Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
Expanded Bible
Moses’ Song
30 And Moses spoke this whole song ·for all the people of Israel to hear [L in the ears of the whole assembly of Israel]:
32 ·Hear [L Give ear], heavens, and I will speak. Listen, earth, to ·what I say [L the words of my mouth].
2 My teaching will drop like rain;
my words will ·fall [distill] like dew.
They will be like showers on the grass;
they will pour down like rain on young plants.
3 I will announce the name of the Lord.
·Praise God because he is great [L Ascribe greatness to our God]!
4 He is like a rock; what he does is perfect,
and ·he is always [L all his ways are] fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong,
who is ·right [righteous] and ·fair [virtuous].
5 They ·have done evil against him [are corrupt].
·To their shame [or Their faults show] they are no longer his children [Is. 1:2–4; Hos. 1:9];
they are an ·evil [perverted] and ·lying [crooked] people.
6 This is not the way to repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people.
·He is [L Is he not…?] your Father and Maker,
who made you and formed you.
7 Remember the old days.
Think of the years already passed.
Ask your father and he will tell you;
ask your elders and they will inform you.
8 God Most High gave ·the nations their lands [L each nation its inheritance],
dividing up the ·human race [L sons of man].
He set up borders for the people
·and even numbered the Israelites[a] [L according to the number of the sons/T children of Israel].
9 The Lord took his people as his ·share [portion],
the people of Jacob as his ·very own [L special inheritance].
10 He found them in a ·desert [wilderness],
a windy, ·empty [unformed; Gen. 1:2] land.
He surrounded them and brought them up,
guarding them as ·those he loved very much [L the apple/pupil of his eye].
11 He was like an eagle ·building [watching; stirring up] its nest
that ·flutters [hovers] over its young.
It spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its feathers.
12 The Lord alone led them,
and there was no foreign god ·helping [L with] him.
13 The Lord ·brought them to [or made them ride over] the heights of the land
and fed them the fruit of the fields.
He ·gave them [suckled them with] honey from the rocks,
bringing oil from the ·solid [flint] rock.
14 There were milk curds from the cows and milk from the flock;
there were fat sheep and goats.
There were sheep and goats from Bashan [C a particularly fertile area east of the Sea of Galilee]
and the best of the wheat.
You drank the ·juice [L fermenting/foaming blood] of grapes [C wine].
15 ·Israel [L Jeshurun; C a name for Israel meaning “virtuous”; perhaps intended ironically; 33:5, 26; Is. 44:2] grew fat and kicked;
they were fat and ·full [bloated] and firm.
They ·left [abandoned] the God who made them
and ·rejected [dishonored] the Rock who saved them.
16 They made God jealous with ·foreign [strange] gods [4:24]
and angry with ·hateful idols [L abominations].
17 They made sacrifices to demons, not God,
to gods they had never known,
new gods from nearby,
gods your ·ancestors [fathers] did not fear.
18 You left God who is the Rock, ·your Father [L who bore you; or who begot you],
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and ·rejected [spurned] them;
his sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn ·away [L my face away] from them
and see what ·will happen to them [their end will be].
They are ·evil people [L a perverted generation],
·unfaithful [untrustworthy] children.
21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous [4:24]
and ·worthless idols [vanities; vain idols] to make me angry.
So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous;
I will use a nation that ·does not understand [L is foolish] to make them angry.
22 My anger has started a fire
that burns down to ·the place of the dead [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld].
It will ·burn up [consume] the ·ground [or earth] and its ·crops [produce],
and it will set fire to the ·base [foundations] of the mountains.
23 “I will pile ·troubles [disasters] upon them
and shoot my arrows at them.
24 They will be starved and sick,
destroyed by terrible diseases.
I will send them ·vicious [L the teeth of] animals
·and gliding, poisonous snakes [L with the poison/venom of creatures that crawl in the dust].
25 In the streets the sword will ·kill [bereave];
in their ·homes [bedrooms] there will be terror.
Young men and women will die,
and so will ·babies [sucklings] and gray-haired men.
