Blessings for Obedience

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow(A) all his commands(B) I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.(C) All these blessings will come on you(D) and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed(E) in the city and blessed in the country.(F)

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.(G)

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.(H)

The Lord will grant that the enemies(I) who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.(J)

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless(K) you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people,(L) as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands(M) of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name(N) of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock(O) and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.(P)

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse(Q) of his bounty,(R) to send rain(S) on your land in season and to bless(T) all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.(U) 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow(V) them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.(W) 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left,(X) following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obey(Y) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,(Z) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:(AA)

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.(AB)

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.(AC)

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.(AD)

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.(AE)

20 The Lord will send on you curses,(AF) confusion and rebuke(AG) in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin(AH) because of the evil(AI) you have done in forsaking him.[a] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.(AJ) 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,(AK) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,(AL) with blight(AM) and mildew, which will plague(AN) you until you perish.(AO) 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.(AP) 24 The Lord will turn the rain(AQ) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated(AR) before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,(AS) and you will become a thing of horror(AT) to all the kingdoms on earth.(AU) 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds(AV) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(AW) 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt(AX) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope(AY) about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue(AZ) you.

30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.(BA) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.(BB) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.(BC) 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,(BD) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression(BE) all your days.(BF) 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.(BG) 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils(BH) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.(BI)

36 The Lord will drive you and the king(BJ) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.(BK) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.(BL) 37 You will become a thing of horror,(BM) a byword(BN) and an object of ridicule(BO) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(BP)

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,(BQ) because locusts(BR) will devour(BS) it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine(BT) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat(BU) them.(BV) 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.(BW) 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.(BX) 42 Swarms of locusts(BY) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.(BZ) 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.(CA) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.(CB)

45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you(CC) until you are destroyed,(CD) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.(CE) 47 Because you did not serve(CF) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly(CG) in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst,(CH) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke(CI) on your neck(CJ) until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you(CK) from far away, from the ends of the earth,(CL) like an eagle(CM) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,(CN) 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old(CO) or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine(CP) or olive oil,(CQ) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.(CR) 52 They will lay siege(CS) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.(CT)

53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.(CU) 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.(CV) 56 The most gentle and sensitive(CW) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter(CX) 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them(CY) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,(CZ) which are written in this book, and do not revere(DA) this glorious and awesome name(DB)—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt(DC) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,(DD) until you are destroyed.(DE) 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky(DF) will be left but few(DG) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased(DH) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please(DI) him to ruin and destroy you.(DJ) You will be uprooted(DK) from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatter(DL) you among all nations,(DM) from one end of the earth to the other.(DN) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.(DO) 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place(DP) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes(DQ) weary with longing, and a despairing heart.(DR) 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.(DS) 68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.(DT) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

Renewal of the Covenant

29 [b]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,(DU) in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.(DV)

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.(DW) With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.(DX) But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.(DY) Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led(DZ) you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.(EA) You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.(EB) I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”(EC)

When you reached this place, Sihon(ED) king of Heshbon(EE) and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.(EF) We took their land and gave it as an inheritance(EG) to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.(EH)

Carefully follow(EI) the terms of this covenant,(EJ) so that you may prosper in everything you do.(EK) 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.(EL) 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people,(EM) that he may be your God(EN) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant,(EO) with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.(EP)

16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. 17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.(EQ) 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns(ER) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.(ES)

19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing(ET) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”(EU) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive(EV) them; his wrath and zeal(EW) will burn(EX) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot(EY) out their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,(EZ) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.(FA)

22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.(FB) 23 The whole land will be a burning waste(FC) of salt(FD) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,(FE) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.(FF) 24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?(FG) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.(FH) 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.(FI) 28 In furious anger and in great wrath(FJ) the Lord uprooted(FK) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God,(FL) but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.(FM)

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses(FN) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,(FO) and when you and your children return(FP) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart(FQ) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[c](FR) and have compassion(FS) on you and gather(FT) you again from all the nations where he scattered(FU) you.(FV) Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,(FW) from there the Lord your God will gather(FX) you and bring you back.(FY) He will bring(FZ) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous(GA) than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,(GB) so that you may love(GC) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses(GD) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.(GE) You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.(GF) The Lord will again delight(GG) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law(GH) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.(GI)

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.(GJ) 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven(GK) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”(GL) 13 Nor is it beyond the sea,(GM) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”(GN) 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.(GO)

15 See, I set before you today life(GP) and prosperity,(GQ) death(GR) and destruction.(GS) 16 For I command you today to love(GT) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live(GU) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.(GV) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you(GW) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.(GX) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love(GY) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,(GZ) and he will give(HA) you many years in the land(HB) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old(HC) and I am no longer able to lead you.(HD) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’(HE) The Lord your God himself will cross(HF) over ahead of you.(HG) He will destroy these nations(HH) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross(HI) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,(HJ) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver(HK) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous.(HL) Do not be afraid or terrified(HM) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;(HN) he will never leave you(HO) nor forsake(HP) you.”

