Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 28:1--33:29
Context28:1 “If you indeed 1 obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving 2 you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance 3 if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. 4 28:4 Your children 5 will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 6 28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack 7 you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction 8 but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he 9 is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments 10 and obey him. 11 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, 12 and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, 13 the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he 14 promised your ancestors 15 he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; 16 you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his 17 commandments which I am urging 18 you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving 19 you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship 20 them.
28:15 “But if you ignore 21 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 22 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. 28:18 Your children 23 will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 24
28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you 25 in everything you undertake 26 until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. 27 28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases 28 until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He 29 will afflict you with weakness, 30 fever, inflammation, infection, 31 sword, 32 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. 28:23 The 33 sky 34 above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. 28:24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror 35 to all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. 28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. 36 28:29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; 37 you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape 38 her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. 39 28:33 As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. 28:34 You will go insane from seeing all this. 28:35 The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils – from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 28:36 The Lord will force you and your king 40 whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. 28:37 You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you.
28:38 “You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. 28:39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. 41 28:41 You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. 28:42 Whirring locusts 42 will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. 28:43 The foreigners 43 who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. 28:44 They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail!
28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given 44 you. 28:46 These curses 45 will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. 46
28:47 “Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 28:48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty 47 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They 48 will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 49 as the eagle flies, 50 a nation whose language you will not understand, 28:50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. 28:51 They 51 will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, 52 or lambs of your flocks 53 until they have destroyed you. 28:52 They will besiege all of your villages 54 until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 28:53 You will then eat your own offspring, 55 the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege 56 by which your enemies will constrict you. 28:54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 28:55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict 57 you in your villages. 28:56 Likewise, the most 58 tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, 59 will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 28:57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth 60 and her newborn children 61 (since she has nothing else), 62 because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
28:58 “If you refuse to obey 63 all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, 28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. 28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt 64 that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. 65 28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, 66 until you have perished. 28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, 67 because you will have disobeyed 68 the Lord your God. 28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he 69 will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. 28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. 70 28:67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. 28:68 Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
29:1 (28:69) 71 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 72
29:2 Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did 73 in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 29:3 Your eyes have seen the great judgments, 74 those signs and mighty wonders. 29:4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! 75 29:5 I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out 76 nor have your sandals 77 deteriorated. 29:6 You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer – all so that you might know that I 78 am the Lord your God! 29:7 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. 29:8 Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms 79 of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 29:10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, 80 your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, 29:11 your infants, your wives, and the 81 foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water – 29:12 so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. 82 29:13 Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, 83 just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors 84 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29:14 It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 29:15 but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. 85
29:16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 29:17 You have seen their detestable things 86 and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) 87 29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. 88 29:19 When such a person 89 hears the words of this oath he secretly 90 blesses himself 91 and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” 92 This will destroy 93 the watered ground with the parched. 94 29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger 95 will rage 96 against that man; all the curses 97 written in this scroll will fall upon him 98 and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. 99 29:21 The Lord will single him out 100 for judgment 101 from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see 102 the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. 103 29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger 104 all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. 105 29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses 106 written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.” 29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants 107 forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses 108 I have set before you, you will reflect upon them 109 in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 30:2 Then if you and your descendants 110 turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being 111 just as 112 I am commanding you today, 30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he 113 has scattered you. 30:4 Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, 114 from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 30:5 Then he 115 will bring you to the land your ancestors 116 possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. 30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse 117 your heart and the hearts of your descendants 118 so that you may love him 119 with all your mind and being and so that you may live. 30:7 Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 30:8 You will return and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving 120 you today. 30:9 The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands 121 abundantly successful and multiply your children, 122 the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord your God will once more 123 rejoice over you to make you prosperous 124 just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 30:10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him 125 with your whole mind and being.
30:11 “This commandment I am giving 126 you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 30:14 For the thing is very near you – it is in your mouth and in your mind 127 so that you can do it.
