Deuteronomy 32

The Song of Moses

1“1Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!22May my teaching drip as the rain, My speech trickle as the dew, 3As droplets on the fresh grass, And as the showers on the vegetation.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 just is He.51011They have acted corruptly against Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; 12But are a perverse and crooked generation.6Is this what you 13do to the Lord, 14You foolish and unwise people? 15Is He not your Father who has purchased 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 19mankind, He set the boundaries of the peoples 20According to the number of the 21sons of Israel.922For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.1023He found him in a desert land, And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as 24the 25apple of His eye.1126As an eagle stirs up its nest, And hovers over its young, 27He spread His wings, He caught them, He carried them on His pinions.1228The Lord alone guided him, 29And there was no foreign god with him.1330He had him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; 31And He had him suck honey from the rock, And 3233oil from the flinty rock,14Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats, 34With the best of the wheat; And you drank wine of the 35blood of grapes.

15“36But 37Jeshurun became fat and kicked-- You have become fat, thick, and obstinate-- 38Then he abandoned God 39who made him, And 40rejected 41the Rock of his salvation.1642They made Him jealous with strange gods; 43With abominations they provoked Him to anger.1744They sacrificed to demons, who were not God, 45To gods whom they have not known, 46New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not know.18You forgot 47the Rock who fathered you, 48And forgot the God who gave you birth.

19“49The Lord saw this, and spurned them 50Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.20Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, 51I will see what their end will be; 52For they are a perverse generation, 53Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.2154They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their 5556idols. 57So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,2258For a fire has flared in My anger, And it burns to the lowest part of 59Sheol, 60And devours the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23‘61I will add misfortunes to them; 62I will use up My arrows on them.2463They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by 64plague 65And a bitter epidemic; 66And the teeth of beasts I will send against them, 67With the venom of crawling things of the dust.2568Outside the sword will make them childless, And inside, terror-- 69Both young man and virgin, The nursing child with the man of gray hair.26I would have said, “70I will wipe them out, 71I will remove the mention of 72their name from humanity,”27Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say, “73Our hand is 74triumphant, And the Lord has not performed all this.”’

28“75For they are a nation 76destitute of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.2977If only they were wise and they understood this; 78If only they would discern their 79future!3080How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their 81Rock had sold them, And the Lord had given them up?31Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock; 82Even our enemies 83themselves judge this.32For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of 84poison, Their clusters, bitter.33Their wine is the venom of 85serpents, And the 86deadly poison of vipers.

34‘87Is it not stored up with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries?3588Vengeance is Mine, and retribution; 89In due time their foot will slip. 90For the day of their disaster is near, And the impending things are hurrying to them.’3691For the Lord will vindicate His people, 92And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their 93strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free.37And He will say, ‘94Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge?3895Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? 96Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection!3997See now that I, I am He, 98And there is no god besides Me; 99It is I who put to death and give life. 100I have wounded and it is I who heal, 101And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.40Indeed, 102I raise My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,41103If I have sharpened 104My flashing sword, And My hand has taken hold of justice, 105I will return vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.42106I will make My arrows drunk with blood, 107And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired 108leaders of the enemy.’43109Rejoice, you nations, with His people; 110For He will avenge the blood of His servants, 111And will return vengeance on His adversaries, 112And 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 113114Joshua the son of Nun. 45When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “115Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command 116your sons to 117follow carefully, all the words of this Law. 47For it is not a 118trivial matter for you; indeed 119it is your life. And 120by this word you will prolong your days in the land, 121which you are about to cross the Jordan to 122possess.”

48Now 123the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49“124Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab 125opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. 50Then you are to die on the mountain where you ascend, and be 126gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51127because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the 128wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52129For you will see the land at a distance but 130you will not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”