Add parallel Print Page Options

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 So Moses spoke the words of this song—to the very end—in front of the entire assembly of Israel.

The Song of Moses

32 Hear, heavens, and I will speak!
    Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!
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.
For I’ll proclaim the name of our Lord.
    Ascribe greatness to our God!

Flawless is the work of the Rock,
    because all his ways are just.
A faithful God—never unjust—
    righteous and upright is he.
But those who are not his children
    acted corruptly against him;
        they are a defective and perverted generation.
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

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.
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]
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.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:8 So with LXX and DSS 4QDeut. MT reads the Israelis
  2. Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit. He
  3. Deuteronomy 32:10 I.e. Jacob as a personification of national Israel; and so throughout the song
  4. Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit. howling
  5. Deuteronomy 32:13 Or nursed
  6. Deuteronomy 32:14 Lit. kernel
  7. Deuteronomy 32:15 So DSS Q Sam and LXX; the Heb. lacks Jacob dined until satisfied
  8. Deuteronomy 32:15 I.e. a poetic term for national Israel; the Heb. name means Upright One
  9. Deuteronomy 32:15 Lit. You
  10. Deuteronomy 32:18 I.e. the nation of Israel personified in the second person sing. pronoun, and so throughout the verse
  11. Deuteronomy 32:18 Or who was giving birth to you
  12. Deuteronomy 32:19 So DSS, LXX. MT reads and was repulsed
  13. Deuteronomy 32:22 The Heb. lacks part of
  14. Deuteronomy 32:22 Lit. Sheol
  15. Deuteronomy 32:25 Lit. within the room
  16. Deuteronomy 32:25 Lit. and a man of gray hair
  17. Deuteronomy 32:26 Or will break them to pieces
  18. Deuteronomy 32:26 Lit. from among men
  19. Deuteronomy 32:29 Lit. end
  20. Deuteronomy 32:30 The Heb. lacks person
  21. Deuteronomy 32:30 Or put countless ones; Lit. put ten thousand
  22. Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit. and
  23. Deuteronomy 32:31 Or concede
  24. Deuteronomy 32:32 Lit. Because
  25. Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit. hand
  26. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or slave
  27. Deuteronomy 32:39 So LXX; MT reads I, I myself, am he
  28. Deuteronomy 32:39 Lit. hand
  29. Deuteronomy 32:40 Lit. raise my hand
  30. Deuteronomy 32:43 The Heb. lacks Sing for joy