< Deuteronomy 32 >

1 Give ear O ye heavens and I will speak, And let the earth hear the sayings of my mouth:
Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words out 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 speech be looked for as the rain, and my words come down as dew, as the shower upon the herbage, and as snow upon the grass.
3 When, the name of Yahweh, I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness unto our God: —
For I have called on the name of the Lord: assign ye 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!
[As for God], his works [are] true, and all his ways [are] judgment: God [is] faithful, and there is no unrighteousness [in him]; just and holy [is] the Lord.
5 They have broken faith with him to be no sons of his—their fault, —A generation twisted and crooked.
They have sinned, not [pleasing] him; spotted children, a froward 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?
Do ye thus recompense the Lord? [is the] people thus foolish and unwise? did not he himself thy father purchase thee, and make thee, and form thee?
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 old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee.
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 set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
9 For, Yahweh’s portion is his people, —Jacob, his inherited possession.
And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line 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 maintained him in the wilderness, in burning thirst and a dry land: he led him about and instructed him, and kept him as the apple of an 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 would watch over his brood, and yearns over his young, receives them having spread his wings, and takes them up on his back:
12 Yahweh alone did lead him, —And there was with him no GOD of a stranger.
the Lord alone led them, there was no strange god with them.
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 brought them up on the strength of the land; he fed them with the fruits of the fields; they sucked honey out of the rock, and oil out of the solid rock.
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 of cows, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams, of calves and kids, with fat of kidneys of wheat; and he drank wine, the 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.
So Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked; he grew fat, he became thick and broad: then he forsook the God that made him, and departed from God his Saviour.
16 They moved him to jealousy with foreign [gods], —With abominations, angered they him:
They provoked me to anger with strange gods; with their abominations they bitterly angered me.
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 devils, and not to God; to gods whom they knew not: new and fresh [gods] came in, whom their fathers knew not.
18 Of the Rock who had begotten thee, thou wast unmindful, —And didst forget GOD who had given thee birth.
Thou hast forsaken God that begot thee, and forgotten God who feeds thee.
19 When Yahweh saw, he derided, —Because his sons and his daughters gave provocation.
And the Lord saw, and was jealous; and was provoked by the anger of his sons and daughters,
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 said, I will turn away my face from them, and will show what shall happen to them in the last days; for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faith.
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 to jealousy with [that which is] not God, they have exasperated me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with them that are no nation, I will anger them with a nation void of understanding.
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 has been kindled out of my wrath, it shall burn to hell below; it shall devour the land, and the fruits of it; it shall set 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 gather evils upon them, and will fight with my weapons against 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 shall be] consumed with hunger and the devouring of birds, and there shall be irremediable destruction: I will send forth against them the teeth of wild beasts, with the rage of [serpents] creeping on the ground.
25 Without, shall the sword bereave, In the inmost recesses, terror, —To both young man and virgin, Suckling, with man of grey hairs.
Without, the sword shall bereave them of children, and terror [shall issue] out of the secret chambers; the young man shall perish with the virgin, the suckling with him who has grown old.
26 I said, I would puff them away, I would destroy from mortals, their memory;
I said, I will scatter them, and I will cause their memorial 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!
Were it not for the wrath of the enemy, lest they should live long, lest their enemies should combine against them; lest they should say, Our own high arm, 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.
It is a nation that has lost counsel, neither is there understanding in them.
29 If they had been wise, they would have understood this, —They would have given heed to their here-after!
They had not sense to understand: let them reserve these things against the time to come.
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 should one pursue a thousand, and two rout tens of thousands, if God had not sold them, and the Lord delivered them up?
31 For, not like our Rock, is their rock, Our enemies themselves, being judges;
For their gods are not as our God, but our enemies [are] void of understanding.
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 [is] of the vine of Sodom, and their vine-branch of Gomorrha: their grape [is] a grape of gall, their cluster [is] one of bitterness.
33 The poison of large serpents, is their wine, —Yea the fierce venom of asps.
Their wine [is] the rage of serpents, and the incurable rage of asps.
34 Is not, that, stored up with me, —Sealed up amongst my treasures;
Lo! are not these things stored up by me, and sealed 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.
In the day of vengeance I will recompense, whensoever their foot shall be tripped up; for the day of their destruction [is] near to them, and the judgments at hand are close upon you.
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 the Lord shall judge his people, and shall be comforted over his servants; for he saw that they were utterly weakened, and failed in the hostile invasion, and were become feeble:
37 Then will he say, Where are their gods, The rock in whom they have trusted;
and the Lord said, Where are their gods on whom they trusted?
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 fat of whose sacrifices ye ate, and ye drank the wine of their drink-offerings? let them arise and help you, and be your protectors.
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,
Behold, behold that I am [he], and there is no god beside me: I kill, and I will make to live: I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of my hands.
40 For I lift up unto the heavens my hand, —And say, Living am, I, unto times age-abiding:
For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand, and I will say, I live for ever.
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:
For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to my enemies, and will recompense them that 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 weapons drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, [it shall glut itself] with the blood of the wounded, and from the captivity of the heads of [their] enemies that rule over them.
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, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge 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.
And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the [son] of Naue.
45 And, when Moses made an end of speaking all these words unto all Israel,
And Moses finished speaking 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;
And he said to them, Take heed with your heart to all these words, which I testify to you this day, which ye shall command your sons, to observe and do 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 vain word to you; for it [is] your life, and because of this word ye shall live long upon the land, into which ye go over Jordan to inherit it.
48 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, on this selfsame day, saying:
And the Lord spoke to Moses in this 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;
Go up to the mount Abarim, this mountain Nabau which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho, and behold the land of Chanaan, which I give to the sons of Israel:
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;
and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be added to thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Or, and was added 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.
Because ye disobeyed my word among the children of Israel, at the waters of strife of Cades in the wilderness of Sin; because ye sanctified me not 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.
Thou shalt see the land before [thee], but thou shalt not enter into it.

< Deuteronomy 32 >