The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Chapter 32 -

(Revelation 15:1–4)

“Listen, O heavens, to what I am saying. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Let my doctrine accumulate like the rain. Let my eloquence form like the dew, like a mist upon the plants, and like water droplets upon the grass.

For I will invoke the name of the Lord. Acknowledge the magnificence of our God!

The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments. God is faithful and without any iniquity. He is just and upright.

They have sinned against him, and in their filth they are not his sons. They are a depraved and perverse generation.

How can this be the return you would offer to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is he himself not your Father, who has possessed you, and made you, and created you?

Remember the days of antiquity. Consider each generation. Question your father, and he will declare it to you. Question your elders, and they will tell it to you.

When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the limits of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.

But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob, the lot of his inheritance.

He discovered him in a desert land, in a place of horror and a vast wilderness. He led him around and taught him, and he guarded him like the pupil of his eye,

just as an eagle encourages its young to fly, and, flying above them, stretches out its wings, and takes them up, and carries them on its shoulders.

The Lord alone was his leader, and there was no strange god with him.

He stood him upon an exalted land, so that he might eat the fruits of the fields, so that he might eat honey from the rock, and oil from the hardest stone,

butter from the herd, and milk from the sheep, with fat from the lambs, and with rams and goats from the sons of Bashan, with the kernel of the wheat, and so that he might drink the undiluted blood of the grape.

The beloved grew fat, and he kicked. Having grown fat and thick and wide, he abandoned God, his Maker, and he withdrew from God, his Savior.

They provoked him with strange gods, and they stirred him to anger by their abominations.

They immolated to demons and not to God, to gods whom they did not know, who were new and recent arrivals, whom their fathers did not worship.

You have forsaken the God who conceived you, and you have forgotten the Lord who created you.

The Lord saw, and he was stirred to anger. For his own sons and daughters provoked him.

And he said: ‘I will hide my face from them, and I will consider their very end. For this is a perverse generation, and they are unfaithful sons.

They have provoked me with that which was not God, and they have angered me with their emptiness. And so, I will provoke them with that which is not a people, and I will anger them with a foolish nation.

A fire has been kindled in my fury, and it will burn even to the deepest Hell, and it will devour the earth with its produce, and it will burn the foundations of the mountains.

I will heap evils upon them, and I will expend my arrows among them.

They will be consumed by famine, and birds with a very bitter bite will devour them. I will send forth the teeth of wild beasts among them, along with the fury of creatures that scurry across the ground, and of serpents.

Outside, the sword will devastate them; and inside, there will be dread, as much for the young man as for the maiden, and as much for the newborn as for the old man.

I said: Where are they? I will cause their memory to cease from among men.

But because of the wrath of the enemies, I have delayed it. Otherwise, perhaps their enemies would be arrogant and would say: “Our exalted hand, and not the Lord, has done all these things.”

They are a nation without counsel and without prudence.

I wish that they would be wise and understanding, and would provide for the very end.’

How is it that one pursues a thousand, and two chases ten thousand? Is it not because their God has sold them, and because the Lord has enclosed them?

For our God is not like their gods. And our enemies are judges.

Their vines are of the vines of Sodom, but from the suburbs of Gomorrah. Their grapes are the grapes of gall, and their grape clusters are most bitter.

Their wine is the gall of snakes, and it is the incurable venom of asps.

‘Have not these things been stored up with me, and sealed up amid my treasures?

Vengeance is mine, and I will repay them in due time, so that their foot may slip and fall. The day of perdition is near, and the time rushes to appear.’

The Lord will judge his people, and he will take pity on his servants. He will see that their hand has been weakened, and that those who have been enclosed have likewise failed, and that those who have been left behind have been consumed.

And he shall say: ‘Where are their gods, in whom they had confidence?

They ate the fat of their victims, and they drank the wine of their libations. So let these rise up, and bring relief to you, and protect you in your distress.

See that I am alone, and there is no other god beside me. I will kill, and I will cause to live. I will strike, and I will heal. And there is no one who is able to rescue from my hand.

I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say: I live in eternity.

When I sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand takes hold of judgment, then I will render vengeance to my enemies, and I will repay those who hate me.

I will inebriate my arrows with blood, and my sword will devour flesh: from the blood of the slain and from the captive, from the exposed head of the enemies.’

You nations, praise his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. And he will distribute vengeance to their enemies. And he will be merciful to the land of his people.”

Therefore, Moses went and spoke all the words of this canticle to the ears of the people, both he and Joshua, the son of Nun.

And he completed all these words, speaking to all of Israel.

And he said to them: “Set your hearts upon all the words which I am testifying to you this day. So shall you command your sons, to keep, and to do, and to fulfill all the things that have been written in this law.

For these things have not been entrusted to you to no purpose, but so that each one would live by them, and so that, in doing these, you may continue for a long time in the land, which you will enter upon crossing the Jordan in order to possess it.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

And the Lord spoke to Moses on the same day, saying:

“Ascend this mountain, Abarim, (that is, of crossings) onto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and look upon the land of Canaan, which I will deliver to the sons of Israel to obtain it. And you shall die upon the mountain.

After climbing it, you will be joined to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, and was placed with his people.

For you trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel, at the Waters of Contradiction, in Kadesh, in the desert of Sin. And you did not sanctify me among the sons of Israel.

You shall see the land opposite you, which I will give to the sons of Israel, but you shall not enter into it.”

(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.