26 I will ·scatter them [or dash them to pieces] as I said,
and ·no one will remember them [L I will cause their memory to cease from among humans].
27 But I didn’t want ·their enemy to brag [or to provoke the enemy];
their enemy might misunderstand
and say, ‘·We have won [L Our hand is lifted up]!
The Lord has done none of this.’”
28 ·Israel [L They are a nation that] has no sense;
they do not understand.
29 I wish they were wise and understood this;
I wish they could see ·what will happen to them [their end].
30 ·One person cannot [L How can one person…?] chase a thousand people,
and ·two people cannot [L two…?] fight ten thousand
unless their Rock has sold them,
unless the Lord has ·given them up [surrendered them; 28:25–27].
31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock;
our enemies ·agree to that [L are judges].
32 Their vine comes from Sodom,
and their fields are like Gomorrah [Gen. 19].
Their grapes are full of poison;
their bunches of grapes are bitter.
33 Their wine is like ·snake poison [the venom of serpents],
like the ·deadly [cruel] poison of cobras.
34 “·I have been saving this [L Is this not stored up with me…?],
and I have it ·locked [sealed] in my ·storehouses [treasuries].
35 ·I will punish those who do wrong [L Vengeance is mine; Rom. 12:9]; I will repay them.
Soon their foot will slip,
because their day of ·trouble [disaster] is near,
and their ·punishment [doom] will come quickly.”
36 The Lord will ·defend [vindicate; judge] his people
and have mercy on his servants.
He will see that their ·strength [power; control; L hand] is gone,
that nobody is left, slaves or free.
37 Then he will say, “Where are their gods?
Where is the rock they ·trusted [took refuge in]?
38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices [Lev. 3:17],
and who drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let those gods come to help you!
Let them protect you!
39 “Now you will see that I am ·the one God [L he]!
There is no god but me.
I ·send death and life [kill and make alive];
I ·can hurt [wound], and I can heal.
No one can escape from ·me [L my hand].
40 I raise my hand toward heaven [C to make a promise]:
As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and I will take it in my hand to judge [Ps. 7:12–13].
I will ·punish [bring vengeance on] my enemies
and pay back those who hate me.
42 My arrows will be ·covered [L drunk] with their blood;
my sword will eat their flesh.
The blood will flow from those who are killed and the captives.
The ·heads of the enemy leaders [or long-haired enemy] will be cut off.”
43 ·Be happy [Rejoice], nations, with his people,
because he will repay you for the blood of his servants.
He will ·punish [work vengeance on] his enemies,
and he will ·remove the sin of [provide atonement for] his land and people.
44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun, and they spoke all the words of this song ·for the people to hear [L in the ears of his people]. 45 When Moses finished speaking these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them: “·Pay careful attention to [L Set your heart on] all the words I ·have said [testify; give witness] to you today, and command your children to obey carefully everything in these ·teachings [laws; instructions]. 47 These should not be unimportant words for you, but rather they mean life for you! By these words you will live a long time in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to take as your ·own [possession].”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Israelites Hebrew copies, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, read “sons of God.” Some Greek copies read “angels of God.”
Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
New American Standard Bible
30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete:
The Song of Moses
32 “(A)Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
2 (B)May my teaching drip as the rain,
My speech trickle as the dew,
(C)As droplets on the fresh grass,
And as the showers on the vegetation.
3 (D)For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
(E)Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 (F)The Rock! His work is perfect,
(G)For all His ways are [a]just;
(H)A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and just is He.
5 [b](I)They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
(J)But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this what you (K)do to the Lord,
(L)You foolish and unwise people?
(M)Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
(N)He has made you and established you.
7 Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
(O)Ask your father and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 (P)When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of [c]mankind,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
(Q)According to the number of the [d]sons of Israel.
9 (R)For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 (S)He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as (T)the [e]apple of His eye.
11 (U)As an eagle stirs up its nest,
And hovers over its young,
(V)He spread His wings, He caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
12 (W)The Lord alone guided him,
(X)And there was no foreign god with him.
