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Blessings of Moses on Israel

33 Now[a] this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites[b] before[c] his death.

Then[d] he said,

“Yahweh came from Sinai,
    and he dawned upon them from Seir;
    he shone forth from Mount Paran,
and he came with myriads of holy ones,
    at his right hand a fiery law for them.[e]
Moreover,[f] he loves his people,[g]
    all the holy ones were in your hand,
and they bowed down to[h] your feet,
    each one accepted directions from you.[i]
A law Moses instructed for us,
    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
And then a king arose in Jeshurun,
    at the gathering of the leaders of the people,
    united were the tribes of Israel.[j]
“May Reuben live, and may he not die,
    and let his number not be few.”[k]
And he said this of Judah,[l]
“Hear, O Yahweh, the voice of Judah,
    and bring him to his people;
his own hands strive[m] for him,
    and may you be a help against[n] his foes.”
And of Levi he said,
    “Your Thummim and your Urim
are for your faithful one,[o]
    whom you tested at Massah;[p]
you contended with him
    at the waters of Meribah.
The one saying of his father and of his mother,
    ‘I have not regarded them,’
and his brothers he did not acknowledge,
    and his children[q] he did not know,
but rather they observed your word,
    and your covenant they kept.
10 They taught[r] your regulations to Jacob,
    and your law to Israel;
they placed incense smoke before you,[s]
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Yahweh, his substance,
    and with the work of his hands you must be pleased;
smite the loins of those who attack him,
    and those hating him, so that they cannot arise.”[t]
12 Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of Yahweh dwells securely,[u]
    the Most High[v] shields all around him,
all the day,
    and between his shoulders he dwells.”
13 And of Joseph he said,
    “Blessed by Yahweh is his land,
with[w] the choice things of heaven,
    with[x] dew, and with[y] the deep lying down beneath,
14 and with[z] the choice things of the fruits[aa] of the the sun,
    and with the choice things of the yield of the seasons,[ab]
15 and with[ac] the finest things of the ancient mountains,
    and with[ad] the choice things of the eternal hills,[ae]
16 and with[af] the choice things of the earth and its fullness,
    and the favor of the one who dwelt[ag] in the bush.[ah]
Let them come to the head of Joseph,
    and to the crown of the prince among his brothers.
17 As the firstborn of his ox, majesty belongs to him,[ai]
    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he drives people together,[aj]
    and they are the myriads of Ephraim,
    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And of Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and rejoice, Issachar, in your tents;
19 They summon people to the mountains;[ak]
    there they sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness,
because the affluence of the seas they suck out,
    and the most hidden treasures of the sand.”[al]
20 And of Gad he said,
    “Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad;[am]
like a lion he dwells,
    and he tears an arm as well as a scalp.
21 And he selected[an] the best part for himself, [ao]
    for there the portion of a ruler is included,
and he came with the heads of the people;[ap]
    he did[aq] the righteousness of Yahweh,
    and his regulations for Israel.”
22 And of Dan he said,
“Dan is a cub of a lion;
    he leaps from Bashan.”[ar]
23 And of Naphtali, he said,
“Oh, Naphtali, sated of favor,
    and full of the blessing of Yahweh;
take possession of the lake,
    and the land to the south.”
24 And of Asher he said,
    “Blessed more than sons[as] is Asher;
may he be the favorite[at] of his brothers,
    dipping his feet in the oil.[au]
25 Your bars are[av] iron and bronze,
