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30 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

32 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak.
    Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine will drop as the rain.
    My speech will condense as the dew,
    as the misty rain on the tender grass,
    as the showers on the herb.
For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name.
    Ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock: his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are just.
    A God of faithfulness who does no wrong,
    just and right is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him.
    They are not his children, because of their defect.
    They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Is this the way you repay Yahweh,
    foolish and unwise people?
Isn’t he your father who has bought you?
    He has made you and established you.
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.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he separated the children of men,
he set the bounds of the peoples
    according to the number of the children of Israel.
For Yahweh’s portion is his people.
    Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
    in the waste howling wilderness.
He surrounded him.
    He cared for him.
    He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest,
    that flutters over her young,
he spread abroad his wings,
    he took them,
    he bore them on his feathers.
12 Yahweh alone led him.
    There was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth.
    He ate the increase of the field.
He caused him to suck honey out of the rock,
    oil out of the flinty rock;
14 butter from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat of lambs,
    rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
    with the finest of the wheat.
    From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.
    You have grown fat.
    You have grown thick.
    You have become sleek.
Then he abandoned God who made him,
    and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods.
    They provoked him to anger with abominations.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
    to gods that they didn’t know,
    to new gods that came up recently,
    which your fathers didn’t dread.
18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful,
    and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
19 Yahweh saw and abhorred,
    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 He said, “I will hide my face from them.
    I will see what their end will be;
for they are a very perverse generation,
    children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God.
    They have provoked me to anger with their vanities.
I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people.
    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in my anger,
    that burns to the lowest Sheol,[a]
    devours the earth with its increase,
    and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

23 “I will heap evils on them.
    I will spend my arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
    and devoured with burning heat
    and bitter destruction.
I will send the teeth of animals on them,
    with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 Outside the sword will bereave,
    and in the rooms,
    terror on both young man and virgin,
    the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.
26 I said that I would scatter them afar.
    I would make their memory to cease from among men;
27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should judge wrongly,
    lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted,
    Yahweh has not done all this.’”

28 For they are a nation void of counsel.
    There is no understanding in them.
29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,
    that they would consider their latter end!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
    and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
    and Yahweh had delivered them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock,
    even our enemies themselves concede.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
    of the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison grapes.
    Their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents,
    the cruel venom of asps.

34 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up among my treasures?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    at the time when their foot slides;
for the day of their calamity is at hand.
    Their doom rushes at them.”

36 For Yahweh will judge his people,
    and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone;
    that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge;
38 which 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 myself am he.
    There is no god with me.
I kill 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 declare,
    as I live forever,
41 if I sharpen my glittering sword,
    my hand grasps it in judgment;
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
    and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood.
    My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”

43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people,
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants.
    He will take vengeance on his adversaries,
    and will make atonement for his land and for his people.[b]

44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel. 46 He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47 For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

Footnotes

  1. 32:22 Sheol is the place of the dead.
  2. 32:43 For this verse, LXX reads: Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice you Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.

30 Then Moses recited aloud every single word[a] of this song to the entire assembly of Israel:

Song of Moses

32 Pay attention, heavens, and I will speak;
listen, earth, to the words of my mouth.(A)
Let my teaching fall like rain
and my word settle like dew,
like gentle rain on new grass
and showers on tender plants.
For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name.
Declare the greatness of our God!
The Rock—His work is perfect;
all His ways are entirely just.
A faithful God, without prejudice,
He is righteous and true.

His people have acted corruptly toward Him;
this is their defect[b]—they are not His children
but a devious and crooked generation.
Is this how you repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Isn’t He your Father and Creator?
Didn’t He make you and sustain you?
Remember the days of old;
consider the years long past.
Ask your father, and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will teach you.
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance[c]
and divided the human race,(B)
He set the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the people of Israel.[d]
But the Lord’s portion is His people,
Jacob, His own inheritance.

10 He found him in a desolate land,
in a barren, howling wilderness;
He surrounded him, cared for him,
and protected him as the pupil of His eye.(C)
11 He watches over[e] His nest like an eagle
and hovers over His young;
He spreads His wings, catches him,
and lifts him up on His pinions.(D)
12 The Lord alone led him,
with no help from a foreign god.[f]
13 He made him ride on the heights of the land(E)
and eat the produce of the field.
He nourished him with honey from the rock
and oil from flint-like rock,
14 cream from the herd and milk from the flock,
with the fat of lambs,
rams from Bashan, and goats,
with the choicest grains of wheat;
you drank wine from the finest grapes.[g]

15 Then[h] Jeshurun[i](F) became fat and rebelled—
you became fat, bloated, and gorged.
He abandoned the God who made him
and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;
they enraged Him with detestable practices.(G)
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to gods they had not known,
new gods that had just arrived,
which your fathers did not fear.(H)
18 You ignored the Rock who gave you birth;
you forgot the God who gave birth to you.

