Deuteronomy 32
32
1Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall distil as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender grass,
And as the showers upon the herb.
3For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4The Rock, his work is perfect;
For all his ways are justice:
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.
5They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
6Do ye thus requite Jehovah,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he thy father that hath bought thee?
He hath made thee, and established thee.
7Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the children of men,
He set the bounds of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel.
9For Jehovah’s portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness;
He compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
11As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
He spread abroad his wings, he took them,
He bare them on his pinions.
12Jehovah alone did lead him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he did eat the increase of the field;
And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock;
14Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat;
And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:
Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;
Then he forsook God who made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16They moved him to jealousy with strange gods;
With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God,
To gods that they knew not,
To new gods that came up of late,
Which your fathers dreaded not.
18Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
19And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred them,
Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20And he said, I will hide my face from them,
I will see what their end shall be:
For they are a very perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faithfulness.
21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God;
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities:
And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And burneth unto the lowest Sheol,
And devoureth the earth with its increase,
And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23I will heap evils upon them;
I will spend mine arrows upon them:
24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat
And bitter destruction;
And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,
With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
25Without shall the sword bereave,
And in the chambers terror;
It shall destroy both young man and virgin,
The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
26I said, I would scatter them afar,
I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
27Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,
Lest their adversaries should judge amiss,
Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,
And Jehovah hath not done all this.
28For they are a nation void of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!
30How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their Rock had sold them,
And Jehovah had delivered them up?
31For their rock is not as our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves being judges.
32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
And of the fields of Gomorrah:
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter:
33Their wine is the poison of serpents,
And the cruel venom of asps.
34Is not this laid up in store with me,
Sealed up among my treasures?
35Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
At the time when their foot shall slide:
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
36For Jehovah will judge his people,
And repent himself for his servants;
When he seeth that their power is gone,
And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
37And he will say, Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge;
38Which did eat 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.
39See now that I, even I, am he,
And there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, As I live for ever,
41If I whet my glittering sword,
And my hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,
And will recompense them that hate me.
42I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
And my sword shall devour flesh;
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
43Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people:
For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
And will render vengeance to his adversaries,
And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
44And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun. 45And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel; 46and he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. 47For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.
48And Jehovah spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, 49Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession; 50and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: 51because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 52For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel.
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Deuteronomy 32: ASV
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Deuteronomy 32
32
1Earth and Sky,
listen to what I say!
2Israel, I will teach you.
My words will be like gentle rain
on tender young plants,
or like dew on the grass.
3Join with me in praising
the wonderful name
of the Lord our God.
4The Lord is a mighty rock,#32.4 mighty rock: The Hebrew text has “rock,” which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the Lord to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
and he never does wrong.
God can always be trusted
to bring justice.
5But you lie and cheat
and are unfaithful to him.
You have disgraced yourselves
and are no longer worthy
to be his children.#32.5 and are unfaithful … children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
6Israel, the Lord is your Father,
the one who created you,
but you repaid him
by being foolish.
7Think about past generations.
Ask your parents
or any of your elders.
They will tell you
8 #
Ac 17.26. that God Most High
gave land to every nation.
He assigned a guardian angel
to each of them,#32.8 He assigned … them: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “So there were as many nations as Israel (that is, Jacob) had children.”
9but the Lord himself
takes care of Israel.#32.9 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Jacob,” another name for Israel's ancestor.
10Israel, the Lord discovered you
in a barren desert
filled with howling winds.
God became your fortress,
protecting you as though
you were his own eyes.
11The Lord was like an eagle
teaching its young to fly,
always ready to swoop down
and catch them on its back.
12Israel, the Lord led you,
and without the aid
of a foreign god,
13he helped you
capture the land.
Your fields were rich
with grain.
Olive trees grew
in your stony soil,
and honey was found
among the rocks.
14Your flocks and herds
produced milk and yogurt,
and you got choice meat
from your sheep and goats
that grazed in Bashan.
Your wheat was the finest,
and you drank the best wine.
15Israel,#32.15 Israel: The Standard Hebrew Text has “Jeshurun,” a rare name for Israel related to a word meaning “honest.” The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation also use “Jacob,” another name for the ancestor of the nation of Israel. you grew fat and rebelled
against God, your Creator
you rejected the Mighty Rock,#32.15 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
your only place of safety.
16You made God jealous and angry
by worshiping disgusting idols
and foreign gods.
17 #
1 Co 10.20. You offered sacrifices
to demons, those useless gods#32.16,17 disgusting idols … foreign gods … demons … those useless gods: Different ways of referring to gods of other nations.
that never helped you,
new gods that your ancestors
never worshiped.