    and as your days, so is[aw] your strength.”
26 “There is no one like God, O, Jeshurun,
    who rides through the heavens to your help,
    and with his majesty through the skies.
27 The God of ancient time[ax] is a hiding place,
    and underneath are the arms of eternity,[ay]
and he drove out from before[az] you your enemy,
    and he said, ‘Destroy them!’
28 So Israel dwells alone and carefree,
    the spring of Jacob in a land of grain and wine;
    his heavens even drip dew.
29 Blessed are you, O Israel.
    Who is like you, a people who is saved by Yahweh,
the shield of your help,
    and who is the sword of your triumph,
and your enemies, they shall fawn before you,[ba]
    and you shall tread on their backs.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 33:1 Or “And”
  2. Deuteronomy 33:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Deuteronomy 33:1 Literally “to the face of”
  4. Deuteronomy 33:2 Or “And”
  5. Deuteronomy 33:2 This pointing of the MT is very difficult; here HALOT 93 suggests “fire a law for them” as a translation of the compound Hebrew word made up of “fire” + “law,” which I render as “a fiery law”
  6. Deuteronomy 33:3 Or “Indeed”
  7. Deuteronomy 33:3 Literally “a lover of peoples”
  8. Deuteronomy 33:3 Or “at”
  9. Deuteronomy 33:3 Literally “he takes up from your words”
  10. Deuteronomy 33:5 Literally “together the tribes of Israel”
  11. Deuteronomy 33:6 Literally “let he be his people of number”
  12. Deuteronomy 33:7 Literally “and this concerning/to Judah, and he said”
  13. Deuteronomy 33:7 Or “is/are great” on his behalf
  14. Deuteronomy 33:7 Literally “from”
  15. Deuteronomy 33:8 Literally “man, your faithful one”
  16. Deuteronomy 33:8 Literally “whom you tested him at Massah”
  17. Deuteronomy 33:9 Or “sons”
  18. Deuteronomy 33:10 Or “teach/will teach”
  19. Deuteronomy 33:10 Literally “in your nose”
  20. Deuteronomy 33:11 Literally “so that not they stand up”
  21. Deuteronomy 33:12 Literally “in confidence”
  22. Deuteronomy 33:12 This is the most likely reading in context (Most High God). Literally the Hebrew text reads “upon him,” so the NASV translates the first line as: dwell in security “by him”
  23. Deuteronomy 33:13 Hebrew “from”
  24. Deuteronomy 33:13 Hebrew “from”
  25. Deuteronomy 33:13 Hebrew “from”
  26. Deuteronomy 33:14 Hebrew “from”
  27. Deuteronomy 33:14 Or “produce of”
  28. Deuteronomy 33:14 Literally “months”
  29. Deuteronomy 33:15 Hebrew “from”
  30. Deuteronomy 33:15 Hebrew “from”
  31. Deuteronomy 33:15 Literally “the hills of eternity never ending ages
  32. Deuteronomy 33:16 Hebrew “from”
  33. Deuteronomy 33:16 Literally “dwells” but context puts the event into the past; literally “dweller of the bush”
  34. Deuteronomy 33:16 Some scholars suggest that this expression must be read as: on Sinai
  35. Deuteronomy 33:17 Literally “is for him”
  36. Deuteronomy 33:17 Or “all at once” (NASB)
  37. Deuteronomy 33:19 Hebrew “mountain”
  38. Deuteronomy 33:19 Literally “the covered of the hidden of the sand”
  39. Deuteronomy 33:20 Literally “the enlarger of Gad”
  40. Deuteronomy 33:21 Or “provided”
  41. Deuteronomy 33:21 Hebrew “for him”
  42. Deuteronomy 33:21 Or possibly, “the heads of the people came/assembled” (compare NEB)
  43. Deuteronomy 33:21 Or “worked”
  44. Deuteronomy 33:22 Hebrew “the Bashan,” referring to a well-known geographical and agricultural area
  45. Deuteronomy 33:24 Literally “blessed from/of sons is” features the comparative use the Hebrew preposition min, “than”
  46. Deuteronomy 33:24 Literally “may he be favored”
  47. Deuteronomy 33:24 Literally “and dipping in the oil his feet”
  48. Deuteronomy 33:25 Or “will be”
  49. Deuteronomy 33:25 Or “so will be/may be”
  50. Deuteronomy 33:27 Literally “before/earlier times
  51. Deuteronomy 33:27 Or “everlasting ages” or “everlasting arms”
  52. Deuteronomy 33:27 Literally “from your face”
  53. Deuteronomy 33:29 Hebrew “to you”

