Deuteronomy 32
Names of God Bible
32 Listen, heaven, and I will speak.
Earth, hear the words from my mouth.
2 Let my teachings come down like raindrops.
Let my words drip like dew,
like gentle rain on grass,
like showers on green plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of Yahweh.
Give our Elohim the greatness he deserves!
4 He is a rock.
What he does is perfect.
All his ways are fair.
He is a faithful El, who does no wrong.
He is honorable and reliable.
5 He recognizes that his people are corrupt.
To their shame they are no longer his children.
They are devious and scheming.
6 Is this how you repay Yahweh,
you foolish and silly people?
Isn’t he your Ab and Owner,
who made you and formed you?
7 Remember a time long ago.
Think about all the past generations.
Ask your fathers to remind you,
and your leaders to tell you.
8 When Elyon gave nations their land,
when he divided the descendants of Adam,
he set up borders for the tribes
corresponding to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 But Yahweh’s people were his property.
Jacob was his own possession.
10 He found his people in a desert land,
in a barren place where animals howl.
He guarded them, took care of them,
and protected them because they were helpless.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
hovers over its young,
spreads its wings to catch them,
and carries them on its feathers,
12 so Yahweh alone led his people.
No foreign god was with him.
13 He made them ride on the heights of the earth
and fed them with the produce of the fields.
He gave them honey from rocks
and olive oil from solid rock.
14 They ate cheese from cows
and drank milk from sheep and goats.
He gave them fat from lambs,
rams from the stock of Bashan,
male goats, and the best wheat.
They drank the blood-red wine of grapes.
15 Jeshurun[a] got fat and disrespectful.
(You got fat! You were stuffed! You were gorged!)
They abandoned the Elohim who made them
and treated the rock of their salvation like a fool.
16 They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods
and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols.
17 They sacrificed to demons that are not Elohim,
to gods they never heard of.
These were new gods, who came from nearby,
gods your ancestors never worshiped.
18 (You ignored the rock who fathered you
and forgot the El who gave you life.)
19 Yahweh saw this and rejected them,
because his own sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn away from them
and find out what will happen to them.
They are devious people,
children who can’t be trusted.
21 They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods
and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols.
So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous
and a nation of godless fools to make them angry.
22 My anger has started a fire
that will burn to the depths of hell.
It will consume the earth and its crops
and set the foundations of the mountains on fire.
23 I will bring one disaster after another on them.
I will use up all my arrows on them.
24 They will be starved by famines
and ravaged by pestilence and deadly epidemics.
I will send vicious animals against them
along with poisonous animals that crawl on the ground.
25 Foreign wars will kill off their children,
and even at home there will be horrors.
Young men and young women alike will die
as well as nursing babies and gray-haired men.
26 I said that I would cut them in pieces[b]
and erase everyone’s memory of them.
27 But I didn’t want their enemies to make me angry.
I didn’t want their opponents to misunderstand and say,
‘We won this victory!
It wasn’t Yahweh who did all this!’”
28 My people have lost their good sense.
They are not able to understand.
29 If only they were wise enough to understand this
and realize what will happen to them!
30 How could one person chase a thousand
or two people make ten thousand flee?
Their rock used these people to defeat them
and Yahweh gave them no help.
31 Their rock isn’t like our rock.
Even our enemies will agree with this.
32 Their grapevines come from the vineyards of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poisonous,
and their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is snake venom,
the deadly poison of cobras.
34 Isn’t this what I’ve stored
under lock and key in my storehouses?
35 I will take revenge and be satisfied.
In due time their foot will slip,
because their day of disaster is near.
Their doom is coming quickly.
36 Yahweh will judge his people
and have compassion on his servants
when he sees that their strength is gone
and that no one is left, neither slaves nor free people.
37 Then he will ask, “Where are their gods?
Where is the rock they took refuge in?
38 Where are the gods who ate the fat from their sacrifices
and drank the wine from their wine offerings?
Let them come to help you!
Let them be your refuge!”
39 See, I am the only Elohim.
There are no others.
I kill, and I make alive.
I wound, and I heal,
and no one can rescue you from my power.
40 I raise my hand toward heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my flashing sword
and take justice into my own hands.
Then I will take revenge on my enemies
and pay back those who hate me.
42 My arrows will drip with blood
from those who were killed and taken captive.
My sword will cut off the heads
of the enemy who vowed to fight.
43 Joyfully sing with Yahweh’s people, you nations,
because he will take revenge for the death of his servants.
