Deuteronomy 31-34
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Joshua Becomes Moses’ Successor
31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will go over before you; he will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them; and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. 4 And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed.”
The Law to Be Read Every Seventh Year
9 And Moses wrote this law, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses and Joshua Receive God’s Charge
14 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood by the door of the tent.
16 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to sleep with your fathers; then this people will rise and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured; and many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day on account of all the evil which they have done, because they have turned to other gods. 19 Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their descendants); for I know the purposes which they are already forming, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the people of Israel.
23 And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to give them: I will be with you.”
24 When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, to the very end, 25 Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 26 “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are; behold, while I am yet alive with you, today you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more after my death! 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”
The Song of Moses
30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distil as the dew,
as the gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and as the showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect;
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and right is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him,
they are no longer his children because of their blemish;
they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus requite the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
7 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.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of men,
he fixed the bounds of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
10 “He found him in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 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 the Lord alone did lead him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
and he ate the produce of the field;
and he made him suck honey out of the rock,
and oil out of the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs and rams,
herds of Bashan and goats,
with the finest of the wheat—
and of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
15 “But Jesh′urun waxed fat, and kicked;
you waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek;
then he forsook God who made him,
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominable practices they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons which were no gods,
to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come in of late,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that begot[b] you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 “The Lord saw it, and 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,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no god;
they have provoked me with their idols.
So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people;
I will provoke them with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “‘And I will heap evils upon them;
I will spend my arrows upon them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured with burning heat
and poisonous pestilence;
and I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
with venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 In the open the sword shall bereave,
and in the chambers shall be terror,
destroying both young man and virgin,
the sucking child with the man of gray hairs.
26 I would have said, “I will scatter them afar,
I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
lest their adversaries should judge amiss,
lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,
the Lord has not wrought all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
and there is no understanding in them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand this,
they would discern their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock,
even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom,
and from the fields of Gomor′rah;
their grapes are grapes of poison,
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of serpents,
and the cruel venom of asps.
34 “Is not this laid up in store with me,
sealed up in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone,
and there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
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 I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven,
and swear, As I live for ever,
41 if I whet my glittering sword,[c]
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
and will requite 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 long-haired heads of the enemy.’
43 “Praise his people, O you nations;
for he avenges the blood of his servants,
and takes vengeance on his adversaries,
and makes expiation for the land of his people.”[d]
44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua[e] the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Lay to heart all the words which I enjoin upon you this day, 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 trifle for you, but it is your life, and thereby you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses’ Death Foretold
48 And the Lord said to Moses that very day, 49 “Ascend this mountain of the Ab′arim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho; and view the land of Canaan, which I give to the people of Israel for a possession; 50 and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people; 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Mer′i-bath-ka′desh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you did not revere me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there, into the land which I give to the people of Israel.”
Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
“The Lord came from Sinai,
and dawned from Se′ir upon us;[f]
he shone forth from Mount Paran,
he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire[g] at his right hand.
3 Yea, he loved his people;[h]
all those consecrated to him were in his[i] hand;
so they followed[j] in thy steps,
receiving direction from thee,
4 when Moses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord became king in Jesh′urun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 “Let Reuben live, and not die,
nor let his men be few.”
7 And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
and bring him in to his people.
With thy hands contend[k] for him,
and be a help against his adversaries.”
8 And of Levi he said,
“Give to Levi[l] thy Thummim,
and thy Urim to thy godly one,
whom thou didst test at Massah,
with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Mer′ibah;
9 who said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
he disowned his brothers,
and ignored his children.
For they observed thy word,
and kept thy covenant.
10 They shall teach Jacob thy ordinances,
and Israel thy law;
they shall put incense before thee,
and whole burnt offering upon thy altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those that hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the Lord,
he dwells in safety by him;
he encompasses him all the day long,
and makes his dwelling between his shoulders.”
13 And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven above,[m]
and of the deep that couches beneath,
14 with the choicest fruits of the sun,
and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,
and the abundance of the everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fulness,
and the favor of him that dwelt in the bush.
Let these come upon the head of Joseph,
and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brothers.
17 His firstling bull has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall push the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
such are the ten thousands of E′phraim,
and such are the thousands of Manas′seh.”
18 And of Zeb′ulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zeb′ulun, in your going out;
and Is′sachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples to their mountain;
there they offer right sacrifices;
for they suck the affluence of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And of Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad couches like a lion,
he tears the arm, and the crown of the head.
21 He chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and he came to the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the commands
and just decrees of the Lord.”
22 And of Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s whelp,
that leaps forth from Bashan.”
23 And of Naph′tali he said,
“O Naph′tali, satisfied with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
possess the lake and the south.”
24 And of Asher he said,
“Blessed above sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze;
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 “There is none like God, O Jesh′urun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
and in his majesty through the skies.
27 The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you,
and said, Destroy.
28 So Israel dwelt in safety,
the fountain of Jacob alone,
in a land of grain and wine;
yea, his heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you;
and you shall tread upon their high places.”
Moses Dies and Is Buried in the Land of Moab
34 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naph′tali, the land of E′phraim and Manas′seh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zo′ar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe′or; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.
Notas al pie
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Compare Gk: Heb Israel
- Deuteronomy 32:18 Or bore
- Deuteronomy 32:41 Heb the lightning of my sword
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Gk Vg: Heb his land his people
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Gk Syr Vg: Heb Hoshea
- Deuteronomy 33:2 Gk Syr Vg: Heb them
- Deuteronomy 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Deuteronomy 33:3 Gk: Heb peoples
- Deuteronomy 33:3 Heb thy
- Deuteronomy 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Deuteronomy 33:7 Cn: Heb with his hands he contended
- Deuteronomy 33:8 Gk: Heb lacks Give to Levi
- Deuteronomy 33:13 Two Heb Mss and Tg: Heb with the dew
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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