Deuteronomy 32

The Song of Moses

1“1Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.22Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, 3As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb.34For I proclaim the name of the Lord; 5Ascribe greatness to our God!46The Rock! His work is perfect, 7For all His ways are 8just; 9A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.51011They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; 12But are a perverse and crooked generation.6Do you thus 13repay the Lord, 14O foolish and unwise people? 15Is not He your Father who has bought you? 16He has made you and established you.7Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. 17Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.818When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of 19man, He set the boundaries of the peoples 20According to the number of the sons of Israel.921For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.1022He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as 23the pupil of His eye.1124Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, 25He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.1226The Lord alone guided him, 27And there was no foreign god with him.1328He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; 29And He made him suck honey from the rock, And 30oil from the flinty rock,14Curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, 31With the finest of the wheat-- And of the 32blood of grapes you drank wine.

15“33But 34Jeshurun grew fat and kicked-- You are grown fat, thick, and sleek-- 35Then he forsook God 36who made him, And scorned 37the Rock of his salvation.1638They made Him jealous with strange gods; 39With abominations they provoked Him to anger.1740They sacrificed to demons who were not God, 41To gods whom they have not known, 42New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread.18You neglected 43the Rock who begot you, 44And forgot the God who gave you birth.

19“45The Lord saw this, and spurned them 46Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.20Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, 47I will see what their end shall be; 48For they are a perverse generation, 49Sons in whom is no faithfulness.2150They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their 5152idols. 53So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,2254For a fire is kindled in My anger, And burns to the lowest part of 55Sheol, 56And consumes the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23‘57I will heap misfortunes on them; 58I will use My arrows on them.2459They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by 60plague 61And bitter destruction; 62And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, 63With the venom of crawling things of the dust.2564Outside the sword will bereave, And inside terror-- 65Both young man and virgin, The nursling with the man of gray hair.26I would have said, “66I will cut them to pieces, 67I will remove the memory of them from men,”27Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say, “68Our hand is 69triumphant, And the Lord has not done all this.”’

28“70For they are a nation 71lacking in counsel, And there is no understanding in them.2972Would that they were wise, that they understood this, 73That they would discern their 74future!3075How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their 76Rock had sold them, And the Lord had given them up?31Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, 77Even our enemies 78themselves judge this.32For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of 79poison, Their clusters, bitter.33Their wine is the venom of 80serpents, And the 81deadly poison of cobras.

34‘82Is it not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries?3583Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, 84In due time their foot will slip; 85For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.’3686For the Lord will vindicate His people, 87And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their 88strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free.37And He will say, ‘89Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge?3890Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? 91Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place!3992See now that I, I am He, 93And there is no god besides Me; 94It is I who put to death and give life. 95I have wounded and it is I who heal, 96And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.40Indeed, 97I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,4198If I sharpen My 99flashing sword, And My hand takes hold on justice, 100I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.42101I will make My arrows drunk with blood, 102And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired 103leaders of the enemy.’43104Rejoice, O nations, with His people; 105For He will avenge the blood of His servants, 106And will render vengeance on His adversaries, 107And will atone for His land and His people.”

44Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with 108109Joshua the son of Nun. 45When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “110Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command 111your sons to observe 112carefully, even all the words of this law. 47For it is not an idle word for you; indeed 113it is your life. And 114by this word you will prolong your days in the land, 115which you are about to cross the Jordan to 116possess.”

48117The Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49“118Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab 119opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be 120gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51121because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the 122wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52123For you shall see the land at a distance, but 124you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”