The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 32 -

(Revelation 15:1–4)

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the spot on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.(a)

Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?

Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.(b)

But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.

He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple (c) of His eye.

As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.(d)

The LORD alone led him, and no foreign god was with him.

He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,

with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.

But Jeshurun

(e)

grew fat and kicked— becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.

They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.

You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation— children of unfaithfulness.

They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people;(f) I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.(g)

For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them.

They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.

Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, terror will strike the young man and the young woman, the infant and the gray-haired man.

I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,

if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”

Israel is a nation devoid of counsel, with no understanding among them.

If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede.(h)

But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.

Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.

“Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?

Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.(i) In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

For the LORD will vindicate His people

(j)

and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!

See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,

when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh— the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. (k) Rejoice, O nations, with His people;(l) for He will avenge the blood of His children.(m) He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him;(n) He will cleanse His land and His people.

Then Moses came with Joshua

(o)

son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.

When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel,

he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

On that same day the LORD said to Moses,

“Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their own possession.

And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.

Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”

Footnotes

(a)32:5 Cited in Philippians 2:15

(b)32:8 DSS; LXX according to the number of the angels of God; MT according to the number of the sons of Israel

(d)32:11 Pinions are the outer parts of a bird’s wings, including the flight feathers.

(e)32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, a term of endearment for Israel.

(f)32:21 Or not a nation; see also LXX.

(g)32:21 Cited in Romans 10:19

(h)32:31 Hebrew; LXX but our enemies are void of understanding

(i)32:35 LXX; Hebrew Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; cited in Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30

(j)32:36 Or will judge His people; see also LXX; cited in Hebrews 10:30

(k)32:43 See DSS and LXX; MT lacks Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Cited in Hebrews 1:6

(l)32:43 Cited in Romans 15:10

(m)32:43 DSS and LXX; MT servants

(n)32:43 LXX and Vulgate; MT lacks and repay those who hate Him

(o)32:44 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua

(Revelation 15:1–4)

Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.

For I will proclaim the LORD’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God!

The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he.

They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation.

Is this the way you repay the LORD, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.

Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

When 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.

For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.

As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.

The LORD alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;

butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.

But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.

They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.

Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

The LORD saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol,(a) devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

“I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;

were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted; the LORD has not done all this.’”

For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had delivered them up?

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.

Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.

“Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”

For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.

He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

which ate 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.

“See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,

if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.

I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”

Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.(b)

Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.

He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

The LORD spoke to Moses that same day, saying,

“Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession.

Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people;

because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel.

For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.”

Footnotes

(a)32:22 Sheol is the place of the dead.

(b)32:43 For this verse, LXX reads: Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice you 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.