Deuteronomy Chapter 32
1 “Listen, sky; let me speak;
earth, hear what I say.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain;
let my speech distill like dew,
like drops on fresh grass,
like showers on plants;
3because I’m proclaiming Yahveh.
Credit greatness to our God, the Rock! Deut 31:30-32:1-3
4 His work is perfect;
his ways are just,
a faithful and just God,
good and upright.
5 His people have acted corruptly toward him;
they’re not his children because of their defect;
they’re a perverse, crooked generation.
6 Is that the way you repay Yahveh,
you foolish people?
Isn’t he your Father who bought you,
who made you and made you secure?
Deut 32:4-6
7 Remember the old days;
consider the years of past history.
Ask your father, he’ll inform you;
ask your elders, they’ll tell you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided up the human race,
he set people’s boundaries
in comparison to the numbers in Israel.
9 For Yahveh’s people are his portion;
Jacob is his allotted inheritance.
10 He found them a desert land;
in the howling wasteland of a desert
he surrounded them, cared for them,
guarded them like the pupil of his eye.
Deut 32:7-10
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that hovers over its young,
he spread his wings and caught them;
he carried them on his pinions.
12 Yahveh alone guided them;
no foreign god was among them.
13 He made them ride above the high places of the earth;
they ate the crops in the field.
He enabled them to suck honey from rock
and olive oil from flint stone,
14curds from cows, milk from the flock,
with the fat of lambs
and rams—the breed from Bashan—and goats,
with the finest wheat,
They drank wine made from grape juice.
Deut 32:11-14
15 “But Jeshurun soon got fat and rebelled;
they grew fat, thick, and sleek.
They forsook the God that made them
and scorned the Rock that saved them.
16 They made him jealous with foreign gods
and provoked him with disgusting deeds.
17 They sacrificed to demons that aren’t God,
to gods they hadn’t known,
to new gods that came lately,
that their ancestors didn’t dread.
18 They neglected the Rock that begot them
and forgot the God that bore them.
Deut 32:15-18
19 “Yahveh saw that and spurned them
because his sons and daughters provoked him.
20 He said, ‘I’ll hide from them
and see what their end will be;
they’re a perverse generation of unfaithful offspring.
21 They made me jealous with what’s not God;
they provoked me with their idols.
So I’ll make them jealous with those who aren’t a people;
I’ll provoke them with a foolish nation.
22 A fire has kindled my anger,
one that burns to the bottom of Sheol;
it consumes the ground along with its yield
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Deut 32:19-22
23 “I’ll pile misfortunes on them
and shoot my arrows at them.
24 They’ll be wasted by famine
and consumed by scorching heat and bitter destruction;
I’ll sic the animals on them
and the venom of snakes that slither in the dirt.
25 A sword will bereave them outside,
and panic inside—
young man and virgin,
nursing baby and graying grandpa.
26 I would’ve said, ‘I’ll cut them in pieces
and erase their memory from people’s minds,’
27if I hadn’t feared provocation by enemies
or adversaries that would misjudge and say,
‘We won! Yahveh hasn’t done all that.’
Deut 32:23-27
28 “They’re a nation without counsel,
bereft of understanding.
29 Oh that they’d be wise and understand
so they’d discern their own future!
30 How could one chase 1,000
and two put 10,000 to flight
unless their Rock had sold them out,
unless Yahveh had given them up?
31 Their rock is certainly not like our Rock;
even our enemies can see that.
32 Their grapevine grows from Sodom’s vines
from Gomorrah’s vineyards.
Their grapes are poisonous;
their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is snake venom,
cobras’ deadly poison.
Deut 32:28-33
34 “Yahveh says, ‘Isn’t that stored up with me
and sealed in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance and retribution belong to me;
in due time their foot will slip.
Their time for catastrophe is coming;
impending things are rushing at them,’
36because Yahveh will vindicate his people
and show mercy to his servants.
When he sees their strength is gone
and nobody remains, bond or free,
37he’ll say, ‘Where are their gods,
the rock they looked to for refuge?
38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their liquid offerings?
Let their gods rise up and help them;
let them be their hiding place!
39 See now that I’m the One;
there’s no god but me.
I’m the One that puts to death and gives life.
I’ve wounded, and I’m the One that heals.
Nobody can deliver them from me.
Deut 32:34-39
40 Indeed, I lift up my hand to the sky
and say, ‘as I live forever.’
41 When I sharpen my flashing sword
and begin to render justice,
I’ll carry out vengeance on my enemies
and pay back the ones that hate me.
42 I’ll make my arrows drunk with blood.
My sword will devour flesh
with the blood of the slain and the captives
from the heads of the enemy’s leaders.’
43 Celebrate, Gentiles, with his people;
for he’ll avenge his servants’ blood.
He’ll carry out vengeance on his adversaries
and atone for his land and his people.”
Deut 32:40-43
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
44 Then Moses came with Joshua and presented the song to the people. 45 When he’d finished, 46 he told them,
“Take my warnings to heart. Tell your sons to observe them carefully. 47 It’s not an idle message; it’s your life. It affects how long you’ll live in the land you’re crossing Jordan to take over.”
48 Yahveh told Moses that same day,
49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, in Moab across from Jericho, and look across at Canaan. 50 Then die on the mountain and pass on to your people, like Aaron your brother did on Mount Hor. 51 You broke faith with me among the Israelites at the water of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin. You didn’t honor me as holy among them. 52 You’ll see the land at a distance, but you can’t go in.”
Deut 32:44-52