30:15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 30:16 What 128 I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. 129 30:17 However, if you 130 turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 30:18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly 131 perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 132 30:19 Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! 30:20 I also call on you 133 to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually 134 in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
31:1 Then Moses went 135 and spoke these words 136 to all Israel. 31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, 137 and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’ 31:3 As for the Lord your God, he is about to cross over before you; he will destroy these nations before you and dispossess them. As for Joshua, he is about to cross before you just as the Lord has said. 31:4 The Lord will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land, which he destroyed. 31:5 The Lord will deliver them over to you and you will do to them according to the whole commandment I have given you. 31:6 Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!” 31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua 138 in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, 139 and you will enable them to inherit it. 31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”
31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders. 31:10 He 140 commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts, 141 at the Feast of Temporary Shelters, 142 31:11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses, you must read this law before them 143 within their hearing. 31:12 Gather the people – men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages – so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law. 31:13 Then their children, who have not known this law, 144 will also hear about and learn to fear the Lord your God for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent 145 of meeting 146 so that I can commission him.” 147 So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 31:15 The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud that 148 stood above the door of the tent. 31:16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, 149 and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they 150 are going. They 151 will reject 152 me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 153 31:17 At that time 154 my anger will erupt against them 155 and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome 156 them 157 so that they 158 will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters 159 overcome us 160 because our 161 God is not among us 162 ?’ 31:18 But I will certainly 163 hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they 164 will have done by turning to other gods. 31:19 Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites. Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites! 31:20 For after I have brought them 165 to the land I promised to their 166 ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they 167 eat their fill 168 and become fat, then they 169 will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant. 31:21 Then when 170 many disasters and distresses overcome them 171 this song will testify against them, 172 for their 173 descendants will not forget it. 174 I know the 175 intentions they have in mind 176 today, even before I bring them 177 to the land I have promised.” 31:22 So on that day Moses wrote down this song and taught it to the Israelites, 31:23 and the Lord 178 commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” 179
31:24 When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their entirety, 31:25 he 180 commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, 31:26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will remain there as a witness against you, 31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. 181 Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! 182 31:28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. 31:29 For I know that after I die you will totally 183 corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly 184 before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions.” 185 31:30 Then Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel.
32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,
my sayings will drip like the dew, 186
as rain drops upon the grass,
and showers upon new growth.
32:3 For I will proclaim the name 187 of the Lord;
you must acknowledge the greatness of our God.
32:4 As for the Rock, 188 his work is perfect,
for all his ways are just.
He is a reliable God who is never unjust,
he is fair 189 and upright.
32:5 His people have been unfaithful 190 to him;
they have not acted like his children 191 – this is their sin. 192
They are a perverse 193 and deceitful generation.
32:6 Is this how you repay 194 the Lord,
you foolish, unwise people?
Is he not your father, your creator?
He has made you and established you.
32:7 Remember the ancient days;
bear in mind 195 the years of past generations. 196
Ask your father and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
32:8 When the Most High 197 gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided up humankind, 198
he set the boundaries of the peoples,
according to the number of the heavenly assembly. 199
32:9 For the Lord’s allotment is his people,
Jacob is his special possession. 200
32:10 The Lord 201 found him 202 in a desolate land,
in an empty wasteland where animals howl. 203
He continually guarded him 204 and taught him; 205
he continually protected him 206 like the pupil 207 of his eye.
32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up 208 its nest,
that hovers over its young,
so the Lord 209 spread out his wings and took him, 210
he lifted him up on his pinions.
32:12 The Lord alone was guiding him, 211
no foreign god was with him.
32:13 He enabled him 212 to travel over the high terrain of the land,
and he ate of the produce of the fields.
