32 “Give ear, (A)O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let (B)the earth hear the words of my mouth.
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.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe (E)greatness to our God!

(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.
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.
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?
(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.
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]
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

  1. Deuteronomy 32:8 Or territories
  2. Deuteronomy 32:8 Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel
  3. Deuteronomy 32:14 That is, with the best
  4. Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew with the kidney fat
  5. Deuteronomy 32:18 Or fathered
  6. Deuteronomy 32:35 Septuagint and I will repay
  7. Deuteronomy 32:36 Septuagint judge
  8. Deuteronomy 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword
  9. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations
  10. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text lacks bow down to him, all gods
  11. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants
  12. Deuteronomy 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him
  13. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or atones for
  14. Deuteronomy 32:43 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people
  15. Deuteronomy 32:44 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea

Das Lied Moses

32 Horcht auf, ihr Himmel, denn ich will reden,
und du, Erde, höre die Rede meines Mundes!

Meine Lehre triefe wie der Regen,
meine Rede fließe wie der Tau,
wie die Regenschauer auf das Gras,
und wie die Tropfen auf das Grün.

Denn ich will den Namen des Herrn verkünden:
Gebt unserem Gott die Ehre!

Er ist der Fels; vollkommen ist sein Tun;
ja, alle seine Wege sind gerecht.
Ein Gott der Treue und ohne Falsch,
gerecht und aufrichtig[a] ist er.

Gegen ihn haben verderblich gehandelt,
die nicht seine Kinder sind,
sondern Schandflecken,
ein verkehrtes und verdrehtes Geschlecht.

Dankst du so dem Herrn,
du törichtes und unweises Volk?
Ist er nicht dein Vater, dem du gehörst[b],
ist er es nicht, der dich gemacht und be- reitet hat?

Denke an die Tage der Vorzeit;
achte auf die Jahre der vorhergehenden Geschlechter!
Frage deinen Vater, der wird dir"s verkünden;
deine Alten, die werden dir"s sagen:

Als der Allerhöchste den Heiden ihr Erbe austeilte,
als er die Menschenkinder[c] voneinander schied,
da setzte er die Grenzen der Völker fest
nach der Zahl der Kinder Israels.

Denn das Teil des Herrn ist sein Volk;
Jakob ist das Los seines Erbteils.

10 Er hat ihn in der Wüste gefunden,
in der Öde, im Geheul der Wildnis.
Er umgab ihn, gab acht auf ihn,
er behütete ihn wie seinen Augapfel,

11 wie ein Adler seine Nestbrut aufscheucht,[d]
Über seinen Jungen schwebt,
seine Flügel ausbreitet, sie aufnimmt,
sie auf seinen Schwingen trägt.

12 Der Herr allein leitete ihn,
und kein fremder Gott war mit ihm.

13 Er ließ ihn über die Höhen der Erde fahren
und er[e] aß vom Ertrag der Felder;
Er ließ ihn Honig aus dem Felsen saugen
und Öl aus dem harten Gestein;

14 Butter von den Kühen und Milch von den Schafen,
samt dem Fett der Lämmer,
und Widder von den Söhnen Baschans und Böcke,
samt dem allerbesten Weizen,
und du trankst Traubenblut, feurigen Wein.

15 Da wurde Jeschurun[f] fett und schlug aus.
Du bist fett, dick und feist geworden!
Und er verwarf den Gott[g], der ihn geschaffen hat,
und er verachtete den Fels seines Heils.

16 Sie erregten seine Eifersucht durch fremde [Götter];
durch Gräuel erzürnten sie ihn.

17 Sie opferten den Dämonen, die nicht Gott sind,
Göttern, die sie nicht kannten,
neuen Göttern, die erst vor Kurzem aufgekommen waren, die eure Väter nicht verehrten.

18 Den Fels, der dich gezeugt hat, hast du außer Acht gelassen;
und du hast den Gott vergessen, der dich hervorbrachte!

19 Als der Herr es sah, verwarf er sie,
aus Unwillen über seine Söhne und seine Töchter.

20 Und er sprach: Ich will mein Angesicht vor ihnen verbergen;
ich will sehen, was ihr Ende sein wird,
denn sie sind ein verkehrtes Geschlecht,
sie sind Kinder, in denen keine Treue ist.

21 Sie haben mich zur Eifersucht gereizt mit dem, was kein Gott ist,
durch ihre nichtigen [Götzen] haben sie mich erzürnt;
so will auch ich sie zur Eifersucht reizen durch das, was kein Volk ist,[h]
durch ein törichtes Volk[i] will ich sie erzürnen!

22 Denn ein Feuer ist durch meinen Zorn angezündet,
das wird bis in die unterste Tiefe des Totenreichs hinab brennen
und das Land samt seinem Gewächs verzehren
und die Grundfesten der Berge in Flammen verwandeln.

23 Ich will Unheil über sie häufen,
ich will meine Pfeile gegen sie abschießen.

24 Sie sollen vor Hunger verschmachten
und von der Pest aufgezehrt werden,
und von der bitteren Seuche;
dann sende ich die Zähne wilder Tiere gegen sie,
samt dem Gift der Schlange, die im Staub kriecht.

25 Draußen soll das Schwert sie [der Kinder] berauben
und in den Kammern der Schrecken,
den jungen Mann wie die Jungfrau,
den Säugling mitsamt dem alten Mann.