He will get even with his enemies
and make peace for his people’s land.[c]
Moses Is Allowed to See Canaan
44 Moses came with Hoshea,[d] son of Nun, and recited all the words of this song as the people listened. 45 When Moses had finished reciting all these words to Israel, 46 he said to them, “Pay attention to all these warnings I’ve given you today. Then you will command your children to faithfully obey every word of these teachings. 47 Don’t think these words are idle talk. They are your life! By these words you will be able to live for a long time in the land that you are going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River.”
48 That same day Yahweh said to Moses, 49 “Go into the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho. Take a look at the land of Canaan that I’m giving the Israelites as their own property. 50 On this mountain where you’re going, you will die and join your ancestors in death, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor. 51 This is because both of you were unfaithful to me at the oasis of Meribah at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin. You didn’t show the Israelites how holy I am. 52 You may see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I’m giving the Israelites.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:15 “Jeshurun” is another name for Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:26 Hebrew meaning of “cut them in pieces” uncertain.
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scrolls, Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek, Latin; Masoretic Text “his land and his people.”
- Deuteronomy 32:44 “Hoshea” is another name for Joshua.
Deuteronomy 32
New King James Version
The Song of Moses
32 “Give (A)ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O (B)earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let (C)my [a]teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
(D)As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
3 For I proclaim the (E)name of the Lord:
(F)Ascribe greatness to our God.
4 He is (G)the Rock, (H)His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
(I)A God of truth and (J)without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.
5 “They(K) have corrupted themselves;
They are not His children,
Because of their blemish:
A (L)perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus (M)deal[b] with the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is He not (N)your Father, who (O)bought you?
Has He not (P)made you and established you?
7 “Remember(Q) the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
(R)Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you:
8 When the Most High (S)divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He (T)separated the sons of Adam,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the [c]children of Israel.
9 For (U)the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the place of His inheritance.
10 “He found him (V)in a desert land
And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
He encircled him, He instructed him,
He (W)kept him as the [d]apple of His eye.
11 (X)As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings,
12 So the Lord alone led him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 “He(Y) made him ride in the heights of the earth,
That he might eat the produce of the fields;
He made him draw honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock;
14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock,
(Z)With fat of lambs;
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the choicest wheat;
And you drank wine, the (AA)blood of the grapes.
15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
(AB)You grew fat, you grew thick,
You are obese!
Then he (AC)forsook God who (AD)made him,
And scornfully esteemed the (AE)Rock of his salvation.
16 (AF)They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With [e]abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 (AG)They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.
18 (AH)Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful,
And have (AI)forgotten the God who fathered you.
19 “And(AJ) when the Lord saw it, He spurned 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 will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
(AK)Children in whom is no faith.
21 (AL)They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;
They have moved Me to anger (AM)by their [f]foolish idols.
But (AN)I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.
22 For (AO)a fire is kindled in My anger,
And shall burn to the [g]lowest [h]hell;
It shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will (AP)heap disasters on them;
(AQ)I will spend My arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the (AR)teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword shall destroy outside;
There shall be terror within
For the young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 (AS)I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces,
I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,”
27 Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
Lest they should say, (AT)“Our hand is high;
And it is not the Lord who has done all this.” ’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
Nor is there any understanding in them.
29 (AU)Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their (AV)latter end!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock (AW)had sold them,
And the Lord had surrendered them?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,
(AX)Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For (AY)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 (AZ)the poison of serpents,
And the cruel (BA)venom of cobras.
34 ‘Is this not (BB)laid up in store with Me,
Sealed up among My treasures?
35 (BC)Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
(BD)For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.’
36 “For(BE) the Lord will judge His people
(BF)And have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their power is gone,
And (BG)there is no one remaining, bond or free.
37 He will say: (BH)‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they sought refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise and help you,
And be your refuge.
