Deuteronomy 32
1599 Geneva Bible
32 The song of Moses containing 7 God’s benefits toward the people, 15 and their ingratitude toward him. 20 God menaceth them, 21 and speaketh of the vocation of the Gentiles. 46 Moses commandeth to teach the Law to the children. 49 God forewarneth Moses of his death.
1 Hearken, ye [a]heavens, and I will speak: and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 My [b]doctrine shall drop as the rain, and my speech shall still as the dew, as the shower upon the herbs, and as the great rain upon the grass.
3 For I will publish the Name of the Lord: give ye glory unto our God.
4 Perfect is the work of the [c]mighty God: for all his ways are judgment. God is true, and without wickedness: just and righteous is he.
5 They have corrupted themselves toward him by their vice, not being his children, but a froward and crooked generation.
6 Do ye so reward the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father, that hath bought thee? he hath [d]made thee, and proportioned thee.
7 ¶ Remember the days of old: consider the years of so many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee: thine Elders, and they will tell thee.
8 When the most high God divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the borders of the [e]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 the land of the wilderness, in a waste and roaring wilderness: he led him about, he taught him, and kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, [f]fluttereth over her birds, stretcheth out her wings, taketh them and beareth them on her wings,
12 So the Lord alone led him, and there was no [g]strange god with him.
13 He carried him up to the high places of the [h]earth, that he might eat the fruits of the fields, and he caused him to suck [i]honey out of the stone, and oil out of the hard rock:
14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep with fat of the lambs, and rams fed in Bashan, and goats, with the fat of the grains of wheat: and the red [j]liquor of the grape hast thou drunk.
15 ¶ But he that should have been [k]upright, when he waxed fat, spurned with his heel: thou art fat, thou art gross, thou art laden with fatness: therefore he forsook God that made him, and regarded not the strong God of his salvation.
16 They provoked him with [l]strange gods: they provoked him to anger with abominations.
17 They offered unto devils, not to God, but to gods whom they knew not: [m]new gods that came newly up, whom their fathers feared not.
18 Thou hast forgotten the mighty God, that begat thee, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
19 The Lord then saw it, and was angry, for the provocation of his [n]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 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: (A)and I will move them to jealousy with those which are no [o]people: I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn unto the bottom of hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will spend plagues upon them: I will bestow mine arrows upon them.
24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and consumed with heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the venom of serpents creeping in the dust.
25 The sword shall [p]kill them without, and in the chambers fear: both the young man and the young woman, the suckling with the man of gray hair.
26 I have said, I would scatter them abroad: I would make their remembrance to cease from among men,
27 Save that I feared the fury of the enemy, lest their adversaries should [q]wax proud, and lest they should say, Our high hand and not the Lord hath done all this.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 Oh that they were wise, then they would understand this: they would [r]consider their latter end.
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their strong God had sold them, and the Lord had [s]shut them up?
31 For their god is not as our God, even our enemies being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the vines of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters be bitter.
33 Their [t]wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps.
34 Is not this laid in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35 (B)Vengeance and recompense are mine: their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their destruction is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them, make haste.
36 For the Lord shall judge his people, and [u]repent toward his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and none [v]shut up in hold nor left abroad.
37 When men shall say, Where are their gods, their mighty God, in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and did drink the wine of their drink offering? let them rise up, and help you: let him be your refuge.
39 Behold now, for I, I am he, and there is no gods with me: (C)I kill, and give life: I wound, and I make whole: neither is there any that can deliver out of mine hand.
40 For [w]I lift up mine hand to heaven, and say, I live forever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will execute vengeance on mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, (and my sword shall eat flesh) for the blood of the slain, and of the captives, when I begin to take vengeance of the enemy.
43 (D)Ye nations, praise his people: for he will avenge the [x]blood of his servants, and will execute vengeance upon his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
44 ¶ Then Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the audience of the people, he and [y]Hoshea the son of Nun.
45 When Moses had made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel,
46 Then he said unto them, (E)Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify against you this day, that ye may command them unto your children, that they may observe and do all the words of this Law.
47 For it is no [z]vain word concerning you, but it is your life, and by this word ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
48 (F)And the Lord spake unto Moses the selfsame day, saying,
49 Go up into the mountain of Abarim, unto the 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 which thou goest up unto, and thou shalt be (G)gathered unto thy people, (H)as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people,
51 Because ye (I)trespassed against me among the children of Israel, at the waters [aa]of Meribah, at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin: for ye [ab]sanctified me not among the children of Israel.
