Deuteronomy 32-34

New International Version

32 Listen,^(A) you heavens,^(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.^(C)
2 Let my teaching fall like rain^(D)
    and my words descend like dew,^(E)
like showers^(F) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

³ I will proclaim^(G) the name of the Lord.^(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness^(I) of our God!
⁴ He is the Rock,^(J) his works are perfect,^(K)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God^(L) who does no wrong,
    upright^(M) and just is he.^(N)

⁵ They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.^(O)
6 Is this the way you repay^(P) the Lord,
    you foolish^(Q) and unwise people?^(R)
Is he not your Father,^(S) your Creator,^[a]
    who made you and formed you?^(T)

⁷ Remember the days of old;^(U)
    consider the generations long past.^(V)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.^(W)
8 When the Most High^(X) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,^(Y)
he set up boundaries^(Z) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.^[b](AA)
9 For the Lord’s portion^(AB) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.^(AC)

¹⁰ In a desert^(AD) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.^(AE)
He shielded^(AF) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,^(AG)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,^(AH)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.^(AI)
12 The Lord alone led^(AJ) him;^(AK)
    no foreign god was with him.^(AL)

¹³ He made him ride on the heights^(AM) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,^(AN)
    and with oil^(AO) from the flinty crag,
¹⁴ with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan^(AP)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.^(AQ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.^(AR)

¹⁵ Jeshurun^[c](AS) grew fat^(AT) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned^(AU) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock^(AV) their Savior.
¹⁶ They made him jealous^(AW) with their foreign gods
    and angered^(AX) him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷ They sacrificed^(AY) to false gods,^(AZ) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,^(BA)
    gods that recently appeared,^(BB)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸ You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot^(BC) the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ The Lord saw this and rejected them^(BD)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.^(BE)
20 “I will hide my face^(BF) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,^(BG)
    children who are unfaithful.^(BH)
21 They made me jealous^(BI) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.^(BJ)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.^(BK)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,^(BL)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.^(BM)
It will devour^(BN) the earth and its harvests^(BO)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.^(BP)

²³ “I will heap calamities^(BQ) on them
    and spend my arrows^(BR) against them.
²⁴ I will send wasting famine^(BS) against them,
    consuming pestilence^(BT) and deadly plague;^(BU)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,^(BV)
    the venom of vipers^(BW) that glide in the dust.^(BX)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror^(BY) will reign.^(BZ)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.^(CA)
26 I said I would scatter^(CB) them
    and erase their name from human memory,^(CC)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand^(CD)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”^(CE)

²⁸ They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment^(CF) in them.
²⁹ If only they were wise and would understand this^(CG)
    and discern what their end will be!^(CH)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,^(CI)
unless their Rock had sold them,^(CJ)
    unless the Lord had given them up?^(CK)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,^(CL)
    as even our enemies concede.^(CM)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom^(CN)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,^(CO)
    and their clusters with bitterness.^(CP)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.^(CQ)

³⁴ “Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?^(CR)
35 It is mine to avenge;^(CS) I will repay.^(CT)
    In due time their foot will slip;^(CU)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.^(CV)”

³⁶ The Lord will vindicate his people^(CW)
    and relent^(CX) concerning his servants^(CY)
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave^(CZ) or free.^[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,^(DA)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?^(DB)
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

³⁹ “See now that I myself am he!^(DC)
    There is no god besides me.^(DD)
I put to death^(DE) and I bring to life,^(DF)
    I have wounded and I will heal,^(DG)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.^(DH)
40 I lift my hand^(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,^(DJ)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword^(DK)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance^(DL) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.^(DM)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,^(DN)
    while my sword devours flesh:^(DO)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³ Rejoice,^(DP) you nations, with his people,^[e][f]
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants;^(DQ)
he will take vengeance on his enemies^(DR)
    and make atonement for his land and people.^(DS)

“The Lord came from Sinai^(EO)
    and dawned over them from Seir;^(EP)
    he shone forth^(EQ) from Mount Paran.^(ER)
He came with^[h] myriads of holy ones^(ES)
    from the south, from his mountain slopes.^[i]
3 Surely it is you who love^(ET) the people;
    all the holy ones are in your hand.^(EU)
At your feet they all bow down,^(EV)
    and from you receive instruction,
⁴ the law that Moses gave us,^(EW)
    the possession of the assembly of Jacob.^(EX)
5 He was king^(EY) over Jeshurun^[j](EZ)
    when the leaders of the people assembled,
    along with the tribes of Israel.

⁶ “Let Reuben live and not die,
    nor^[k] his people be few.”^(FA)

“Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah;
    bring him to his people.
With his own hands he defends his cause.
    Oh, be his help against his foes!”

“Your Thummim and Urim^(FD) belong
    to your faithful servant.^(FE)
You tested^(FF) him at Massah;
    you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.^(FG)
9 He said of his father and mother,^(FH)
    ‘I have no regard for them.’
He did not recognize his brothers
    or acknowledge his own children,
but he watched over your word
    and guarded your covenant.^(FI)
10 He teaches^(FJ) your precepts to Jacob
    and your law to Israel.^(FK)
He offers incense before you^(FL)
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.^(FM)
11 Bless all his skills, Lord,
    and be pleased with the work of his hands.^(FN)
Strike down those who rise against him,
    his foes till they rise no more.”

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,^(FP)
    for he shields him all day long,^(FQ)
    and the one the Lord loves^(FR) rests between his shoulders.^(FS)”

“May the Lord bless his land
    with the precious dew from heaven above
    and with the deep waters that lie below;^(FU)
14 with the best the sun brings forth
    and the finest the moon can yield;
¹⁵ with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains^(FV)
    and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
¹⁶ with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.^(FW)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among^[l] his brothers.^(FX)
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;
    his horns^(FY) are the horns of a wild ox.^(FZ)
With them he will gore^(GA) the nations,
    even those at the ends of the earth.
Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;^(GB)
    such are the thousands of Manasseh.^(GC)”

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and you, Issachar,^(GE) in your tents.
¹⁹ They will summon peoples to the mountain^(GF)
    and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous;^(GG)
they will feast on the abundance of the seas,^(GH)
    on the treasures hidden in the sand.”

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain!^(GJ)
    Gad lives there like a lion,
    tearing at arm or head.
²¹ He chose the best land for himself;^(GK)
    the leader’s portion was kept for him.^(GL)
When the heads of the people assembled,
    he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,^(GM)
    and his judgments concerning Israel.”

“Dan is a lion’s cub,
    springing out of Bashan.”

“Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord
    and is full of his blessing;
    he will inherit southward to the lake.”

“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
    let him be favored by his brothers,
    and let him bathe his feet in oil.^(GQ)
25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,^(GR)
    and your strength will equal your days.^(GS)

²⁶ “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,^(GT)
    who rides^(GU) across the heavens to help you^(GV)
    and on the clouds^(GW) in his majesty.^(GX)
27 The eternal^(GY) God is your refuge,^(GZ)
    and underneath are the everlasting^(HA) arms.
He will drive out your enemies before you,^(HB)
    saying, ‘Destroy them!’^(HC)
28 So Israel will live in safety;^(HD)
    Jacob will dwell^[m] secure
in a land of grain and new wine,
    where the heavens drop dew.^(HE)
29 Blessed are you, Israel!^(HF)
    Who is like you,^(HG)
    a people saved by the Lord?^(HH)
He is your shield and helper^(HI)
    and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
    and you will tread on their heights.^(HJ)”