19 When the Lord saw this, He despised them,
provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
20 He said: “I will hide My face from them;
I will see what will become of them,
for they are a perverse generation—
unfaithful children.
21 They have provoked My jealousy
with their so-called gods;[j]
they have enraged Me with their worthless idols.
So I will provoke their jealousy
with an inferior people;[k]
I will enrage them with a foolish nation.(I)
22 For fire has been kindled because of My anger
and burns to the depths of Sheol;
it devours the land and its produce,
and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

23 “I will pile disasters on them;
I will use up My arrows against them.
24 They will be weak from hunger,
ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;
I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs,
as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
25 Outside, the sword will take their children,
and inside, there will be terror;
the young man and the young woman will be killed,
the infant and the gray-haired man.(J)

26 “I would have said: I will cut them to pieces[l]
and blot out the memory of them from mankind,
27 if I had not feared insult from the enemy,
or feared that these foes might misunderstand
and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed;
it wasn’t the Lord who did all this.’”

28 Israel is a nation lacking sense
with no understanding at all.[m]
29 If only they were wise, they would figure it out;
they would understand their fate.
30 How could one man pursue a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the Lord had given them up?
31 But their “rock” is not like our Rock;
even our enemies concede.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poisonous;
their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is serpents’ venom,
the deadly poison of cobras.

34 “Is it not stored up with Me,
sealed up in My vaults?
35 Vengeance[n] belongs to Me; I will repay.[o](K)
In time their foot will slip,
for their day of disaster is near,
and their doom is coming quickly.”
36 The Lord will indeed vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants(L)
when He sees that their strength is gone
and no one is left—slave or free.
37 He will say: “Where are their gods,
the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you;
let it[p] be a shelter for you.
39 See now that I alone am He;
there is no God but Me.(M)
I bring death and I give life;
I wound and I heal.
No one can rescue anyone from My hand.(N)
40 I raise My hand to heaven and declare:
As surely as I live forever,
41 when I sharpen My flashing sword,
and My hand takes hold of judgment,
I will take vengeance on My adversaries
and repay those who hate Me.
42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood
while My sword devours flesh—
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”[q]

43 Rejoice, you nations, concerning His people,[r](O)
for He will avenge the blood of His servants.[s]
He will take vengeance on His adversaries;[t](P)
He will purify His land and His people.[u]

44 Moses came with Joshua[v] son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people. 45 After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. 47 For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 31:30 Lit recited the words to their completion
  2. Deuteronomy 32:5 Or Him; through their fault; Hb obscure
  3. Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Most High divided the nations
  4. Deuteronomy 32:8 One DSS reads number of the sons of God; LXX reads number of the angels of God
  5. Deuteronomy 32:11 Or He stirs up
  6. Deuteronomy 32:12 Lit him, and no foreign god with Him
  7. Deuteronomy 32:14 Lit the blood of grapes
  8. Deuteronomy 32:15 DSS, Sam, LXX add Jacob ate his fill;
  9. Deuteronomy 32:15 = Upright One, referring to Israel
  10. Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit with no gods
  11. Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit with no people
  12. Deuteronomy 32:26 LXX reads will scatter them
  13. Deuteronomy 32:28 Lit understanding in them
  14. Deuteronomy 32:35 Sam, LXX read On a day of vengeance
  15. Deuteronomy 32:35 LXX, Tg, Vg read Me; and recompense I will recompense
  16. Deuteronomy 32:38 Sam, LXX, Tg, Vg read them
  17. Deuteronomy 32:42 Or the long-haired heads of the enemy
  18. Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX reads 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 read Rejoice, you heavens, along with Him, and let all the angels worship Him; Heb 1:6
  19. Deuteronomy 32:43 DSS, LXX read sons
  20. Deuteronomy 32:43 DSS, LXX add and He will recompense those who hate Him; v. 41
  21. Deuteronomy 32:43 Syr, Tg; DSS, Sam, LXX, Vg read His people’s land
  22. Deuteronomy 32:44 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads Hoshea; Nm 13:8,16