“Give ear, aO heavens, and I will speak,
and let bthe earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May amy teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and blike showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe agreatness to our God!
4 a“The Rock, bhis work is perfect,
for call his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and dwithout iniquity,
just and upright is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children abecause they are blemished;
they are ba crooked and twisted generation.
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he ayour father, who bcreated you,
who cmade you and established you?
7 aRemember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
bask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High agave to the nations their inheritance,
when he bdivided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
9 But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
10 “He found him ain a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he bencircled him, he cared for him,
he ckept him as the apple of his eye.
11 aLike an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 athe Lord alone guided him,
bno foreign god was with him.
13 aHe made him ride on the high places of the land,
and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with bhoney out of the rock,
and coil out of dthe flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
with the very finest of the wheat—
and you drank foaming wine made from athe blood of the grape.
15 “But aJeshurun grew fat, and bkicked;
cyou grew fat, stout, and sleek;
dthen he forsook God ewho made him
and scoffed at fthe Rock of his salvation.
16 aThey stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 aThey sacrificed to demons that were not God,
to gods they had never known,
to bnew gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of athe Rock that bore you,
and you bforgot the God who gave you birth.
19 a“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
because of the provocation of bhis sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, a‘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 aThey have made me jealous with what is no god;
they have provoked me to anger bwith their idols.
So cI will make them jealous with those who are no people;
I will provoke them to anger with da foolish nation.
22 For aa fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to bthe depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
aI will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured by plague
and poisonous pestilence;
I will send athe teeth of beasts against them,
with the venom of bthings that crawl in the dust.
25 aOutdoors the sword shall bereave,
and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 aI would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
bI will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, a“Our hand is triumphant,
it was not the Lord who did all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
and there is ano understanding in them.
29 aIf they were wise, they would understand this;
they would bdiscern their latter end!
30 How could aone have chased a thousand,
and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock bhad sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For atheir rock is not as our Rock;
bour enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine acomes from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of bpoison;
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of aserpents
and the cruel venom of asps.
34 “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
asealed up in my treasuries?
35 aVengeance is mine, and recompense,
bfor the time when their foot shall slip;
for cthe day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For athe Lord will vindicate his people
band have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, cbond or free.
37 Then he will say, a‘Where are their gods,
bthe 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 aI, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
bI kill and I make alive;
cI wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For aI lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I asharpen my flashing sword
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and amy sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the blong‑haired heads of the enemy.’
43 a“Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he bavenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people’s land.”
44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and aJoshua the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, a“Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, bthat 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 empty word for you, abut your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses’ Death Foretold
48 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up athis mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as aAaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 abecause you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For ayou shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
This is the blessing with which Moses athe man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
a“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us;
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came bfrom the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire at his right hand.
3 Yes, ahe loved his people,
ball his holy ones were in his hand;
cso they followed in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
4 when aMoses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord abecame king in bJeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 a“Let Reuben live, and not die,
but 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 your hands contend for him,
and be a help against his adversaries.”
8 And aof Levi he said,
“Give to Levi byour Thummim,
and your Urim to your godly one,
cwhom you tested at Massah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9 who said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
ahe disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For bthey observed your word
and kept your covenant.
10 aThey shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
bthey shall put incense before you
and cwhole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and aaccept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 aOf Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”
13 And aof Joseph he said,
b“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven cabove,
and of the deep that crouches 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 athe everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and aits fullness
and the favor of bhim who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
17 aA firstborn bull—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a bwild ox;
with them che shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
dthey are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And of Zebulun he said,
a“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples ato their mountain;
there they offer bright sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And aof Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches blike a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
21 aHe chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and bhe came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel.”
22 And aof Dan he said,
b“Dan is a lion’s cub
cthat leaps from Bashan.”
23 And aof Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
bpossess the lake and the south.”
24 And aof Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him bdip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 a“There is none like God, O bJeshurun,
cwho rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is your adwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.’
28 So Israel lived in safety,
aJacob lived balone,
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! aWho is like you,
a people bsaved by the Lord,
cthe shield of your help,
and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
and you shall tread upon their backs.”
The Death of Moses
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ato 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 Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah aas far as the western sea, 3 athe Negeb, and bthe Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho cthe city of palm trees, as far as dZoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, a“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ bI have let you see it with your eyes, but cyou 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-peor; but ano one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 aMoses was 120 years old when he died. bHis eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel awept 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 athe spirit of wisdom, for bMoses had laid his hands on him. So cthe people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not aarisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, bwhom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all athe signs and the wonders that 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 deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.