Deuteronomy 33
1 And this [is] the blessing [with] which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death,
Before God’s prophet Moses died, he [asked God to] bless the Israeli people.
2 and he saith: — 'Jehovah from Sinai hath come, And hath risen from Seir for them; He hath shone from mount Paran, And hath come [with] myriads of holy ones; At His right hand [are] springs for them.
This is what he said: “Yahweh came [and spoke] to us at Sinai [Mountain]; he [came like] [MET] the sun rises in the Edom [region] and like his light shone on us when we were [in the desert] near Paran Mountain [after we left Sinai Mountain]. He came with 10,000 angels, and there was a flaming fire at his right side.
3 Also He [is] loving the peoples; All His holy ones [are] in thy hand, And they — they sat down at thy foot, [Each] He lifteth up at thy words.
Yahweh truly loves his people, and protects [MTY] all those who belong to him. So they prostrate themselves in front of him, and they listen to his instructions.
4 A law hath Moses commanded us, A possession of the assembly of Jacob.
I gave them laws to obey, laws that would be the most precious thing that [the descendants of] Jacob owned.
5 And he is in Jeshurun king, In the heads of the people gathering together, The tribes of Israel!
So Yahweh became the king of his Israeli people when all the tribes and their leaders were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die, And let his men be a number.
[I say this about the tribe of] Reuben: I desire/hope that their tribe will never disappear, but they will never become numerous.
7 And this [is] for Judah; and he saith: — Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And unto his people do Thou bring him in; His hand hath striven for him, And an help from his adversaries art Thou.
“say this about [the tribe of] Judah: Yahweh, listen to them when they call out [for help]; and unite them with the other tribes again. Fight for them, and help them to fight against their enemies.
8 And of Levi he said: — Thy Thummim and thy Urim [are] for thy pious one, Whom Thou hast tried in Massah, Thou dost strive with Him at the waters of Meribah;
I say this about [the tribe of] Levi: Yahweh, give to those who are dedicated to you the sacred stones [that they will use to find out what you want to be done]; You tested them at a spring in the desert, a spring that they named Massah and also named Meribah [to find out if they would (remain loyal to/continue to obey) you].
9 Who is saying of his father and his mother, I have not seen him; And his brethren he hath not discerned, And his sons he hath not known; For they have observed Thy saying, And Thy covenant they keep.
The tribe of Levi did what you told them to do and obeyed the agreement that you [made with the Israeli people]; those laws were more important to them [HYP] than their siblings and parents and children.
10 They teach Thy judgments to Jacob, And Thy law to Israel; They put perfume in Thy nose, And whole burnt-offering on Thine altar.
The tribe of Levi will teach the Israeli people [DOU] your rules and regulations, and they are the ones who will burn incense and who will completely burn on the altar the offerings [that the people bring].
11 Bless, O Jehovah, his strength, And the work of his hands Thou acceptest, Smite the loins of his withstanders, And of those hating him — that they rise not!
Yahweh, bless their work and (accept/be pleased with) all that they do. Crush/Destroy all their enemies; do not enable their enemies to be able to fight against them again.
12 Of Benjamin he said: — The beloved of Jehovah doth tabernacle confidently by him, Covering him over all the day; Yea, between his shoulders He doth tabernacle.
I say this about [the tribe of] Benjamin: They are the tribe that Yahweh loves; he keeps them safe. He protects them continually, and he lives among their hills [MET].
13 And of Joseph he said: — Blessed of Jehovah [is] his land, By precious things of the heavens, By dew, and by the deep crouching beneath,
“say this about [the tribes of] Joseph: I desire/hope that Yahweh will bless their land by giving them rain/dew from the sky and water from deep [in the ground],
14 And by precious things — fruits of the sun, And by precious things — cast forth by the moons,
by giving them good fruit [ripened] by the sun and good crops at harvest time.
15 And by chief things — of the ancient mountains, And by precious things — of the age-during heights,
I desire/hope that very nice fruit will grow on trees in their ancient mountains/hills [DOU],
16 And by precious things — of earth and its fulness, And the good pleasure Of Him who is dwelling in the bush, — Let it come for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of him Who is separate from his brethren.
and that their land will be have many good crops, blessed by [Yahweh], the one who appeared to me in a burning bush. I desire/hope that Yahweh will bless the tribes of Joseph in all those ways, because he was the leaders of his [older] brothers [when they were in Egypt].
17 His honour [is] a firstling of his ox, And his horns [are] horns of a reem; By them peoples he doth push together To the ends of earth; And they [are] the myriads of Ephraim, And they [are] the thousands of Manasseh.