He provided honey for him from the cliffs, 213
and olive oil 214 from the hardest of 215 rocks, 216
32:14 butter from the herd
and milk from the flock,
along with the fat of lambs,
rams and goats of Bashan,
along with the best of the kernels of wheat;
and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
32:15 But Jeshurun 217 became fat and kicked,
you 218 got fat, thick, and stuffed!
Then he deserted the God who made him,
and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.
32:16 They made him jealous with other gods, 219
they enraged him with abhorrent idols. 220
32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to gods they had not known;
to new gods who had recently come along,
gods your ancestors 221 had not known about.
32:18 You have forgotten 222 the Rock who fathered you,
and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.
32:19 But the Lord took note and despised them
because his sons and daughters enraged him.
32:20 He said, “I will reject them, 223
I will see what will happen to them;
for they are a perverse generation,
children 224 who show no loyalty.
32:21 They have made me jealous 225 with false gods, 226
enraging me with their worthless gods; 227
so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, 228
with a nation slow to learn 229 I will enrage them.
32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,
and it burns to lowest Sheol; 230
it consumes the earth and its produce,
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
32:23 I will increase their 231 disasters,
I will use up my arrows on them.
32:24 They will be starved by famine,
eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; 232
I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,
along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.
32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,
and terror will do so inside;
they will destroy 233 both the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. 234
I want to make people forget they ever existed.
32:27 But I fear the reaction 235 of their enemies,
for 236 their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our power is great, 237
and the Lord has not done all this!”’
32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,
and there is no understanding among them.
32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 238
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 239
and the Lord had handed them over?
32:31 For our enemies’ 240 rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
32:32 For their vine is from the stock 241 of Sodom,
and from the fields of Gomorrah. 242
Their grapes contain venom,
their clusters of grapes are bitter.
32:33 Their wine is snakes’ poison,
the deadly venom of cobras.
32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, 243
“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?
32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back
at the time their foot slips;
for the day of their disaster is near,
and the impending judgment 244 is rushing upon them!”
32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 245 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
32:37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they sought security,
32:38 who ate the best of their sacrifices,
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise and help you;
let them be your refuge!
32:39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, 246
“and there is no other god besides me.
I kill and give life,
I smash and I heal,
and none can resist 247 my power.
32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,
32:41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; 248
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me! 249
32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh –
the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
the chief 250 of the enemy’s leaders!’”
32:43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,
for he will avenge his servants’ blood;
he will take vengeance against his enemies,
and make atonement for his land and people.
32:44 Then Moses went with Joshua 251 son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. 32:45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel 32:46 he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law. 32:47 For this is no idle word for you – it is your life! By this word you will live a long time in the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
32:48 Then the Lord said to Moses that same day, 32:49 “Go up to this Abarim 252 hill country, to Mount Nebo (which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho 253 ) and look at the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites as a possession. 32:50 You will die 254 on the mountain that you ascend and join your deceased ancestors, 255 just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor 256 and joined his deceased ancestors, 32:51 for both of you 257 rebelled against me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the desert of Zin when you did not show me proper respect 258 among the Israelites. 32:52 You will see the land before you, but you will not enter the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”
33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 33:2 He said:
The Lord came from Sinai
and revealed himself 259 to Israel 260 from Seir.
He appeared in splendor 261 from Mount Paran,
and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. 262
With his right hand he gave a fiery law 263 to them.
33:3 Surely he loves the people; 264
all your holy ones 265 are in your power. 266
And they sit 267 at your feet,
each receiving 268 your words.
33:4 Moses delivered to us a law, 269
an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
33:5 The Lord 270 was king over Jeshurun, 271
when the leaders of the people assembled,
the tribes of Israel together. 272
33:6 May Reuben live and not die,
and may his people multiply. 273
33:7 And this is the blessing 274 to Judah. He said,
Listen, O Lord, to Judah’s voice,
and bring him to his people.
May his power be great,
and may you help him against his foes.
