Deuteronomy 32
1 Give ear O ye heavens and I will speak, And let the earth hear the sayings of my mouth:
Give ear, you heavens, and let me speak. Let the earth listen to the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching drop as the rain, Let my speech distil as the dew, —As copious rains on tender grass, As myriad drops on seeding plants.
Let my teaching drop down like the rain, let my speech distill like the dew, like the gentle rain on the tender grass, and like the showers on the plants.
3 When, the name of Yahweh, I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness unto our God: —
For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh, and ascribe greatness to our God.
4 A Rock! faultless his work, For, all his ways, are just, A GOD of faithfulness and without perversity, Right and fair, is he!
The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his paths are just. He is the faithful God, without iniquity. He is just and upright.
5 They have broken faith with him to be no sons of his—their fault, —A generation twisted and crooked.
They have acted corruptly against him. They are not his children. It is their disgrace. They are a perverted and crooked generation.
6 Is it Yahweh, ye thus requite, O impious people and unwise? Is not, he, thy father who begat thee? He, that made thee and established thee?
Do you reward Yahweh in this way, you foolish and senseless people? Is he not your father, the one who has created you? He made you and established you.
7 Remember the days of age-past times, Remark the years of many generations, —Ask thy father and he will tell thee, Thine elders and they will say to thee: —
Call to mind the days of ancient times, think about the years of many ages past. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave inheritances unto the nations, When he spread abroad the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peoples, According to the number of the sons of Israel.
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance— when he divided all of mankind, and he set the boundaries of the peoples, as he also fixed the number of their gods.
9 For, Yahweh’s portion is his people, —Jacob, his inherited possession.
For Yahweh's portion is his people; Jacob is his apportioned inheritance.
10 He met him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness, —He encompassed him watched over him, Shielded him as the pupil of his own eye.
He found him in a desert land, and in the barren and howling wilderness; he shielded him and cared for him, he guarded him as the apple of his eye.
11 As, an eagle, stirreth up his nest, Over his young ones, fluttereth, Spreadeth abroad his wings, taketh one, Beareth it up on his pinions,
As an eagle that guards her nest and flutters over her young, Yahweh spread out his wings and took them, and carried them on his pinions.
12 Yahweh alone did lead him, —And there was with him no GOD of a stranger.
Yahweh alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the land, Caused him to eat the increase of the fields, —And gave him to suck honey out of the cliff, And oil out of the rock of flint:
He made him ride on high places of the land, and he fed him the fruits of the field; he nourished him with honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty crag.
14 Curds of kine and milk of sheep, —With fat of well-fed lambs, Yea rams bred in Bashan, and he-goats, With the white of the kernels of wheat, —And, the blood of the grape, thou didst drink as it foamed.
He ate butter from the herd and drank milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the juice of grapes.
15 Then Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou wast fat, Thou wast thick, Thou wast gorged, So he forsook the GOD who made him, And treated as foolish his Rock of salvation.
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked— you grew fat, you were too fat, and you had eaten your fill— he abandoned the God who made him, and he rejected the Rock of his salvation.
16 They moved him to jealousy with foreign [gods], —With abominations, angered they him:
They made Yahweh jealous by their strange gods; with their abominations they angered him.
17 They sacrificed to mischievous demons to a No-GOD, Gods whom they knew not, —New ones lately come in, Your fathers never shuddered at them!
They sacrificed to demons, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.
18 Of the Rock who had begotten thee, thou wast unmindful, —And didst forget GOD who had given thee birth.
You have deserted the Rock, who became your father, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 When Yahweh saw, he derided, —Because his sons and his daughters gave provocation.
Yahweh saw this and he rejected them, because his sons and his daughters provoked him so.
20 So he said: —I will hide my face from them, I will see what will be their hereafter, —For a generation given to intrigue, they are, Sons, whom there is no trusting;
“I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and I will see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with a No-GOD, They have angered me with their vanities: I, therefore, will move them to jealousy with a No-people, With an impious nation, will I anger them.
They have made me jealous by what is not god and angered me by their worthless things. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; by a foolish nation I will make them angry.
22 For, a fire, is kindled in mine anger, And shall burn as far as hades beneath, —And consume the earth with her produce, And set ablaze the foundations of the mountains: (Sheol h7585)
For a fire is kindled by my anger and is burning to the lowest Sheol; it is devouring the earth and its harvest; it is setting on fire the foundations of the mountains. (Sheol h7585)
23 I will heap on them, calamities, —Mine arrows, will I spend upon them:
I will heap disasters on them; I will shoot all my arrows at them;
24 The meltings of hunger, The devourings of fever, And the dangerous pestilence, —And, the tooth of beasts, will I send among them, With the poison of crawlers of the dust:
They will be wasted by hunger and devoured by burning heat and bitter destruction; I will send on them the teeth of wild animals, with the poison of things that crawl in the dust.
25 Without, shall the sword bereave, In the inmost recesses, terror, —To both young man and virgin, Suckling, with man of grey hairs.