The descendants of Joseph will be as strong as [SIM] a bull; [with their weapons they will wound their enemies, like] [MET] a wild ox [gores other animals] with its horns. They will force other people-groups, all of them, to be exiled to the most distant places on the earth. That is what [the descendants of the two sons of Joseph] will do, the ten thousands [of the tribe] of Ephraim and the thousands [of the tribe] of Manasseh.
18 And of Zebulun he said: — Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy going out, And, O Issachar, in thy tents;
“say this about [the tribes of] Zebulun [and Issachar]: I desire/hope that the people of Zebulun will prosper in their travels [across the seas], and that the people of Issachar will prosper while they stay at home [and take care of their cattle and crops].
19 Peoples [to] the mountain they call, There they sacrifice righteous sacrifices; For the abundance of the seas they suck, And hidden things hidden in the sand.
They will invite people [from the other Israeli tribes] to the mountain [where they worship Yahweh], and they will offer the correct/proper sacrifices to him. They will become rich from [the work that they do on] the seas and from [the things that they make from] (OR, [find in]) the sand [on the beaches].
20 And of Gad he said: — Blessed of the Enlarger [is] Gad, As a lioness he doth tabernacle, And hath torn the arm — also the crown!
“say this about [the tribe of] Gad: Praise [Yahweh], the one who made their [territory] large. The people of their tribe [will attack their enemies fiercely] [SIM] like a lion that crouches, waiting to tear off the arm or the scalp [of some animal].
21 And he provideth the first part for himself, For there the portion of the lawgiver is covered, And he cometh [with] the heads of the people; The righteousness of Jehovah he hath done, And His judgments with Israel.
They chose the best part of the land for themselves; [a large share of the land], a share that should be given to a leader was allotted to them. When the leaders of the tribes of Israel [gathered together], they decided that the tribe of Gad should have a large share of the land. The tribe of Gad obeyed the commands of Yahweh and the things that he decided that they should do.
22 And of Dan he said: — Dan [is] a lion's whelp; he doth leap from Bashan.
“say this about [the tribe] of Dan: The people of the tribe of Dan are like [SIM] a young lion; they leap from [their caves in the] Bashan [region to attack their enemies].
23 And of Naphtali he said: — O Naphtali, satisfied with pleasure, And full of the blessing of Jehovah, West and south possess thou.
“say this about [the tribe of] Naphtali: [The people of the tribe of] Naphtali have been blessed by Yahweh, who has been very kind to them; their land extends far south from Lake [Galilee].
24 And of Asher he said: — Blessed with sons [is] Asher, Let him be accepted by his brethren, And dipping in oil his foot.
“say this about [the tribe of] Asher: May Yahweh bless the descendants of Asher more than he will bless the other tribes. May he favor Asher’s descendants most of all. I desire/hope that their land will [be filled with olive trees that will] produce a lot of [IDM] [olives to make olive] oil.
25 Iron and brass [are] thy shoes, And as thy days — thy strength.
Their [towns will be protected by high walls with gates that have] bronze and iron bars; I desire/hope that they will be strong and secure/protected all the time that they are alive.
26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Riding the heavens in thy help, And in His excellency the skies.
“You people of Israel, there is no god like your God, who rides majestically across the sky to help you.
27 A habitation [is] the eternal God, And beneath [are] arms age-during. And He casteth out from thy presence the enemy, and saith, 'Destroy!'
God, who lives forever, is the one who (gives you refuge/protects you); [it is as though] he puts his everlasting arms under you [to support you]. He will expel your enemies while you advance; he has told you to destroy all of them.
28 And Israel doth tabernacle [in] confidence alone; The eye of Jacob [is] unto a land of corn and wine; Also His heavens drop down dew.
So, you Israeli people will live safely; you descendants of Jacob will not be disturbed by others; in the land where [you will live], there will be plenty of grain and wine, and there will be plenty of rain.
29 O thy happiness, O Israel! who is like thee? A people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And He who [is] the sword of thine excellency: And thine enemies are subdued for thee, And thou on their high places dost tread.'
You people of Israel, Yahweh (has blessed/is pleased with) you. There is certainly [RHQ] no nation like your nation, whom Yahweh has rescued [from being slaves in Egypt]. [He will be like] [MET] a shield to protect you and like [MET] a sword to enable you to defeat [your enemies]. Your enemies will come to you begging for you [to act mercifully toward them], but you will trample on their backs/necks.”
