terror;
It shall destroy both young man and virgin,
The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would scatter them afar,
I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
27 Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should judge amiss,
Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,
And Jehovah hath not done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel,
And 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 should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their Rock had sold them,
And Jehovah had delivered 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 serpents,
And the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not this laid up in store with me,
Sealed up [h]among my treasures?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
At the time when their foot shall slide:
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
36 For Jehovah will judge his people,
And repent himself for his servants;
When he seeth that their power is gone,
And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 And he will say, Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge;
38 Which did eat 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, even I, am he,
And there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, As I live for ever,
41 If I whet [i]my glittering sword,
And my hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,
And will recompense them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
And my sword shall devour flesh;
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
[j]From [k]the head of the leaders of the enemy.
43 [l]Rejoice, O [m]ye nations, with his people:
For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
And will render vengeance to his adversaries,
And will make expiation for his land, for 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 heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. 47 For it is no 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 the Jordan to possess it.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:5 Or, corrupted themselves, they etc.
  2. Deuteronomy 32:5 Or, but a blot upon them
  3. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or, possessed. Or, gotten
  4. Deuteronomy 32:11 Or, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions.
  5. Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew fat of kidneys of wheat.
  6. Deuteronomy 32:18 Or, bare
  7. Deuteronomy 32:24 Hebrew burning coals. See Hab. 3:5.
  8. Deuteronomy 32:34 Or, in my treasuries
  9. Deuteronomy 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword.
  10. Deuteronomy 32:42 Or, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy
  11. Deuteronomy 32:42 Or, the hairy head of the enemy
  12. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or, Praise his people, ye nations
  13. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or, ye nations, his people