Outside the sword will bereave, and in the bedrooms terror will do so. It will destroy both young man and virgin, the nursing baby, and the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would puff them away, I would destroy from mortals, their memory;
I said that I would scatter them far away, that I would make the memory of them to cease from among mankind.
27 Were it not that the taunt of the foe, I feared, Lest their adversaries should mistake, —Lest they should say—Our own hand, is exalted, It is not Yahweh, therefore who hath wrought all this!
Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, and that their enemies would judge mistakenly, and that they would say, 'Our hand is exalted,' I would have done all this.
28 For a nation of vanished sagacity, they are, —And there is in them no understanding.
For Israel is a nation devoid of wisdom, and there is no understanding in them.
29 If they had been wise, they would have understood this, —They would have given heed to their here-after!
Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their coming fate!
30 Oh! how would one, have chased, a thousand! And, two, put, ten thousand to flight, —Were it not that their Rock had sold them, And, Yahweh, had abandoned them;
How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had given them up?
31 For, not like our Rock, is their rock, Our enemies themselves, being judges;
For our enemies' rock is not like our Rock, just as even our enemies admit.
32 For of the vine of Sodom, is their vine, And of the vineyards of Gomorrah, —Their grapes, are grapes of gall, Clusters of bitter things, are theirs:
For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; their clusters are bitter.
33 The poison of large serpents, is their wine, —Yea the fierce venom of asps.
Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is not, that, stored up with me, —Sealed up amongst my treasures;
Is not this plan secretly kept by me, sealed up among my treasures?
35 Unto the days of vengeance and requital: Unto the time their foot shall totter? For, near, is the day of their fate, And their destiny speedeth on.
Vengeance is mine to give, and recompense, at the time when their foot slips; for the day of disaster for them is near, and the things that are to come on them will hurry to happen.”
36 For Yahweh will vindicate his people, And upon his servants, will have compassion, —When he seeth that strength is exhausted, And there is no one shut up or at large,
For Yahweh will give justice to his people, and he will pity his servants. He will see that their power is gone, and no one remains, either slaves or free people.
37 Then will he say, Where are their gods, The rock in whom they have trusted;
Then he will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in whom they took refuge?—
38 Who used to eat the fat of their sacrifices, To drink the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be over you for a coveting!
The gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection.
39 See, now, that, I, I, am, he that is, And there are no gods with me, —I, kill—and make alive, I wound and, I, heal, And there is none who, from my hand, can deliver,
See now that I, even I, am God, and that there is no god besides me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal, and there is no one who can save you from my might.
40 For I lift up unto the heavens my hand, —And say, Living am, I, unto times age-abiding:
For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, 'As I live forever, I will act.
41 If I whet my flashing sword, And my hand take hold on justice, I will return vengeance unto mine adversaries, And them who hate me, will I requite:
When I sharpen my glittering sword, and when my hand begins to bring justice, I will render vengeance on my enemies, and I will pay back those who hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, And, my sword, shall devour flesh, —With the blood of the slain and the captive, With the flesh of the chief leader of the foe.
I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh with the blood of the killed and the captives, and from the heads of the leaders of the enemy.'”
43 Shout for joy O ye nations [with] his people, For the blood of his servants, he avengeth, —And, vengeance, he returneth unto his adversaries, And is propitious unto the soil of his people.
Rejoice, you nations, with God's people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will render vengeance on his enemies, and he will make atonement for his land, for his people.
44 So Moses came in and spake all the words of this Song in the hearing of the people, —he and Hoshea son of Nun.
Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Joshua son of Nun.
45 And, when Moses made an end of speaking all these words unto all Israel,
Then Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.
46 he said unto them—Apply your hearts unto all the words which I am witnessing against you, to-day, —how that ye must command your sons to observe to do all the words of this law;
He said to them, “Fix your mind on all the words that I have witnessed to you today, so that you may command your children to keep them, all the words of this law.
47 for it is not, too small a thing, for you, for, it, is your life, —and, hereby, shall ye prolong your days upon the soil whereunto ye are, passing over the Jordan to possess it.
For this is no trivial matter for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you will prolong your days in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
48 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, on this selfsame day, saying:
Yahweh spoke to Moses on that same day and said,
49 Get thee up into this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is over against Jericho—and behold the land of Canaan which I am giving unto the sons of Israel, for a possession;
“Go up into this range of the mountains of Abarim, up Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho. You will look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel as their possession.
50 and die thou in the mount whither thou art going up, and be withdrawn unto thy kinsfolk, —as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was withdrawn unto his kinsfolk;
You will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your fellow Israelite died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
51 for that ye acted unfaithfully against me in the midst of the sons of Israel, regarding the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the desert of Zin, —for that ye hallowed me not in the midst of the sons of Israel.
This will happen because you were unfaithful to me among the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you did not treat me with honor and respect among the people of Israel.
52 Yet, over against thee, shalt thou behold the land, —but thereinto, shalt thou not enter, into the land which I am giving unto the sons of Israel.
For you will see the land before you, but you will not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