52 Thou shalt therefore see the land before thee, but shalt not go thither, I mean, into the land which I give the children of Israel.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:1 As witness of this people’s ingratitude.
- Deuteronomy 32:2 He desireth that he may speak to God’s glory, and that the people, as the green grass, may receive the dew of his doctrine.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 The Hebrew word is rock, noting that God only is mighty, faithful and constant in his promise.
- Deuteronomy 32:6 Not according to the common creation, but he hath made thee a new creature by his Spirit.
- Deuteronomy 32:8 When God by his providence divided the world, he lent for a time that portion to the Canaanites, which should after be an inheritance for all his people Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:11 To teach them to fly.
- Deuteronomy 32:12 Or, god of strange nations.
- Deuteronomy 32:13 Meaning, of the land of Canaan, which was high in respect of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 32:13 That is, abundance of all things even in the very rocks.
- Deuteronomy 32:14 Hebrew, blood.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 He showeth what is the principal end of our vocation.
- Deuteronomy 32:16 By changing his service for their superstitions.
- Deuteronomy 32:17 Scripture calleth new, whatsoever man inventeth, be the error never so old.
- Deuteronomy 32:19 He calleth them God’s children, not to honor them, but to show them from what dignity they are fallen.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 Which I have not favored, nor given my law unto them.
- Deuteronomy 32:25 They shall be slain both in the field and at home.
- Deuteronomy 32:27 Rejoicing to see the godly afflicted, and attributing that to themselves, which is wrought by God’s hand.
- Deuteronomy 32:29 They would consider the felicity, that was prepared for them, if they had obeyed God.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 Or, delivered them to their enemies.
- Deuteronomy 32:33 The fruits of the wicked are as poison, detestable to God, and dangerous for man.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Or, change his mind.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 When neither strong nor weak in a manner remain.
- Deuteronomy 32:40 That is, I swear, read Gen. 14:12.
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Whether the blood of God’s people be shed for their sins or trial of their faith, he promiseth to revenge it.
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Or, Joshua.
- Deuteronomy 32:47 For I will perform my promise unto you, Isa. 55:10.
- Deuteronomy 32:51 Or, of strife.
- Deuteronomy 32:51 Ye were not earnest and constant to maintain mine honor.
Deuteronomy 32
Evangelical Heritage Version
32 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak.
Let the earth hear the sayings from my mouth.
2 Let my teaching drop down like rain,
and let my sayings distill like dew,
like raindrops on grass,
like showers on green plants.
3 Yes, I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God.
4 He is the Rock! Perfect is his work.
Indeed all of his ways are justice.
He is a faithful God. He does no wrong.
Righteous and upright is he.
5 Israel acted corruptly against him.
They are not his children.
That is their fault.[a]
They are a twisted and crooked generation.
6 Is this how you repay the Lord,
you foolish people, who are not wise?
Is he not your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of the distant past.
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father and he will tell you about it.
Ask your elders and they will describe it to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the children of Adam,
he established the boundaries for peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b]
9 But the allotment for the Lord is his people.
Jacob is the territory that is his possession.
10 The Lord found Jacob in a wild land,
in a desolate land, in a howling wasteland.
He encircled him. He cared for him.
He guarded him like the pupil of his eye.
11 As an eagle rises from its nest
and hovers over its young,
then spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on the edge of its wings,
12 so the Lord alone led Israel.
There was no foreign god with him.
13 He caused them to ride over the high places of the land,
and they ate the produce from the fields.
He caused them to suck honey from the rocks
and olive oil from the hardest flint.
14 He fed them with curds from the cattle and milk from the flocks,
with fat lambs, rams, and goats from Bashan,
with the very best wheat,
and they drank foaming wine, the blood of the grape.
15 Jeshurun[c] grew fat and kicked.
You grew fat, you were stout, you were stuffed.
Then he abandoned the God who made him,
and he mocked the Rock who saved him.
16 They made him jealous with strange gods.
They provoked him with abominations.
17 They sacrificed to demons that are not gods,
to gods they had not known,
to newcomers from their neighbors,
gods whom your fathers did not fear.
18 You failed to remember the Rock who conceived you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them,
because his sons and daughters had provoked him.
20 So the Lord said:[d]
I will hide my face from them,
until I see what their final condition will be,
because they are a twisted generation,
children who cannot be trusted.
21 They have made me jealous with their non-gods.
They have provoked me with their useless things.
So I will make them jealous by a non-people.
By a foolish nation I will provoke them.
22 For a fire has been ignited by my anger,
and it burns to the depths of hell.[e]
It devours the earth and its produce.
It sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
23 I will pile up disasters for them.
I will use up all my arrows on them.
24 They will be sucked dry by hunger and burned up by fever.
I will send them bitter destruction.
Wild animals will sink their teeth into them
with the burning venom of snakes that crawl in the dust.
25 In the street the sword will take away their children.
Inside the houses terror will fill young man and
young woman alike,
the nursing child, together with the gray-haired old man.
26 I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces.
I will erase their memory from mankind,”
27 if I had not dreaded the taunting of the enemy.
I did not want their adversaries to misunderstand.
I did not want them to say,
“Our hand is high-and-mighty,
and the Lord has not done any of this.”
28 For they are a nation that never takes advice,
and they understand nothing.
29 If only they had been wise,
they would have comprehended this.
They would have understood
what the final outcome would be.
30 How could one pursue a thousand,
and two chase away ten thousand,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the Lord had handed them over?
31 Yes, their rock is not like our Rock,
as our enemies themselves recognize.
32 For their vine grows from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison grapes.
They have bitter clusters.
33 Their wine is burning snake venom
and the deadly poison of cobras.
34 Do I not have all this stored up with me?
Is this not sealed up in my storehouses?
35 To me belongs vengeance and repayment.
It will come at the time when their foot slips.
Indeed, the day of their disaster is near,
and their impending doom is coming quickly.
36 Yes, the Lord will judge his people,
but he will change his course of action toward his servants
when he sees that their strength is exhausted,
and that there are none left, either as prisoners or still free.
37 Then he will say:
Where are their gods,
the rock in which they sought refuge,
38 the gods that ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you.
Let them be a shelter over you.
39 Now see that I, only I, am he,
and there is not a god comparable to me.
I put to death 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 I swear: “As I live forever,
41 if I sharpen the lightning, which is my sword,
and my hand grabs hold of judgment,
I will take revenge against my adversaries,
and I will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh
from the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the long-haired heads of the enemy.”
43 Shout out with a cry of joy, you nations, because of his people,
for he will avenge the blood of his servants,[f]
and he will return vengeance to his adversaries,
but he will atone for the ground, for his people.
44 Moses came along with Hoshea[g] son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
45 Then when Moses had finished speaking all of these words to all Israel, 46 he also said to them:
“Direct your heart to all the words that I am calling as a witness against you today. Instruct your children with them so that they may be careful to carry out all the words of this law, 47 for it is not empty talk for you, because it is your life. By this word you will live long on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
48 On this same day the Lord spoke to Moses:
49 “Go up to Mount Nebo, this mountain of the Abarim range, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan that I am giving to the people of Israel as a possession, 50 and die on the mountain that you are about to ascend and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51 This will happen because you broke faith with me among the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, by not treating me as holy among the people of Israel. 52 You may view the land from a distance, but you will not go into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:5 The line is cryptic. It consists of a single Hebrew word, their flaw.
- Deuteronomy 32:8 The translation, sons of Israel, retains the main Hebrew reading. A Hebrew Dead Sea Scroll reads sons of God. The Greek Old Testament reads angels of God. Sons of God is likely the original reading, and the other two readings are interpretations of it.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun is another name for Israel. It means the Upright One.
- Deuteronomy 32:20 There are frequent unmarked changes of speaker in Hebrew poetry. In this poem the shifts from Moses’ words to the Lord’s words are indicated in the increased indentation.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Hebrew sheol
- Deuteronomy 32:43
The Greek Old Testament and a Dead Sea Scrolls version of Deuteronomy 32:43 contain words that apparently were lost from the standard Hebrew text, possibly because of the double occurrence of the word shout for joy or rejoice. Hebrews 1:6 appears to follow the longer text of Deuteronomy 32, although Psalm 95/96:7 could be an alternate source of this quotation (the Hebrew and Greek numbers of this psalm are not the same). Here are the variant readings:
Hebrew Rejoice, you nations, ⎣with⎦ his people. Greek Rejoice, you heavens, along with him,
and let all the sons of God worship him;
rejoice, you nations, with his people,
and let all the angels of God strengthen themselves in him;DSS Rejoice, you heavens, along with him, and let all the angels worship him; Heb 1:6 He says, “All God’s angels must worship him.” - Deuteronomy 32:44 That is, Joshua
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