Beginning
32 Hear, heavens, and I will speak.
Listen, earth, to what I say.
2 My teaching will drop like rain.
My words will fall 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!
4 He is like a rock. What he does is perfect.
He is always fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong.
He is right and fair.
5 They have done evil against him.
To their shame they are no longer his children.
They are an evil and lying people.
6 This is not the way to repay the Lord.
You are foolish and unwise.
He is your Father and Maker.
He made you and formed you.
7 Remember the old days.
Think of the years already passed.
Ask your father. He will tell you.
Ask your elders. They will inform you.
8 The Most High God gave the nations their lands.
He divided up the human race.
He set up borders for the people.
He even numbered the Israelites.
9 The Lord took his people as his share.
The people of Jacob were his very own.
10 He found them in a desert.
It was a windy, empty land.
He surrounded them and brought them up.
He guarded them as those he loved very much.
11 He was like an eagle building its nest.
It flutters over its young.
It spreads its wings to catch them.
It carries them on its feathers.
12 The Lord alone led them.
There were no foreign gods among them.
13 The Lord brought them to the heights of the land.
He fed them the fruit of the fields.
He gave them honey from the rocks.
He brought oil from the solid rock.
14 There were milk curds from the cows and milk from the sheep.
There were fat sheep and goats.
There were sheep and goats from Bashan.
There was the best of the wheat.
You drank the juice of grapes.
15 Israel grew fat and kicked.
They were fat and full and firm.
They left the God who made them.
They rejected the Rock who saved them.
16 They made God jealous with foreign gods.
They made him angry with hated idols.
17 They made sacrifices to demons, not God.
They were gods they had never known.
They were new gods from nearby.
Your ancestors did not fear them.
18 You left God who is the Rock, your Father.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them.
His sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn away from them.
I will see what will happen to them.
They are evil people.
They are unfaithful children.
21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous.
They used worthless 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 to make them angry.
22 My anger has started a fire.
It burns down to where the dead are.
It will burn up the ground and its crops.
And it will set fire to the mountains.
23 “I will pile troubles upon them.
I will shoot my arrows at them.
24 They will be starved and sick.
They will be destroyed by terrible diseases.
I will send them vicious animals
and gliding, poisonous snakes.
25 In the streets the sword will kill.
In their homes there will be terror.
Young men and women will die.
So will babies and gray-haired men.
26 I will scatter them as I said.
And no one will remember them.
27 But I didn’t want their enemy to brag.
Their enemy might misunderstand.
They might say, ‘We have won!
The Lord has done none of this.’”
28 Israel 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.
30 One person cannot chase 1,000 people.
And 2 people cannot fight 10,000.
This only happens if the Lord has sold them.
Their Rock would have to give them up.
31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock.
Our enemies agree to that.
32 Their vine comes from Sodom.
Their fields are like Gomorrah.
Their grapes are full of poison.
Their bunches of grapes are bitter.
33 Their wine is like snake poison,
like the deadly poison of cobras.
34 “I have been saving this.
I have it locked in my storehouses.
35 I will punish those who do wrong. I will repay them.
Sometime their foot will slip.
Their day of trouble is near.
And their punishment will come quickly.”
36 The Lord will defend his people.
He will have mercy on his servants.
He will see that their strength is gone.
He will see that nobody is left, slaves or free.
37 Then he will say, “Where are their gods?
Where is the rock they trusted?
38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices?
Who drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let those gods come to help you!
Let them protect you!
39 “Now you will see that I am the one God!
There is no god but me.
I send life and death.
I can hurt, and I can heal.
No one can escape from me.
40 I raise my hand toward heaven and make this promise:
As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my flashing sword.
And I will take it in my hand to judge.
I will punish my enemies.
I will pay back those who hate me.
42 My arrows will be covered 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 will be cut off.”
43 Be happy, nations, with his people.
He will repay you for the blood of his servants.
He will punish his enemies.
And he will remove the sin of 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. 45 When Moses finished speaking these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them: “Pay attention to all the words I have said to you today. Command your children to obey carefully everything in these teachings. 47 These should not be unimportant words for you. They mean life for you! By these words you will live a long time in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to own.”
Moses Goes Up to Mount Nebo
48 The Lord spoke to Moses again that same day. He said, 49 “Go up the Abarim Mountains. Go to Mount Nebo in the country of Moab. It is across from Jericho. Look at the land of Canaan. I am giving it to the Israelites to own. 50 You will die on that mountain that you climb. This is how your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor. 51 You both sinned against me at the waters of Meribah Kadesh. That is in the Desert of Zin. You did not honor me as holy there among the Israelites. 52 So now you will only look at the land from far away. You will not enter the land I am giving the people of Israel.”
Moses Blesses the People
33 Moses, the man of God, gave this blessing to the Israelites before he died. 2 He said:
“The Lord came from Mount Sinai.