26 Ich hätte gesagt: »Ich will sie wegblasen,
will ihr Gedenken unter den Menschen ausrotten!«,

27 wenn ich nicht den Verdruss vonseiten des Feindes scheute,
dass ihre Feinde dies verkennen könnten
und sagen: »Unsere Hand war erhoben,
und nicht der Herr hat dies alles getan!«

28 Denn sie sind ein Volk, an dem aller Rat verloren ist,
und das keine Einsicht besitzt.

29 Wenn sie weise wären, so würden sie das beherzigen;
sie würden an ihr Ende denken!

30 Wie könnte einer tausend jagen
und zwei zehntausend in die Flucht schlagen,
wenn ihr Fels sie nicht verkauft
und der Herr sie nicht preisgegeben hätte?

31 Denn ihr Fels ist nicht wie unser Fels;
das müssen unsere Feinde selbst zugeben!

32 Denn vom Weinstock Sodoms stammen ihre Reben
und von den Fluren Gomorras;
ihre Beeren sind Giftbeeren,
ihre Trauben sind bitter.

33 Ihr Wein ist Drachengeifer
und grausames Otterngift.

34 Ist dies nicht bei mir aufbewahrt
und in meinen Archiven versiegelt?

35 Mein ist die Rache und die Vergeltung,
zu der Zeit, da ihr Fuß wanken wird;
denn die Zeit ihres Verderbens ist nahe,
und ihr Verhängnis eilt herbei.

36 Denn der Herr wird sein Volk richten;[j]
und er wird sich über seine Knechte erbarmen,
wenn er sieht, dass jeder Halt entschwunden ist
und der Sklave samt dem Freien dahin ist.

37 Und er wird sagen: Wo sind ihre Götter,
der Fels, bei dem sie Zuflucht suchten,

38 sie, die das Fett ihrer Opfer aßen,
den Wein ihres Trankopfers tranken?
Sie sollen aufstehen und euch helfen;
sie sollen euch beschirmen!

39 Seht nun, dass Ich, Ich allein es bin
und kein Gott neben mir ist!
Ich bin’s, der tötet und lebendig macht,
ich zerschlage und ich heile,
und niemand kann aus meiner Hand erretten!

40 Denn ich hebe meine Hand zum Himmel empor[k]
und sage: So wahr ich ewig lebe!

41 Wenn ich mein blitzendes Schwert geschärft habe
und meine Hand zum Gericht greift,
so will ich Rache nehmen an meinen Feinden
und Vergeltung üben an denen, die mich hassen.

42 Ich will meine Pfeile mit Blut berauschen,
und mein Schwert soll Fleisch fressen,
mit dem Blut der Erschlagenen und Gefangenen,
vom Haupt der Fürsten des Feindes.

43 Jubelt, ihr Heiden, seinem Volk zu!
Denn Er wird das Blut seiner Knechte rächen
und seinen Feinden vergelten;
aber für sein Land und sein Volk wird er Sühnung schaffen!

Das Wort Gottes ist Leben

44 Und Mose kam und trug alle Worte dieses Liedes vor den Ohren des Volkes vor, er und Josua, der Sohn Nuns.

45 Und als Mose dies alles zu ganz Israel geredet hatte,

46 da sprach er zu ihnen: Nehmt zu Herzen alle Worte[l], die ich euch heute bezeuge, damit ihr sie euren Kindern gebietet, dass sie darauf achten, alle Worte dieses Gesetzes zu befolgen.

47 Denn es ist kein leeres Wort für euch, sondern es ist euer Leben, und durch dieses Wort werdet ihr eure Tage verlängern in dem Land, in das ihr über den Jordan geht, um es in Besitz zu nehmen!

Mose wird aufgefordert, den Berg Nebo zu besteigen

48 Und der Herr redete zu Mose an jenem Tag und sprach:

49 Steige auf dieses Bergland Abarim[m], auf den Berg Nebo, der im Land Moab, Jericho gegenüber, liegt, und schaue das Land Kanaan, das ich den Kindern Israels zum Eigentum geben werde;

50 und dann sollst du sterben auf dem Berg, auf den du steigen wirst, und zu deinem Volk versammelt werden, wie dein Bruder Aaron auf dem Berg Hor starb und zu seinem Volk versammelt wurde;

51 weil ihr an mir Untreue begangen habt mitten unter den Kindern Israels, am Haderwasser bei Kadesch, in der Wüste Zin, weil ihr mich nicht geheiligt habt unter den Kindern Israels.

52 Denn du wirst das Land vor dir zwar sehen; aber du sollst nicht in das Land hineinkommen, das ich den Kindern Israels gebe!

Footnotes

  1. (32,4) w. gerade.
  2. (32,6) w. der dich erworben hat.
  3. (32,8) w. die Söhne des Menschen, hebr. bene Adam.
  4. (32,11) Der Adler scheucht seine flügge gewordenen Jungen für ihren ersten Flug aus dem Nest, um dann unter sie zu fliegen und sie auf seinen Schwingen zu tragen, wenn sie müde geworden sind.
  5. (32,13) d.h. Jakob, der hier für das Volk Israel steht.
  6. (32,15) Jeschurun ist ein Name für Israel: »Der Redliche / Rechtschaffene«.
  7. (32,15) hebr. Eloah, ein seltener vorkommender Name für Gott.
  8. (32,21) w. durch ein Nichtvolk.
  9. (32,21) w. Heidenvolk.
  10. (32,36) Andere Übersetzung: seinem Volk Recht verschaffen; hier ist wohl beides gemeint.
  11. (32,40) d.h. zum Schwur.
  12. (32,46) w. Richtet euer Herz auf alle Worte …
  13. (32,49) bed. »das Bergland der Hinüberziehenden / Jenseitigen«; ein gebirgiges Hochland östlich des Toten Meeres.

32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
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.

I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
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)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
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)

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)
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)
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

  1. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
  2. Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
  3. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
  4. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
  5. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
  6. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
  7. Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua

32 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, 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 herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

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.

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

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?

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.

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.

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.