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said(HQ) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,(HR) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;(HS) he will never leave you nor forsake you.(HT) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

So Moses wrote(HU) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried(HV) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,(HW) during the Festival of Tabernacles,(HX) 11 when all Israel comes to appear(HY) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,(HZ) you shall read this law(IA) before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn(IB) to fear(IC) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children,(ID) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death(IE) is near. Call Joshua(IF) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.(IG)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.(IH)

15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.(II) 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,(IJ) and these people will soon prostitute(IK) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake(IL) me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry(IM) with them and forsake(IN) them; I will hide(IO) my face(IP) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(IQ) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(IR) 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

19 “Now write(IS) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(IT) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(IU) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(IV) and worship them,(IW) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(IX) 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,(IY) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,(IZ) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wrote(JA) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

23 The Lord gave this command(JB) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,(JC) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

24 After Moses finished writing(JD) in a book the words of this law(JE) from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried(JF) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.(JG) 27 For I know how rebellious(JH) and stiff-necked(JI) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.(JJ) 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt(JK) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster(JL) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32 Listen,(JM) you heavens,(JN) and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(JO)
Let my teaching fall like rain(JP)
    and my words descend like dew,(JQ)
like showers(JR) on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim(JS) the name of the Lord.(JT)
    Oh, praise the greatness(JU) of our God!
He is the Rock,(JV) his works are perfect,(JW)
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(JX) who does no wrong,
    upright(JY) and just is he.(JZ)

They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(KA)
Is this the way you repay(KB) the Lord,
    you foolish(KC) and unwise people?(KD)
Is he not your Father,(KE) your Creator,[d]
    who made you and formed you?(KF)

Remember the days of old;(KG)
    consider the generations long past.(KH)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.(KI)
When the Most High(KJ) gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,(KK)
he set up boundaries(KL) for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.[e](KM)
For the Lord’s portion(KN) is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.(KO)

10 In a desert(KP) land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.(KQ)
He shielded(KR) him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(KS)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,(KT)
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.(KU)
12 The Lord alone led(KV) him;(KW)
    no foreign god was with him.(KX)

13 He made him ride on the heights(KY) of the land
    and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(KZ)
    and with oil(LA) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
    and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(LB)
    and the finest kernels of wheat.(LC)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(LD)

15 Jeshurun[f](LE) grew fat(LF) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(LG) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock(LH) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(LI) with their foreign gods
    and angered(LJ) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(LK) to false gods,(LL) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,(LM)
    gods that recently appeared,(LN)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(LO) the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(LP)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(LQ)
20 “I will hide my face(LR) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(LS)
    children who are unfaithful.(LT)
21 They made me jealous(LU) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(LV)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(LW)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(LX)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(LY)
It will devour(LZ) the earth and its harvests(MA)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(MB)

23 “I will heap calamities(MC) on them
    and spend my arrows(MD) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(ME) against them,
    consuming pestilence(MF) and deadly plague;(MG)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(MH)
    the venom of vipers(MI) that glide in the dust.(MJ)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror(MK) will reign.(ML)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.(MM)
26 I said I would scatter(MN) them
    and erase their name from human memory,(MO)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand(MP)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”(MQ)

28 They are a nation without sense,
    there is no discernment(MR) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(MS)
    and discern what their end will be!(MT)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,(MU)
unless their Rock had sold them,(MV)
    unless the Lord had given them up?(MW)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(MX)
    as even our enemies concede.(MY)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(MZ)
    and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(NA)
    and their clusters with bitterness.(NB)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
    the deadly poison of cobras.(NC)

34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
    and sealed it in my vaults?(ND)
35 It is mine to avenge;(NE) I will repay.(NF)
    In due time their foot will slip;(NG)
their day of disaster is near
    and their doom rushes upon them.(NH)

36 The Lord will vindicate his people(NI)
    and relent(NJ) concerning his servants(NK)
when he sees their strength is gone
    and no one is left, slave(NL) or free.[g]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,(NM)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(NN)
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

39 “See now that I myself am he!(NO)
    There is no god besides me.(NP)
I put to death(NQ) and I bring to life,(NR)
    I have wounded and I will heal,(NS)
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.(NT)
40 I lift my hand(NU) to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,(NV)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(NW)
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(NX) on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.(NY)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(NZ)
    while my sword devours flesh:(OA)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

43 Rejoice,(OB) you nations, with his people,[h][i]
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(OC)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(OD)
    and make atonement for his land and people.(OE)

44 Moses came with Joshua[j](OF) son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,(OG) so that you may command(OH) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(OI) By them you will live long(OJ) in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,(OK) 49 “Go up into the Abarim(OL) Range to Mount Nebo(OM) in Moab, across from Jericho,(ON) and view Canaan,(OO) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die(OP) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died(OQ) on Mount Hor(OR) and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh(OS) in the Desert of Zin(OT) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.(OU) 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;(OV) you will not enter(OW) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Moses Blesses the Tribes(OX)

33 This is the blessing(OY) that Moses the man of God(OZ) pronounced on the Israelites before his death. He said:

“The Lord came from Sinai(PA)
    and dawned over them from Seir;(PB)
    he shone forth(PC) from Mount Paran.(PD)
He came with[k] myriads of holy ones(PE)
    from the south, from his mountain slopes.[l]
Surely it is you who love(PF) the people;
    all the holy ones are in your hand.(PG)
At your feet they all bow down,(PH)
    and from you receive instruction,
the law that Moses gave us,(PI)
    the possession of the assembly of Jacob.(PJ)
He was king(PK) over Jeshurun[m](PL)
    when the leaders of the people assembled,
    along with the tribes of Israel.