13 (Y)He had him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
(Z)And He had him suck honey from the rock,
And [f](AA)oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats,
(AB)With the best of the wheat;
And you drank wine of the (AC)blood of grapes.
15 “(AD)But [g]Jeshurun became fat and kicked—
You have become fat, thick, and obstinate—
(AE)Then he abandoned God (AF)who made him,
And [h]rejected (AG)the Rock of his salvation.
16 (AH)They made Him jealous with strange gods;
(AI)With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 (AJ)They sacrificed to demons, who were not God,
(AK)To gods whom they have not known,
(AL)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not know.
18 You forgot (AM)the Rock who fathered you,
(AN)And forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 “(AO)The Lord saw this, and spurned them
(AP)Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
(AQ)I will see what their end will be;
(AR)For they are a perverse generation,
(AS)Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
21 (AT)They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their [i](AU)idols.
(AV)So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
22 (AW)For a fire has flared in My anger,
And it burns to the lowest part of [j]Sheol,
(AX)And devours the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘(AY)I will add misfortunes to them;
(AZ)I will use up My arrows on them.
24 (BA)They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by [k]plague
(BB)And a bitter epidemic;
(BC)And the teeth of beasts I will send against them,
(BD)With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 (BE)Outside the sword will make them childless,
And inside, terror—
(BF)Both young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hair.
26 I would have said, “(BG)I will wipe them out,
(BH)I will remove the mention of [l]their name from humanity,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “(BI)Our hand is [m]triumphant,
And the Lord has not performed all this.”’
28 “(BJ)For they are a nation [n]destitute of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29 (BK)If only they were wise and they understood this;
(BL)If only they would discern their [o]future!
30 (BM)How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their (BN)Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
31 Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
(BO)Even our enemies [p]themselves judge this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of (BP)poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of [q]serpents,
And the [r]deadly poison of vipers.
34 ‘(BQ)Is it not stored up with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
35 (BR)Vengeance is Mine, and retribution;
(BS)In due time their foot will slip.
(BT)For the day of their disaster is near,
And the impending things are hurrying to them.’
36 (BU)For the Lord will vindicate His people,
(BV)And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their [s]strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 And He will say, ‘(BW)Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge?
38 (BX)Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
(BY)Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your protection!
39 (BZ)See now that I, I am He,
(CA)And there is no god besides Me;
(CB)It is I who put to death and give life.
(CC)I have wounded and it is I who heal,
(CD)And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.
40 Indeed, (CE)I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 (CF)If I have sharpened [t]My flashing sword,
And My hand has taken hold of justice,
(CG)I will return vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
42 (CH)I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
(CI)And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired [u]leaders of the enemy.’
43 (CJ)Rejoice, you nations, with His people;
(CK)For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
(CL)And will return vengeance on His adversaries,
(CM)And will atone for His land and His people.”
44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with [v](CN)Joshua the son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “(CO)Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command (CP)your sons to [w]follow carefully, all the words of this Law. 47 For it is not a [x]trivial matter for you; indeed (CQ)it is your life. And (CR)by this word you will prolong your days in the land, [y]which you are about to cross the Jordan to [z]possess.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:4 Or judgment
- Deuteronomy 32:5 Lit It has
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Adam
- Deuteronomy 32:8 As in MT; DSS sons of God; LXX angels of God
- Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit pupil
- Deuteronomy 32:13 I.e., olive oil
- Deuteronomy 32:15 I.e., Israel
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Lit declared void
- Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit nonexistent things
- Deuteronomy 32:22 I.e., the netherworld
- Deuteronomy 32:24 Lit burning heat
- Deuteronomy 32:26 Lit them
- Deuteronomy 32:27 Lit high
- Deuteronomy 32:28 Lit perishing of
- Deuteronomy 32:29 Or latter end
- Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit are judges
- Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit dragons
- Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit cruel
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit hand
- Deuteronomy 32:41 Lit the lightning of My sword
- Deuteronomy 32:42 Lit head
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Lit Hoshea
- Deuteronomy 32:46 Lit be careful to perform
- Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit empty word
- Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit where
- Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit possess it
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
