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32 “Earth and sky, hear my words,

    listen closely to what I say.
My teaching will fall like drops of rain
    and form on the earth like dew.
My words will fall like showers on young plants,
    like gentle rain on tender grass.
I will praise the name of the Lord,
    and his people will tell of his greatness.

“The Lord is your mighty defender,
    perfect and just in all his ways;
Your God is faithful and true;
    he does what is right and fair.
But you are unfaithful, unworthy to be his people,[a]
    a sinful and deceitful nation.
Is this the way you should treat the Lord,
    you foolish, senseless people?
He is your father, your Creator,
    he made you into a nation.

“Think of the past, of the time long ago;
    ask your parents to tell you what happened,
    ask the old people to tell of the past.
(A)The Most High assigned nations their lands;
    he determined where peoples should live.
He assigned to each nation a heavenly being,
    but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself.

10 “He found them wandering through the desert,
    a desolate, wind-swept wilderness.
He protected them and cared for them,
    as he would protect himself.
11 Like an eagle teaching its young to fly,[b]
    catching them safely on its spreading wings,
    the Lord kept Israel from falling.
12 The Lord alone led his people
    without the help of a foreign god.

13 “He let them rule the highlands,
    and they ate what grew in the fields.
They found wild honey among the rocks;
    their olive trees flourished in stony ground.
14 Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk;
    they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle,
    the finest wheat, and the choicest wine.

15 “The Lord's people grew rich, but rebellious;
    they were fat and stuffed with food.
They abandoned God their Creator
    and rejected their mighty savior.
16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous;
    the evil they did made him angry.
17 (B)They sacrificed to gods that are not real,
    new gods their ancestors had never known,
    gods that Israel had never obeyed.
18 They forgot their God, their mighty savior,
    the one who had given them life.

19 “When the Lord saw this, he was angry
    and rejected his sons and daughters.
20 ‘I will no longer help them,’ he said;
    ‘then I will see what happens to them,
    those stubborn, unfaithful people.
21 (C)With their idols they have made me angry,
    jealous with their so-called gods,
    gods that are really not gods.
So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry;
    I will make them jealous with a nation of fools.
22 My anger will flame up like fire
    and burn everything on earth.
It will reach to the world below[c]
    and consume the roots of the mountains.

23 “‘I will bring on them endless disasters
    and use all my arrows against them.
24 They will die from hunger and fever;
    they will die from terrible diseases.
I will send wild animals to attack them,
    and poisonous snakes to bite them.
25 War will bring death in the streets;
    terrors will strike in the homes.
Young men and young women will die;
    neither babies nor old people will be spared.
26 I would have destroyed them completely,
    so that no one would remember them.
27 But I could not let their enemies boast
    that they had defeated my people,
    when it was I myself who had crushed them.’

28 “Israel is a nation without sense;
    they have no wisdom at all.
29 They fail to see why they were defeated;
    they cannot understand what happened.
30 Why were a thousand defeated by one,
    and ten thousand by only two?
The Lord, their God, had abandoned them;
    their mighty God had given them up.
31 Their enemies know that their own gods are weak,
    not mighty like Israel's God.
32 Their enemies, corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah,
    are like vines that bear bitter and poisonous grapes,
33     like wine made from the venom of snakes.

34 “The Lord remembers what their enemies have done;
    he waits for the right time to punish them.
35 (D)The Lord will take revenge and punish them;
    the time will come when they will fall;
    the day of their doom is near.
36 (E)The Lord will rescue his people
    when he sees that their strength is gone.
He will have mercy on those who serve him,
    when he sees how helpless they are.
37 Then the Lord will ask his people,
    ‘Where are those mighty gods you trusted?
38 You fed them the fat of your sacrifices
    and offered them wine to drink.
Let them come and help you now;
    let them run to your rescue.

39 “‘I, and I alone, am God;
    no other god is real.
I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal,
    and no one can oppose what I do.
40 As surely as I am the living God,
    I raise my hand and I vow
41     that I will sharpen my flashing sword
    and see that justice is done.
I will take revenge on my enemies
    and punish those who hate me.
42 My arrows will drip with their blood,
    and my sword will kill all who oppose me.
I will spare no one who fights against me;
    even the wounded and prisoners will die.’

43 (F)“Nations, you must praise the Lord's people—
    he punishes all who kill them.
He takes revenge on his enemies
    and forgives the sins of his people.”

44 Moses and Joshua son of Nun recited this song, so that the people of Israel could hear it.

Moses' Final Instructions

45 When Moses had finished giving God's teachings to the people, 46 he said, “Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings. 47 These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.”

48 (G)That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 “Go to the Abarim Mountains in the land of Moab opposite the city of Jericho; climb Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan that I am about to give the people of Israel. 50 You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, 51 because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people. 52 You will look at the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land that I am giving the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:5 Probable text But you … people; Hebrew unclear.
  2. Deuteronomy 32:11 teaching its young to fly; or watching over its young.
  3. Deuteronomy 32:22 This refers to the world of the dead.

32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
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.

I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
    Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
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)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
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)

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)
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)
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)

44 Moses came with Joshua[g](DT) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,(DU) so that you may command(DV) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(DW) By them you will live long(DX) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,(DY) 49 “Go up into the Abarim(DZ) Range to Mount Nebo(EA) in Moab, across from Jericho,(EB) and view Canaan,(EC) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die(ED) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died(EE) on Mount Hor(EF) and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh(EG) in the Desert of Zin(EH) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.(EI) 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;(EJ) you will not enter(EK) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
  2. Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
  3. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
  4. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
  5. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
  6. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
  7. Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua