Deuteronomy 32
1 Give ear O ye heavens and I will speak, And let the earth hear the sayings of my mouth:
“Listen, O heavens, to what I am saying. Let the earth hear 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 doctrine accumulate like the rain. Let my eloquence form like the dew, like a mist upon the plants, and like water droplets upon the grass.
3 When, the name of Yahweh, I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness unto our God: —
For I will invoke the name of the Lord. Acknowledge the magnificence of 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 works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments. God is faithful and without any 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 sinned against him, and in their filth they are not his sons. They are a depraved and perverse 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?
How can this be the return you would offer to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is he himself not your Father, who has possessed you, and made you, and created 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: —
Remember the days of antiquity. Consider each generation. Question your father, and he will declare it to you. Question your elders, and they will tell it to 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 divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the limits of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For, Yahweh’s portion is his people, —Jacob, his inherited possession.
But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob, the lot of his 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 discovered him in a desert land, in a place of horror and a vast wilderness. He led him around and taught him, and he guarded him like the pupil 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,
just as an eagle encourages its young to fly, and, flying above them, stretches out its wings, and takes them up, and carries them on its shoulders.
12 Yahweh alone did lead him, —And there was with him no GOD of a stranger.
The Lord alone was his leader, and there was no strange god 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 stood him upon an exalted land, so that he might eat the fruits of the fields, so that he might eat honey from the rock, and oil from the hardest stone,
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.
butter from the herd, and milk from the sheep, with fat from the lambs, and with rams and goats from the sons of Bashan, with the kernel of the wheat, and so that he might drink the undiluted blood of the grape.
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.
The beloved grew fat, and he kicked. Having grown fat and thick and wide, he abandoned God, his Maker, and he withdrew from God, his Savior.
16 They moved him to jealousy with foreign [gods], —With abominations, angered they him:
They provoked him with strange gods, and they stirred him to anger by their abominations.
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 immolated to demons and not to God, to gods whom they did not know, who were new and recent arrivals, whom their fathers did not worship.
18 Of the Rock who had begotten thee, thou wast unmindful, —And didst forget GOD who had given thee birth.
You have forsaken the God who conceived you, and you have forgotten the Lord who created you.
19 When Yahweh saw, he derided, —Because his sons and his daughters gave provocation.
The Lord saw, and he was stirred to anger. For his own sons and daughters provoked him.
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;
And he said: ‘I will hide my face from them, and I will consider their very end. For this is a perverse generation, and they are unfaithful sons.
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 provoked me with that which was not God, and they have angered me with their emptiness. And so, I will provoke them with that which is not a people, and I will anger them with a foolish nation.
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)
A fire has been kindled in my fury, and it will burn even to the deepest Hell, and it will devour the earth with its produce, and it will burn the foundations of the mountains. (Sheol h7585)
23 I will heap on them, calamities, —Mine arrows, will I spend upon them:
I will heap evils upon them, and I will expend my arrows among 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 consumed by famine, and birds with a very bitter bite will devour them. I will send forth the teeth of wild beasts among them, along with the fury of creatures that scurry across the ground, and of serpents.
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 devastate them; and inside, there will be dread, as much for the young man as for the maiden, and as much for the newborn as for the old man.
26 I said, I would puff them away, I would destroy from mortals, their memory;
I said: Where are they? I will cause their memory to cease from among men.
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!
But because of the wrath of the enemies, I have delayed it. Otherwise, perhaps their enemies would be arrogant and would say: “Our exalted hand, and not the Lord, has done all these things.”
28 For a nation of vanished sagacity, they are, —And there is in them no understanding.
They are a nation without counsel and without prudence.
29 If they had been wise, they would have understood this, —They would have given heed to their here-after!
I wish that they would be wise and understanding, and would provide for the very end.’
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 is it that one pursues a thousand, and two chases ten thousand? Is it not because their God has sold them, and because the Lord has enclosed them?
31 For, not like our Rock, is their rock, Our enemies themselves, being judges;
For our God is not like their gods. And our enemies are judges.
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:
Their vines are of the vines of Sodom, but from the suburbs of Gomorrah. Their grapes are the grapes of gall, and their grape clusters are most bitter.
33 The poison of large serpents, is their wine, —Yea the fierce venom of asps.
Their wine is the gall of snakes, and it is the incurable venom of asps.
34 Is not, that, stored up with me, —Sealed up amongst my treasures;
‘Have not these things been stored up with me, and sealed up amid 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, and I will repay them in due time, so that their foot may slip and fall. The day of perdition is near, and the time rushes to appear.’
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,
The Lord will judge his people, and he will take pity on his servants. He will see that their hand has been weakened, and that those who have been enclosed have likewise failed, and that those who have been left behind have been consumed.
37 Then will he say, Where are their gods, The rock in whom they have trusted;
And he shall say: ‘Where are their gods, in whom they had confidence?
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!
They ate the fat of their victims, and they drank the wine of their libations. So let these rise up, and bring relief to you, and protect you in your distress.
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 that I am alone, and there is no other god beside me. I will kill, and I will cause to live. I will strike, and I will heal. And there is no one who is able to rescue from my hand.
40 For I lift up unto the heavens my hand, —And say, Living am, I, unto times age-abiding:
I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say: I live in eternity.
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 sword like lightning, and my hand takes hold of judgment, then I will render vengeance to my enemies, and I will repay 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 inebriate my arrows with blood, and my sword will devour flesh: from the blood of the slain and from the captive, from the exposed head of the enemies.’
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.
You nations, praise his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. And he will distribute vengeance to their enemies. And he will be merciful to the land of 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.
Therefore, Moses went and spoke all the words of this canticle to the ears of the people, both he and Joshua, the son of Nun.
45 And, when Moses made an end of speaking all these words unto all Israel,
And he completed all these words, speaking to all of 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;
And he said to them: “Set your hearts upon all the words which I am testifying to you this day. So shall you command your sons, to keep, and to do, and to fulfill all the things that have been written in 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 these things have not been entrusted to you to no purpose, but so that each one would live by them, and so that, in doing these, you may continue for a long time in the land, which you will enter upon crossing the Jordan in order to possess it.”
48 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, on this selfsame day, saying:
And the Lord spoke to Moses on the same day, saying:
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;
“Ascend this mountain, Abarim, (that is, of crossings) onto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and look upon the land of Canaan, which I will deliver to the sons of Israel to obtain it. And you shall die upon the mountain.
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;
After climbing it, you will be joined to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, and was placed with 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.
For you trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel, at the Waters of Contradiction, in Kadesh, in the desert of Sin. And you did not sanctify me among the sons 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.
You shall see the land opposite you, which I will give to the sons of Israel, but you shall not enter into it.”
