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Deuteronomy 32
The Message
Deuteronomy 32
The Message
The Song
32 1-5 Listen, Heavens, I have something to tell you.
Attention, Earth, I’ve got a mouth full of words.
My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain,
my words arrive like morning dew,
Like a sprinkling rain on new grass,
like spring showers on the garden.
For it’s God’s Name I’m preaching—
respond to the greatness of our God!
The Rock: His works are perfect,
and the way he works is fair and just;
A God you can depend upon, no exceptions,
a straight-arrow God.
His messed-up, mixed-up children, his non-children,
throw mud at him but none of it sticks.
6-7 Don’t you realize it is God you are treating like this?
This is crazy; don’t you have any sense of reverence?
Isn’t this your father who created you,
who made you and gave you a place on Earth?
Read up on what happened before you were born;
dig into the past, understand your roots.
Ask your parents what it was like before you were born;
ask the old-ones, they’ll tell you a thing or two.
8-9 When the High God gave the nations their stake,
gave them their place on Earth,
He put each of the peoples within boundaries
under the care of divine guardians.
But God himself took charge of his people,
took Jacob on as his personal concern.
10-14 He found him out in the wilderness,
in an empty, windswept wasteland.
He threw his arms around him, lavished attention on him,
guarding him as the apple of his eye.
He was like an eagle hovering over its nest,
overshadowing its young,
Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air,
teaching them to fly.
God alone led him;
there was not a foreign god in sight.
God lifted him onto the hilltops,
so he could feast on the crops in the fields.
He fed him honey from the rock,
oil from granite crags,
Curds of cattle and the milk of sheep,
the choice cuts of lambs and goats,
Fine Bashan rams, high-quality wheat,
and the blood of grapes: you drank good wine!
15-18 Jeshurun put on weight and bucked;
you got fat, became obese, a tub of lard.
He abandoned the God who made him,
he mocked the Rock of his salvation.
They made him jealous with their foreign trendy gods,
and with obscenities they vexed him no end.
They sacrificed to no-god demons,
gods they knew nothing about,
The latest in gods, fresh from the market,
gods your ancestors would never call “gods.”
You walked out on the Rock who gave you your life,
forgot the birth-God who brought you into the world.
19-25 God saw it and spun around,
angered and hurt by his sons and daughters.
He said, “From now on I’m looking the other way.
Wait and see what happens to them.
Oh, they’re a turned-around, upside-down generation!
Who knows what they’ll do from one moment to the next?
They’ve goaded me with their no-gods,
infuriated me with their hot-air gods;
I’m going to goad them with a no-people,
with a hollow nation incense them.
My anger started a fire,
a wildfire burning deep down in Sheol,
Then shooting up and devouring the Earth and its crops,
setting all the mountains, from bottom to top, on fire.
I’ll pile catastrophes on them,
I’ll shoot my arrows at them:
Starvation, blistering heat, killing disease;
I’ll send snarling wild animals to attack from the forest
and venomous creatures to strike from the dust.
Killing in the streets,
terror in the houses,
Young men and virgins alike struck down,
and yes, breast-feeding babies and gray-haired old men.”
26-27 I could have said, “I’ll hack them to pieces,
wipe out all trace of them from the Earth,”
Except that I feared the enemy would grab the chance
to take credit for all of it,
Crowing, “Look what we did!
God had nothing to do with this.”
28-33 They are a nation of idiots,
they don’t know enough to come in out of the rain.
If they had any sense at all, they’d know this;
they would see what’s coming down the road.
How could one soldier chase a thousand enemies off,
or two men run off two thousand,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
unless God had given them away?
For their rock is nothing compared to our Rock;
even our enemies say that.
They’re a vine that comes right out of Sodom,
who they are is rooted in Gomorrah;
Their grapes are poison grapes,
their grape-clusters bitter.
Their wine is rattlesnake venom,
mixed with lethal cobra poison.
34-35 Don’t you realize that I have my shelves
well stocked, locked behind iron doors?
I’m in charge of vengeance and payback,
just waiting for them to slip up;
And the day of their doom is just around the corner,
sudden and swift and sure.
36-38 Yes, God will judge his people,
but oh how compassionately he’ll do it.
When he sees their weakened plight
and there is no one left, slave or free,
He’ll say, “So where are their gods,
the rock in which they sought refuge,
The gods who feasted on the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink-offerings?
Let them show their stuff and help you,
let them give you a hand!
39-42 “Do you see it now? Do you see that I’m the one?
Do you see that there’s no other god beside me?
I bring death and I give life, I wound and I heal—
there is no getting away from or around me!
I raise my hand in solemn oath;
I say, ‘I’m always around. By that very life I promise:
When I sharpen my lightning sword
and execute judgment,
I take vengeance on my enemies
and pay back those who hate me.
I’ll make my arrows drunk with blood,
my sword will gorge itself on flesh,
Feasting on slain and captive alike,
the proud and vain enemy corpses.’”
