Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
Modern English Version
The Song of Moses
30 Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel:
32 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My teaching will drop like the rain,
my sayings will distill as the dew,
as the droplets on the grass,
and as the showers on the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 He is the Rock; His work is perfect;
for all His ways are just.
He is a God of faithfulness and without injustice;
righteous and upright is He.
5 They have acted corruptly to Him;
they are not His children, but blemished;
they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this how you repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your father, who has bought you?
Has He not made you, and established you?
7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years of previous generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
your elders, and they will tell you:
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when He separated the sons of man,[a]
He set the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land
and in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He led him about, He instructed him,
He protected him like the pupil of His eye.
11 Like an eagle stirs up her nest,
that flutters over her young,
He spread out his wings and took him;
He lifted him on His pinions;
12 the Lord alone guided him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
and he ate of the produce of the fields;
He made him suck honey out of the rock
and oil out of the flinty rock,
14 butter from the herd,
and milk from the flock,
along with the fat of lambs,
and rams of the breed from Bashan,
and goats,
with the best of the kernels of wheat;
you drank the pure blood of the grape.
15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
you grew fat, you grew thick;
you are covered with fat.
Then he forsook God who made him,
and devalued the Rock of his salvation.
16 They made Him jealous with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to gods whom they knew not,
to new gods that recently came along,
whom your fathers did not fear.
18 You have forgotten the Rock who begot you;
you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who gave you birth.
19 When the Lord saw it, He despised them,
because of the provocation of His sons and 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 there is no loyalty.
21 They have made Me jealous with that which is not God;
they have provoked Me to anger with their empty things.
And I will make them jealous of those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire has been inflamed by My anger,
and it will burn to the lowest part of Sheol,[b]
and shall consume the earth and its produce,
and ignite the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap misfortunes on them;
I will use My arrows on them.
24 They will be starved by famine,
and consumed by plague and bitter destruction;
I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them,
with the poison of crawling creatures in the dust.
25 The sword outside and terror within will destroy both the young man and the virgin,
the infant along with the man of gray hair.
26 I said, “I want to cut them into pieces,
I will cause the memory of them to disappear from among men,”
27 however, I feared the wrath of the enemy,
that their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our hand is victorious,
and the Lord has not done all this.”
28 For they are a nation devoid of counsel;
there is no understanding in them.
29 Would that they were wise,
so that they understood this,
so that they would comprehend their future!
30 How should one chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock;
even our enemies themselves concede this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons
and the deadly venom of cobras.
34 Is not this laid up in store with Me
and sealed up among My treasures?
35 Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
their foot will slip in due time;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and the things to come hasten upon them.
36 For the Lord will judge His people,
and relent in regard to His servants,
when He sees that their power is gone
and there is no one left, whether restrained or free.
37 He will say: Where are their gods,
their rock in whom they trusted,
38 which ate 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 besides 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 say: As I live forever,
41 if I sharpen My flashing sword
and My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance on My enemies
and will 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 of the captives,
from the heads of the leaders of the enemies.
43 Rejoice, O you nations, with His people;
for He will avenge the blood of His servants
and will render vengeance on His adversaries
and will be merciful to His land and people.
44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua, the son of Nun. 45 When Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe, all the words of this law. 47 For it is no idle word for you, because it is your life, and by this word you will prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Adam.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Or the lowest depths of the earth or underworld.
Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
21st Century King James Version
30 And Moses spoke 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.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
3 Because I will proclaim 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 show 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 cows 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 hast waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God who 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 begot 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 who 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 burned 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, unless 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 recompense; 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 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 ate 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 besides 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 spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua 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 the Jordan to possess it.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.