33:8 Of Levi he said:
Your Thummim and Urim 275 belong to your godly one, 276
whose authority you challenged at Massah, 277
and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. 278
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 279
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
33:10 They will teach Jacob your ordinances
and Israel your law;
they will offer incense as a pleasant odor,
and a whole offering on your altar.
33:11 Bless, O Lord, his goods,
and be pleased with his efforts;
undercut the legs 280 of any who attack him,
and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.
33:12 Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him;
he protects him all the time,
and the Lord 281 places him on his chest. 282
33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 283 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
33:14 with the harvest produced by the daylight 284
33:15 with the best 287 of the ancient mountains
and the harvest produced by the age-old hills;
33:16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness
and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. 288
May blessing rest on Joseph’s head,
and on the top of the head of the one set apart 289 from his brothers.
33:17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor,
and may his horns be those of a wild ox;
with them may he gore all peoples,
all the far reaches of the earth.
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, 290
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
33:18 Of Zebulun he said:
Rejoice, Zebulun, when you go outside,
and Issachar, when you are in your tents.
33:19 They will summon peoples to the mountain,
there they will sacrifice proper 291 sacrifices;
for they will enjoy 292 the abundance of the seas,
and the hidden treasures of the shores. 293
33:20 Of Gad he said:
Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad.
Like a lioness he will dwell;
he will tear at an arm – indeed, a scalp. 294
33:21 He has selected the best part for himself,
for the portion of the ruler 295 is set aside 296 there;
he came with the leaders 297 of the people,
he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord
and his ordinances with Israel.
33:22 Of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s cub;
he will leap forth from Bashan. 298
33:23 Of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, overflowing with favor,
and full of the Lord’s blessing,
possess the west and south.
33:24 Of Asher he said:
Asher is blessed with children,
may he be favored by his brothers
and may he dip his foot in olive oil. 299
33:25 The bars of your gates 300 will be made of iron and bronze,
and may you have lifelong strength.
33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, 301
who rides through the sky 302 to help you,
on the clouds in majesty.
33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,
and underneath you are his eternal arms; 303
he has driven out enemies before you,
and has said, “Destroy!”
33:28 Israel lives in safety,
the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, 304
in a land of grain and new wine;
indeed, its heavens 305 rain down dew. 306
33:29 You have joy, Israel! Who is like you?
You are a people delivered by the Lord,
your protective shield
and your exalted sword.
May your enemies cringe before you;
may you trample on their backs.
[28:1] 1 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
[28:1] 2 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).
[28:2] 3 tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”
[28:3] 4 tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.
[28:4] 5 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[28:6] 6 sn Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.
[28:7] 7 tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).
[28:7] 8 tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).
[28:8] 9 tn Heb “the
[28:9] 10 tn Heb “the commandments of the
[28:9] 11 tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:10] 12 tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).
[28:11] 13 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”
[28:11] 14 tn Heb “the
[28:11] 15 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).
[28:12] 16 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
[28:13] 17 tn Heb “the
[28:13] 18 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”
[28:14] 19 tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”
[28:14] 20 tn Heb “in order to serve.”
[28:15] 21 tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
[28:15] 22 tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
[28:18] 23 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[28:19] 24 sn See note on the similar expression in v. 6.
[28:20] 25 tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”
[28:20] 26 tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”
[28:20] 27 tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.
[28:21] 28 tn Heb “will cause pestilence to cling to you.”
[28:22] 29 tn Heb “The
[28:22] 30 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
[28:22] 31 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
[28:22] 32 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:23] 33 tc The MT reads “Your.” The LXX reads “Heaven will be to you.”
[28:23] 34 tn Or “heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:25] 35 tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).
[28:28] 36 tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).
[28:29] 37 tn Heb “you will not cause your ways to prosper.”
[28:30] 38 tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.
[28:32] 39 tn Heb “and there will be no power in your hand”; NCV “there will be nothing you can do.”
[28:36] 40 tc The LXX reads the plural “kings.”