“Let Reuben live and not die,
    nor[n] his people be few.”(PM)

And this he said about Judah:(PN)

“Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah;
    bring him to his people.
With his own hands he defends his cause.
    Oh, be his help against his foes!”

About Levi(PO) he said:

“Your Thummim and Urim(PP) belong
    to your faithful servant.(PQ)
You tested(PR) him at Massah;
    you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.(PS)
He said of his father and mother,(PT)
    ‘I have no regard for them.’
He did not recognize his brothers
    or acknowledge his own children,
but he watched over your word
    and guarded your covenant.(PU)
10 He teaches(PV) your precepts to Jacob
    and your law to Israel.(PW)
He offers incense before you(PX)
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.(PY)
11 Bless all his skills, Lord,
    and be pleased with the work of his hands.(PZ)
Strike down those who rise against him,
    his foes till they rise no more.”

12 About Benjamin(QA) he said:

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,(QB)
    for he shields him all day long,(QC)
    and the one the Lord loves(QD) rests between his shoulders.(QE)

13 About Joseph(QF) he said:

“May the Lord bless his land
    with the precious dew from heaven above
    and with the deep waters that lie below;(QG)
14 with the best the sun brings forth
    and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains(QH)
    and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.(QI)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among[o] his brothers.(QJ)
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;
    his horns(QK) are the horns of a wild ox.(QL)
With them he will gore(QM) the nations,
    even those at the ends of the earth.
Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;(QN)
    such are the thousands of Manasseh.(QO)

18 About Zebulun(QP) he said:

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and you, Issachar,(QQ) in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountain(QR)
    and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous;(QS)
they will feast on the abundance of the seas,(QT)
    on the treasures hidden in the sand.”

20 About Gad(QU) he said:

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain!(QV)
    Gad lives there like a lion,
    tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself;(QW)
    the leader’s portion was kept for him.(QX)
When the heads of the people assembled,
    he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,(QY)
    and his judgments concerning Israel.”

22 About Dan(QZ) he said:

“Dan is a lion’s cub,
    springing out of Bashan.”

23 About Naphtali(RA) he said:

“Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord
    and is full of his blessing;
    he will inherit southward to the lake.”

24 About Asher(RB) he said:

“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
    let him be favored by his brothers,
    and let him bathe his feet in oil.(RC)
25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,(RD)
    and your strength will equal your days.(RE)

26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,(RF)
    who rides(RG) across the heavens to help you(RH)
    and on the clouds(RI) in his majesty.(RJ)
27 The eternal(RK) God is your refuge,(RL)
    and underneath are the everlasting(RM) arms.
He will drive out your enemies before you,(RN)
    saying, ‘Destroy them!’(RO)
28 So Israel will live in safety;(RP)
    Jacob will dwell[p] secure
in a land of grain and new wine,
    where the heavens drop dew.(RQ)
29 Blessed are you, Israel!(RR)
    Who is like you,(RS)
    a people saved by the Lord?(RT)
He is your shield and helper(RU)
    and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
    and you will tread on their heights.(RV)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:20 Hebrew me
  2. Deuteronomy 29:1 In Hebrew texts 29:1 is numbered 28:69, and 29:2-29 is numbered 29:1-28.
  3. Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity
  4. Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
  5. Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
  6. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
  7. Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
  8. Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
  9. Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
  10. Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua
  11. Deuteronomy 33:2 Or from
  12. Deuteronomy 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  13. Deuteronomy 33:5 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel; also in verse 26.
  14. Deuteronomy 33:6 Or but let
  15. Deuteronomy 33:16 Or of the one separated from
  16. Deuteronomy 33:28 Septuagint; Hebrew Jacob’s spring is

28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

24 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

27 The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.

33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

35 The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.

38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

47 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

49 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord Thy God;

59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.

63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:

67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

29 These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord your God.

And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

10 Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,

11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:

13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;

17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

20 The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

21 And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:

22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it;

23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

27 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:

28 And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

30 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

31 And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.

And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.

And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.

And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

11 When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

15 And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?

28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.

29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.

30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

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

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12 So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

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

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.

28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

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

30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

35 To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.

39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:

46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

48 And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,

49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

33 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.

And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

11 Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,

14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,

16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.

17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents.

19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

20 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.

21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel.

22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south.

24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.

27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.