39 ‘Now see that (BI)I, even I, am He,
And (BJ)there is no God besides Me;
(BK)I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
40 For I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, “As I live forever,
41 (BL)If I [i]whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And 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 the captives,
From the heads of the leaders of the enemy.” ’
43 “Rejoice,(BM) O Gentiles, with His [j]people;
For He will (BN)avenge the blood of His servants,
And render vengeance to His adversaries;
He (BO)will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
44 So Moses came with [k]Joshua the son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 and he said to them: (BP)“Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your (BQ)children to be careful to observe—all the words of this law. 47 For it is not a [l]futile thing for you, because it is your (BR)life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
48 Then the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying: 49 (BS)“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; 50 and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be [m]gathered to your people, just as (BT)Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people; 51 because (BU)you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of [n]Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you (BV)did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 (BW)Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:2 doctrine
- Deuteronomy 32:6 repay the
- Deuteronomy 32:8 LXX, DSS angels of God; Symmachus, Lat. sons of God
- Deuteronomy 32:10 pupil
- Deuteronomy 32:16 detestable acts
- Deuteronomy 32:21 foolishness, lit. vanities
- Deuteronomy 32:22 lowest part of
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Or Sheol
- Deuteronomy 32:41 sharpen
- Deuteronomy 32:43 DSS fragment adds And let all the gods (angels) worship Him; cf. LXX and Heb. 1:6
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Heb. Hoshea, Num. 13:8, 16
- Deuteronomy 32:47 vain
- Deuteronomy 32:50 Join your ancestors
- Deuteronomy 32:51 Lit. Contention at Kadesh
Deuteronomy 32
English Standard Version
32 “Give ear, (A)O heavens, and I will speak,
and let (B)the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May (C)my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and (D)like showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe (E)greatness to our God!
4 (F)“The Rock, (G)his work is perfect,
for (H)all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and (I)without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children (J)because they are blemished;
they are (K)a crooked and twisted generation.
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he (L)your father, who (M)created you,
who (N)made you and established you?
7 (O)Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
(P)ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High (Q)gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he (R)divided mankind,
he fixed the borders[a] of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.[b]
9 But the Lord's portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
10 “He found him (S)in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he (T)encircled him, he cared for him,
he (U)kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 (V)Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 (W)the Lord alone guided him,
(X)no foreign god was with him.
13 (Y)He made him ride on the high places of the land,
and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with (Z)honey out of the rock,
and (AA)oil out of (AB)the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat[c] of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
with the very finest[d] of the wheat—
and you drank foaming wine made from (AC)the blood of the grape.
15 “But (AD)Jeshurun grew fat, and (AE)kicked;
(AF)you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
(AG)then he forsook God (AH)who made him
and scoffed at (AI)the Rock of his salvation.
16 (AJ)They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 (AK)They sacrificed to demons that were not God,
to gods they had never known,
to (AL)new gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of (AM)the Rock that bore[e] you,
and you (AN)forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 (AO)“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
because of the provocation of (AP)his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, (AQ)‘I will hide my face from them;
I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 (AR)They have made me jealous with what is no god;
they have provoked me to anger (AS)with their idols.
So (AT)I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
I will provoke them to anger with (AU)a foolish nation.
22 For (AV)a fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to (AW)the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
(AX)I will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured by plague
and poisonous pestilence;
I will send (AY)the teeth of beasts against them,
with the venom of (AZ)things that crawl in the dust.
25 (BA)Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 (BB)I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
(BC)I will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, (BD)“Our hand is triumphant,
it was not the Lord who did all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
and there is (BE)no understanding in them.
29 (BF)If they were wise, they would understand this;
they would (BG)discern their latter end!
30 How could (BH)one have chased a thousand,
and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock (BI)had sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For (BJ)their rock is not as our Rock;
(BK)our enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine (BL)comes from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of (BM)poison;
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of (BN)serpents
and the cruel venom of asps.
34 “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
(BO)sealed up in my treasuries?
35 (BP)Vengeance is mine, and recompense,[f]
(BQ)for the time when their foot shall slip;
for (BR)the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For (BS)the Lord will vindicate[g] his people
(BT)and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, (BU)bond or free.
37 Then he will say, (BV)‘Where are their gods,
(BW)the rock in which they took refuge,
38 who 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 (BX)I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
(BY)I kill and I make alive;
(BZ)I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For (CA)I lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I (CB)sharpen my flashing sword[h]
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and (CC)my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the (CD)long-haired heads of the enemy.’
43 (CE)“Rejoice with him, O heavens;[i]
bow down to him, all gods,[j]
for he (CF)avenges the blood of his children[k]
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him[l]
and cleanses[m] his people's land.”[n]
44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and (CG)Joshua[o] the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, (CH)“Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, (CI)that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, (CJ)but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses' Death Foretold
48 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up (CK)this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as (CL)Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 (CM)because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For (CN)you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Or territories
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel
- Deuteronomy 32:14 That is, with the best
- Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew with the kidney fat
- Deuteronomy 32:18 Or fathered
- Deuteronomy 32:35 Septuagint and I will repay
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Septuagint judge
- Deuteronomy 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text lacks bow down to him, all gods
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Or atones for
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