[28:40] 41 tn Heb “your olives will drop off” (נָשַׁל, nashal), referring to the olives dropping off before they ripen.
[28:42] 42 tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).
[28:43] 43 tn Heb “the foreigner.” This is a collective singular and has therefore been translated as plural; this includes the pronouns in the following verse, which are also singular in the Hebrew text.
[28:45] 44 tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”
[28:46] 45 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the curses mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:46] 46 tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
[28:48] 47 tn Heb “lack of everything.”
[28:48] 48 tn Heb “he” (also later in this verse). The pronoun is a collective singular referring to the enemies (cf. CEV, NLT). Many translations understand the singular pronoun to refer to the
[28:49] 49 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
[28:49] 50 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
[28:51] 51 tn Heb “it” (so NRSV), a collective singular referring to the invading nation (several times in this verse and v. 52).
[28:51] 52 tn Heb “increase of herds.”
[28:51] 53 tn Heb “growth of flocks.”
[28:52] 54 tn Heb “gates,” also in vv. 55, 57.
[28:53] 55 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NRSV); NASB “the offspring of your own body.”
[28:53] 56 tn Heb “siege and stress.”
[28:55] 57 tn Heb “besiege,” redundant with the noun “siege.”
[28:56] 58 tc The LXX adds σφόδρα (sfodra, “very”) to bring the description into line with v. 54.
[28:56] 59 tn Heb “delicateness and tenderness.”
[28:57] 60 tn Heb includes “that which comes out from between her feet.”
[28:57] 61 tn Heb “her sons that she will bear.”
[28:57] 62 tn Heb includes “in her need for everything.”
[28:58] 63 tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”
[28:60] 64 sn These are the plagues the
[28:60] 65 tn Heb “will cling to you” (so NIV); NLT “will claim you.”
[28:61] 66 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) can refer either (1) to the whole Pentateuch or, more likely, (2) to the book of Deuteronomy or even (3) only to this curse section of the covenant text. “Scroll” better reflects the actual document, since “book” conveys the notion of a bound book with pages to the modern English reader. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the book of this law”; NIV, NLT “this Book of the Law”; TEV “this book of God’s laws and teachings.”
[28:62] 67 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[28:62] 68 tn Heb “have not listened to the voice of.”
[28:63] 69 tn Heb “the
[28:66] 70 tn Heb “you will not be confident in your life.” The phrase “from one day to the next” is implied by the following verse.
[29:1] 71 sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[29:1] 72 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[29:2] 73 tn The Hebrew text includes “to your eyes,” but this is redundant in English style (cf. the preceding “you have seen”) and is omitted in the translation.
[29:3] 74 tn Heb “testings.” This is a reference to the plagues; see note at 4:34.
[29:4] 75 tn Heb “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear” (NASB similar); NAB, NRSV “a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.”
[29:5] 76 tn The Hebrew text includes “on you.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:5] 77 tn The Hebrew text includes “from on your feet.”
[29:6] 78 tc The LXX reads “that he is the
[29:10] 80 tc Heb “your heads, your tribes.” The Syriac presupposes either “heads of your tribes” or “your heads, your judges,” etc. (reading שֹׁפְטֵכֶם [shofÿtekhem] for שִׁבְטֵיכֶם [shivtekhem]). Its comparative difficulty favors the originality of the MT reading. Cf. KJV “your captains of your tribes”; NRSV “the leaders of your tribes”; NLT “your tribal leaders.”
[29:12] 82 tn Heb “for you to pass on into the covenant of the Lord your God and into his oath, which the Lord your God is cutting with you today.”
[29:13] 83 tn Heb “in order to establish you today to him for a people and he will be to you for God.” Verses 10-13 are one long sentence in Hebrew. The translation divides this into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
[29:13] 84 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).
[29:15] 85 tn This is interpreted by some English versions as a reference to generations not yet born (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
[29:17] 86 tn The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243-46.
[29:17] 87 tn The Hebrew text includes “which were with them.” Verses 16-17 constitute a parenthetical comment.