43 Celebrate, nations, join the praise of his people.
He avenges the deaths of his servants,
Pays back his enemies with vengeance,
and cleanses his land for his people.
44-47 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua son of Nun. When Moses had finished saying all these words to all Israel, he said, “Take to heart all these words to which I give witness today and urgently command your children to put them into practice, every single word of this Revelation. Yes. This is no small matter for you; it’s your life. In keeping this word you’ll have a good and long life in this land that you’re crossing the Jordan to possess.”
48-50 That same day God spoke to Moses: “Climb the Abarim Mountains to Mount Nebo in the land of Moab, overlooking Jericho, and view the land of Canaan that I’m giving the People of Israel to have and hold. Die on the mountain that you climb and join your people in the ground, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and joined his people.
51-52 “This is because you broke faith with me in the company of the People of Israel at the Waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin—you didn’t honor my Holy Presence in the company of the People of Israel. You’ll look at the land spread out before you but you won’t enter it, this land that I am giving to the People of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 32
New International Version
Deuteronomy 32
New International Version
32 Listen,(A) you heavens,(B) and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.(C)
2 Let my teaching fall like rain(D)
and my words descend like dew,(E)
like showers(F) on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim(G) the name of the Lord.(H)
Oh, praise the greatness(I) of our God!
4 He is the Rock,(J) his works are perfect,(K)
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God(L) who does no wrong,
upright(M) and just is he.(N)
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.(O)
6 Is this the way you repay(P) the Lord,
you foolish(Q) and unwise people?(R)
Is he not your Father,(S) your Creator,[a]
who made you and formed you?(T)
7 Remember the days of old;(U)
consider the generations long past.(V)
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.(W)
8 When the Most High(X) gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,(Y)
he set up boundaries(Z) for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b](AA)
9 For the Lord’s portion(AB) is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.(AC)
10 In a desert(AD) land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.(AE)
He shielded(AF) him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,(AG)
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,(AH)
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them aloft.(AI)
12 The Lord alone led(AJ) him;(AK)
no foreign god was with him.(AL)
13 He made him ride on the heights(AM) of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,(AN)
and with oil(AO) from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan(AP)
and the finest kernels of wheat.(AQ)
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.(AR)
15 Jeshurun[c](AS) grew fat(AT) and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(AU) the God who made them
and rejected the Rock(AV) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(AW) with their foreign gods
and angered(AX) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(AY) to false gods,(AZ) which are not God—
gods they had not known,(BA)
gods that recently appeared,(BB)
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot(BC) the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(BD)
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(BE)
20 “I will hide my face(BF) from them,” he said,
“and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(BG)
children who are unfaithful.(BH)
21 They made me jealous(BI) by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.(BJ)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(BK)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(BL)
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(BM)
It will devour(BN) the earth and its harvests(BO)
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(BP)
23 “I will heap calamities(BQ) on them
and spend my arrows(BR) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(BS) against them,
consuming pestilence(BT) and deadly plague;(BU)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(BV)
the venom of vipers(BW) that glide in the dust.(BX)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror(BY) will reign.(BZ)
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with gray hair.(CA)
26 I said I would scatter(CB) them
and erase their name from human memory,(CC)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstand(CD)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.’”(CE)
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment(CF) in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this(CG)
and discern what their end will be!(CH)
30 How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,(CI)
unless their Rock had sold them,(CJ)
unless the Lord had given them up?(CK)
31 For their rock is not like our Rock,(CL)
as even our enemies concede.(CM)
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom(CN)
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,(CO)
and their clusters with bitterness.(CP)
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.(CQ)
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?(CR)
35 It is mine to avenge;(CS) I will repay.(CT)
In due time their foot will slip;(CU)
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.(CV)”
36 The Lord will vindicate his people(CW)
and relent(CX) concerning his servants(CY)
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave(CZ) or free.[d]
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,(DA)
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?(DB)
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am he!(DC)
There is no god besides me.(DD)
I put to death(DE) and I bring to life,(DF)
I have wounded and I will heal,(DG)
and no one can deliver out of my hand.(DH)
40 I lift my hand(DI) to heaven and solemnly swear:
As surely as I live forever,(DJ)
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword(DK)
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance(DL) on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.(DM)
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,(DN)
while my sword devours flesh:(DO)
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice,(DP) you nations, with his people,[e][f]
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;(DQ)
he will take vengeance on his enemies(DR)
and make atonement for his land and people.(DS)
44 Moses came with Joshua[g](DT) 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,(DU) so that you may command(DV) your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.(DW) By them you will live long(DX) 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,(DY) 49 “Go up into the Abarim(DZ) Range to Mount Nebo(EA) in Moab, across from Jericho,(EB) and view Canaan,(EC) the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die(ED) and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died(EE) on Mount Hor(EF) 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(EG) in the Desert of Zin(EH) and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.(EI) 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;(EJ) you will not enter(EK) the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:6 Or Father, who bought you
- Deuteronomy 32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
- Deuteronomy 32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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