18You turned away
from God, your Creator;
you forgot the Mighty Rock,#32.18 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
the source of your life.
19You were the Lord's children,
but you made him angry.
Then he rejected you 20and said,
“You are unfaithful
and can't be trusted.
So I won't answer your prayers;
I'll just watch and see
what happens to you.
21 #
1 Co 10.22;
Ro 10.19. You worshiped worthless idols,
and made me jealous
and angry!
Now I will send a cruel#32.21 cruel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and worthless nation
to make you jealous and angry.
22“My people, I will breathe out fire
that sends you down
to the world of the dead.
It will scorch your farmlands
and burn deep down
under the mountains.
23I'll send disaster after disaster
to strike you like arrows.
24You'll be struck by starvation
and deadly diseases,
by the fangs of wild animals
and poisonous snakes.
25Young and old alike
will be killed in the streets
and terrified at home.
26“I wanted to scatter you,
so no one would remember
that you had ever lived.
27But I dreaded the sound
of your enemies saying,
‘We defeated Israel with no help
from the Lord.’ ”
28People of Israel,
that's what the Lord
has said to you.
But you don't have good sense,
and you never listen
to advice.
29If you did, you could see
where you are headed.
30How could one enemy soldier
chase a thousand
of Israel's troops?
Or how could two of theirs
pursue ten thousand of ours?
It can only happen if the Lord
stops protecting Israel
and lets the enemy win.
31Even our enemies know
that only our God
is a Mighty Rock.#32.31 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
32Our enemies are grapevines
rooted in the fields
of Sodom and Gomorrah.#32.32 Sodom and Gomorrah: Two cities that the Lord destroyed because their people were so evil (see Genesis 18.16—19.28).
The grapes they produce
are full of bitter poison;
33their wine is more deadly
than cobra venom.
34But the Lord has written
a list of their sins
and locked it in his vault.
35 #
Ro 12.19; He 10.30. Soon our enemies will get
what they deserve#32.35 our enemies … deserve: The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “I will pay them back.”—
suddenly they will slip,
and total disaster
will quickly follow.
36 #
Ps 135.14. When only a few
of the Lord's people remain,
when their strength is gone,
and some of them are slaves,
the Lord will feel sorry for them
and give them justice.
37But first the Lord will say,
“You ran for safety to other gods—
couldn't they help you?
38You offered them wine
and your best sacrifices.
Can't those gods help you now
or give you protection?
39Don't you understand?
I am the only God;
there are no others.
I am the one who takes life
and gives it again.
I punished you with suffering.
But now I will heal you,
and nothing can stop me!
40“I make this solemn promise:
Just as I live forever,
41I will take revenge
on my hateful enemies.
I will sharpen my sword
and let it flash
like lightning.
42My arrows will get drunk
on enemy blood;
my sword will taste the flesh
and the blood of the enemy.
It will kill prisoners,
and cut off the heads
of their leaders.”#32.42 leaders: Or “long-haired warriors,” who let their hair grow to show that they had made sacred promises to their gods.
43 #
Ro 15.10; Rev 19.2. Tell the heavens to celebrate
and all gods to bow down
to the Lord,#32.43 Tell … Lord: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “Let the nations, his people, celebrate.”
because he will take revenge
on those hateful enemies
who killed his people.
He will forgive the sins of Israel
and purify their land.#32.43 because he will … land: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
44-45Moses spoke the words of the song so that all the Israelites could hear, and Joshua#32.44,45 Joshua: The Hebrew text has “Hoshea,” another form of Joshua's name. helped him. When Moses had finished, 46he said, “Always remember this song I have taught you today. And let it be a warning that you must teach your children to obey everything written in The Book of God's Law. 47The Law isn't empty words. It can give you a long life in the land that you are going to take.”
Moses Will See the Land
48 #
Nu 27.12-14; Dt 3.23-27. Later that day the Lord said to Moses:
49Go up into the Abarim Mountain range here in Moab across the Jordan River valley from Jericho. And when you reach the top of Mount Nebo, you will be able to see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to Israel. 50Then you will die and be buried on the mountaintop, just as your brother Aaron died and was buried on Mount Hor. 51Both of you were unfaithful to me at Meribah Spring near Kadesh in the Zin Desert.#32.51 Both of you were unfaithful … the Zin Desert: See Numbers 20.1-13. I am God, but there in front of the Israelites, you did not treat me with the honor and respect I deserve. 52So I will give the land to the people of Israel, but you will only get to see it from a distance.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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