Deuteronomy 33-34
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 54: V’Zot HaBrachah (This is the blessing) 33:1–34:12
33 This is the blessing that Moshe, the man of God, spoke over the people of Isra’el before his death:
2 “Adonai came from Sinai;
from Se‘ir he dawned on his people,
shone forth from Mount Pa’ran;
and with him were myriads of holy ones;
at his right hand
was a fiery law for them.
3 He truly loves the peoples —
all his holy ones are in your hand;
sitting at your feet,
they receive your instruction,
4 the Torah Moshe commanded us
as an inheritance for the community of Ya‘akov.
5 Then a king arose in Yeshurun
when the leaders of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Isra’el together.
6 “Let Re’uven live and not die out,
even though his numbers grow few.”
7 Of Y’hudah he said:
“Hear, Adonai, the cry of Y’hudah!
Bring him in to his people,
let his own hands defend him;
but you, help him against his enemies.”
(ii) 8 Of Levi he said:
“Let your tumim and urim
be with your pious one,
whom you tested at Massah,
with whom you struggled at M’rivah Spring.
9 Of his father and mother he said, ‘I don’t know them’;
he didn’t acknowledge his brothers or children.
For he observed your word,
and he kept your covenant.
10 They will teach Ya‘akov your rulings,
Isra’el your Torah.
They will set incense before you
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Adonai, bless his possessions,
accept the work he does;
but crush his enemies hip and thigh;
may those who hate him rise no more.”
12 Of Binyamin he said:
“Adonai’s beloved lives securely.
He protects him day after day.
He lives between his shoulders.”
(iii) 13 Of Yosef he said:
“May Adonai bless his land
with the best from the sky, for the dew,
and for what comes from the deep beneath,
14 with the best of what the sun makes grow,
with the best of what comes up each month,
15 with the best from the mountains of old,
with the best from the eternal hills,
16 with the best from the earth and all that fills it,
and the favor of him who lived in the [burning] bush.
May blessing come on the head of Yosef,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
17 His firstborn bull — glory is his;
his horns are those of a wild ox;
With them he will gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth.
These are the myriads of Efrayim;
these are the thousands of M’nasheh.”
(iv) 18 Of Z’vulun he said:
“Rejoice, Z’vulun, as you go forth,
and you, Yissakhar, in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountain
and there offer righteous sacrifices;
for they will draw from the abundance of the seas
and from the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 Of Gad he said:
“Blessed is he who makes Gad so large;
he lies there like a lion,
tearing arm and scalp.
21 He chose the best for himself
when the princely portion was assigned.
When the leaders of the people came,
he carried out Adonai’s justice
and his rulings concerning Isra’el.”
(v) 22 Of Dan he said:
“Dan is a lion cub
leaping forth from Bashan.”
23 Of Naftali he said:
“You, Naftali, satisfied with favor
and full of blessing from Adonai,
take possession of the sea and the south.”
24 Of Asher he said:
“May Asher be most blessed of sons,
may he be the favorite among his brothers
and bathe his feet in oil.
25 May your bolts be of iron and bronze
and your strength last as long as you live.
26 “Yeshurun, there is no one like God,
riding through the heavens to help you,
riding on the clouds in his majesty.
(vi) 27 The God of old is a dwelling-place,
with everlasting arms beneath.
He expelled the enemy before you
and he said, ‘Destroy!’
28 So Isra’el lives in security;
the fountain of Ya‘akov is alone
in a land of grain and new wine,
where the skies drip with dew.
29 Happy are you, Isra’el!
“Who is like you, a people saved by Adonai,
your defender helping you
and your sword of triumph?
Your enemies will cringe before you,
but you will trample down their high places.”
34 (vii) Moshe ascended from the plains of Mo’av to Mount N’vo, to the summit of Pisgah, across from Yericho. There Adonai showed him all the land — Gil‘ad as far as Dan, 2 all Naftali, the land of Efrayim and M’nasheh, the land of Y’hudah all the way to the sea beyond, 3 the Negev, and the ‘Aravah, including the valley where Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, as far away as Tzo‘ar. 4 Adonai said to him, “This is the land concerning which I swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.”
5 So Moshe, the servant of Adonai, died there in the land of Mo’av, as Adonai had said. 6 He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P‘or in the land of Mo’av, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moshe was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished. 8 The people of Isra’el mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo’av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.
9 Y’hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Isra’el heeded him and did what Adonai had ordered Moshe.
10 Since that time there has not arisen in Isra’el a prophet like Moshe, whom Adonai knew face to face. 11 What signs and wonders Adonai sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land! 12 What might was in his hand! What great terror he evoked before the eyes of all Isra’el!
Haftarah V’zot HaBrachah: Y’hoshua (Joshua) 1:1–18 (A); 1:1–9 (S)
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah V’zot HaBrachah: Mattityahu (Matthew) 17:1–9; Mark 9:2–10; Luke 9:28–36; Y’hudah (Jude) 3–4, 8–10
Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
Genesis 1:1-2:3
Complete Jewish Bible
Parashah 1: B’resheet (In the beginning) 1:1–6:8
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. So there was evening, and there was morning, one day.
6 God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.” 7 God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was, 8 and God called the dome Sky. So there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let dry land appear,” and that is how it was. 10 God called the dry land Earth, the gathering together of the water he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth put forth grass, seed-producing plants, and fruit trees, each yielding its own kind of seed-bearing fruit, on the earth”; and that is how it was. 12 The earth brought forth grass, plants each yielding its own kind of seed, and trees each producing its own kind of seed-bearing fruit; and God saw that it was good. 13 So there was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
(A: ii) 14 God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth”; and that is how it was. 16 God made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars. 17 God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 So there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open dome of the sky.” 21 God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that creeps, so that the water swarmed with all kinds of them, and there was every kind of winged bird; and God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the water of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
(A: iii) 24 God said, “Let the earth bring forth each kind of living creature — each kind of livestock, crawling animal and wild beast”; and that is how it was. 25 God made each kind of wild beast, each kind of livestock and every kind of animal that crawls along the ground; and God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”
27 So God created humankind in his own image;
in the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. 30 And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant.” And that is how it was. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them. 2 On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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