He rose like the sun from Edom.
He showed his greatness from Mount Paran.
He came with thousands of angels.
He came from the southern mountains.
3 The Lord surely loves his people.
He takes care of all those who belong to him.
They bow down at his feet.
And they are taught by him.
4 Moses gave us the teachings.
They belong to the people of Jacob.
5 The Lord became king of Israel.
The leaders of the people gathered then.
The tribes of Israel came together.
6 “Let the people of Reuben live and not die.
But let the people be few.”
7 Moses said this about the people of Judah:
“Lord, listen to Judah’s prayer.
Bring them back to their people.
They defend themselves with their hands.
Help them fight their enemies!”
8 Moses said this about the people of Levi:
“Lord, your Thummim and Urim belong
to Levi whom you love.
Lord, you tested him at Massah.
You argued with him at the waters of Meribah.
9 He said about his father and mother,
‘I don’t care about them.’
He did not recognize his brothers.
He did not know his children.
But he protected your word.
And he guarded your agreement.
10 He teaches your laws to the people of Jacob
and your teachings to the people of Israel.
He burns incense before you.
And he makes whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Lord, make them strong.
Be pleased with the work they do.
Defeat those who attack them.
Don’t let their enemies rise up again.”
12 Moses said this about the people of Benjamin:
“The Lord’s loved ones will lie down in safety.
The Lord protects them all day long.
The ones the Lord loves rest with him.”
13 Moses said this about the people of Joseph:
“May the Lord bless their land with the best fruits.
Send rain from heaven above.
And bring the water from the springs below.
14 Let the sun produce the best fruits.
Let each month bring its best fruits.
15 Let the old mountains give the finest crops.
And let the everlasting hills give the best fruits.
16 Let the full earth give the best fruits.
Let the Lord who lived in the burning bush be pleased.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph.
May they rest on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers.
17 Joseph has the majesty of a firstborn bull.
He is as strong as a wild ox.
He will stab other nations,
even those nations far away.
These are the ten thousands of Ephraim.
And these are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 Moses said this about the people of Zebulun:
“Be happy when you go out, Zebulun.
And be happy in your tents, Issachar.
19 They will call the people to the mountain.
And there they will offer the right sacrifices.
They will do well from all that is in the sea.
And they will do well from the treasures hidden in the sand on the shore.”
20 Moses said this about the people of Gad:
“Praise God who gives Gad more land!
Gad lives there like a lion.
He tears off arms and heads.
21 They chose the best land for themselves.
They received a large share, like that given to an officer.
When the leaders of the people gathered,
the people of Gad did what the Lord said was right.
And they judged Israel fairly.”
22 Moses said this about the people of Dan:
“Dan is like a lion’s cub,
who jumps out of Bashan.”
23 Moses said this about the people of Naphtali:
“Naphtali enjoys the Lord’s special kindnesses.
They are full of his blessings.
Their land goes south to Lake Galilee.”
24 Moses said this about the people of Asher:
“Asher is the most blessed of the sons.
He should be his brothers’ favorite.
Let him bathe his feet in olive oil.
25 Your gates will have locks of iron and bronze.
You will be strong as long as you live.
26 “There is no one like the God of Israel.
He rides through the skies to help you.
He rides on the clouds in his majesty.
27 The everlasting God is your place of safety.
His arms will hold you up forever.
He will force your enemy out ahead of you.
He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’
28 The people of Israel will lie down in safety.
Jacob’s spring is theirs alone.
Theirs is a land full of grain and wine.
There the skies drop their dew.
29 Israel, you are blessed!
No one else is like you.
You are a people saved by the Lord.
He is your shield and helper.
He is your glorious sword.
Your enemies will be afraid of you.
You will walk all over their holy places.”
Moses Dies
34 Then Moses climbed up Mount Nebo. He went from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah. It is across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land. He could see from Gilead to Dan. 2 He could see all of Naphtali and the lands of Ephraim and Manasseh. He could see all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea. 3 He could see the southern desert and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. Jericho is called the city of palm trees. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I said to them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ I have let you look at it, Moses. But you will not cross over there.”
5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab. It was as the Lord had said. 6 The Lord buried Moses in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor. But even today no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not weak. And he was still strong. 8 The Israelites cried for Moses for 30 days. They stayed in the plains of Moab until the time of sadness was over.
9 Joshua son of Nun was then filled with wisdom. Moses had put his hands on Joshua. So the Israelites listened to Joshua. And they did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
10 There has never been another prophet like Moses. The Lord knew Moses face to face. 11 The Lord sent Moses to do signs and miracles in Egypt. He did them to the king, to all his officers and to the whole land of Egypt. 12 Moses had great power. He did wonderful things for all the Israelites to see.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.