Moses Blesses the People

33 This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave to the people of Israel before his death:

“The Lord came from Mount Sinai
    and dawned upon us[a] from Mount Seir;
he shone forth from Mount Paran
    and came from Meribah-kadesh
    with flaming fire at his right hand.[b]
Indeed, he loves his people;[c]
    all his holy ones are in his hands.
They follow in his steps
    and accept his teaching.
Moses gave us the Lord’s instruction,
    the special possession of the people of Israel.[d]
The Lord became king in Israel[e]
    when the leaders of the people assembled,
    when the tribes of Israel gathered as one.”

Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben:[f]

“Let the tribe of Reuben live and not die out,
    though they are few in number.”

Moses said this about the tribe of Judah:

“O Lord, hear the cry of Judah
    and bring them together as a people.
Give them strength to defend their cause;
    help them against their enemies!”

Moses said this about the tribe of Levi:

“O Lord, you have given your Thummim and Urim—the sacred lots—
    to your faithful servants the Levites.[g]
You put them to the test at Massah
    and struggled with them at the waters of Meribah.
The Levites obeyed your word
    and guarded your covenant.
They were more loyal to you
    than to their own parents.
They ignored their relatives
    and did not acknowledge their own children.
10 They teach your regulations to Jacob;
    they give your instructions to Israel.
They present incense before you
    and offer whole burnt offerings on the altar.
11 Bless the ministry of the Levites, O Lord,
    and accept all the work of their hands.
Hit their enemies where it hurts the most;
    strike down their foes so they never rise again.”

12 Moses said this about the tribe of Benjamin:

“The people of Benjamin are loved by the Lord
    and live in safety beside him.
He surrounds them continuously
    and preserves them from every harm.”

13 Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph:

“May their land be blessed by the Lord
    with the precious gift of dew from the heavens
    and water from beneath the earth;
14 with the rich fruit that grows in the sun,
    and the rich harvest produced each month;
15 with the finest crops of the ancient mountains,
    and the abundance from the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its bounty,
    and the favor of the one who appeared in the burning bush.
May these blessings rest on Joseph’s head,
    crowning the brow of the prince among his brothers.
17 Joseph has the majesty of a young bull;
    he has the horns of a wild ox.
He will gore distant nations,
    even to the ends of the earth.
This is my blessing for the multitudes of Ephraim
    and the thousands of Manasseh.”

18 Moses said this about the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar[h]:

“May the people of Zebulun prosper in their travels.
    May the people of Issachar prosper at home in their tents.
19 They summon the people to the mountain
    to offer proper sacrifices there.
They benefit from the riches of the sea
    and the hidden treasures in the sand.”

20 Moses said this about the tribe of Gad:

“Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad’s territory!
    Gad is poised there like a lion
    to tear off an arm or a head.
21 The people of Gad took the best land for themselves;
    a leader’s share was assigned to them.
When the leaders of the people were assembled,
    they carried out the Lord’s justice
    and obeyed his regulations for Israel.”

22 Moses said this about the tribe of Dan:

“Dan is a lion’s cub,
    leaping out from Bashan.”

23 Moses said this about the tribe of Naphtali:

“O Naphtali, you are rich in favor
    and full of the Lord’s blessings;
    may you possess the west and the south.”

24 Moses said this about the tribe of Asher:

“May Asher be blessed above other sons;
    may he be esteemed by his brothers;
    may he bathe his feet in olive oil.
25 May the bolts of your gates be of iron and bronze;
    may you be secure all your days.”

26 “There is no one like the God of Israel.[i]
    He rides across the heavens to help you,
    across the skies in majestic splendor.
27 The eternal God is your refuge,
    and his everlasting arms are under you.
He drives out the enemy before you;
    he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’
28 So Israel will live in safety,
    prosperous Jacob in security,
in a land of grain and new wine,
    while the heavens drop down dew.
29 How blessed you are, O Israel!
    Who else is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
He is your protecting shield
    and your triumphant sword!
Your enemies will cringe before you,
    and you will stomp on their backs!”

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Footnotes

  1. 33:2a As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads upon them.
  2. 33:2b Or came from myriads of holy ones, from the south, from his mountain slopes. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  3. 33:3 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Indeed, lover of the peoples.
  4. 33:4 Hebrew of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
  5. 33:5 Hebrew in Jeshurun, a term of endearment for Israel.
  6. 33:6 Hebrew lacks Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben.
  7. 33:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks the Levites.
  8. 33:18 Hebrew lacks and Issachar.
  9. 33:26 Hebrew of Jeshurun, a term of endearment for Israel.