[29:18] 88 tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”
[29:19] 89 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:19] 90 tn Heb “in his heart.”
[29:19] 91 tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.
[29:19] 93 tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.
[29:19] 94 tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”
[29:20] 95 tn Heb “the wrath of the
[29:20] 96 tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”
[29:20] 97 tn Heb “the entire oath.”
[29:20] 98 tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”
[29:20] 99 tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”
[29:21] 100 tn Heb “set him apart.”
[29:21] 101 tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”
[29:22] 102 tn Heb “will say and see.” One expects a quotation to appear, but it seems to be omitted. To avoid confusion in the translation, the verb “will say” is omitted.
[29:23] 103 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
[29:24] 104 tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”
[29:26] 105 tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”
[29:27] 106 tn Heb “the entire curse.”
[29:29] 107 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV “children.”
[30:1] 108 tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”
[30:1] 109 tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”
[30:2] 110 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”
[30:2] 111 tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).
[30:2] 112 tn Heb “according to all.”
[30:3] 113 tn Heb “the
[30:4] 114 tn Heb “are at the farthest edge of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[30:5] 115 tn Heb “the
[30:5] 116 tn Heb “fathers” (also later in this verse and in vv. 9, 20).
[30:6] 117 tn Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.
[30:6] 118 tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).
[30:6] 119 tn Heb “the
[30:8] 120 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I now enjoin on you.”
[30:9] 121 tc The MT reads “hand” (singular). Most versions read the plural.
[30:9] 122 tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV); NRSV “of your body.”
[30:9] 123 tn Heb “return and.” The Hebrew verb is used idiomatically here to indicate the repetition of the following action.
[30:9] 124 tn The Hebrew text includes “for good.”
[30:10] 125 tn Heb “to the
[30:11] 126 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you.”
[30:16] 128 tc A number of LXX
[30:16] 129 tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:17] 130 tn Heb “your heart,” as a metonymy for the person.
[30:18] 131 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
[30:18] 132 tn Heb “to go there to possess it.”
[30:20] 133 tn The words “I also call on you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20 are one long sentence, which the translation divides into two.
[30:20] 134 tn Heb “he is your life and the length of your days to live.”
[31:1] 135 tc For the MT reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “he went”), the LXX and Qumran have וַיְכַל (vaykhal, “he finished”): “So Moses finished speaking,” etc. The difficult reading of the MT favors its authenticity.
[31:1] 136 tn In the MT this refers to the words that follow (cf. NIV, NCV).
[31:2] 137 tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”
[31:7] 138 tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[31:7] 139 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).
[31:10] 140 tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[31:10] 141 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּה (shÿmittah), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the procedure whereby debts of all fellow Israelites were to be canceled. Since the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s own deliverance of and provision for his people, this was an appropriate time for Israelites to release one another. See note on this word at Deut 15:1.
[31:10] 142 tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] ([khag] hassukot, “[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. See note on the name of the festival in Deut 16:13.
[31:11] 143 tn Heb “before all Israel.”
[31:13] 144 tn The phrase “this law” is not in the Hebrew text, but English style requires an object for the verb here. Other translations also supply the object which is otherwise implicit (cf. NIV “who do not know this law”; TEV “who have never heard the Law of the Lord your God”).
[31:14] 145 tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.
[31:14] 146 tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).
[31:14] 147 tn Heb “I will command him.”
[31:15] 148 tn Heb “and the pillar of cloud.” This phrase was not repeated in the translation; a relative clause was used instead.
[31:16] 149 tn Heb “lie down with your fathers” (so NASB); NRSV “ancestors.”
[31:16] 150 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style. The third person singular also occurs in the Hebrew text twice more in this verse, three times in v. 17, once in v. 18, five times in v. 20, and four times in v. 21. Each time it is translated as third person plural for stylistic reasons.
[31:16] 151 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:16] 152 tn Or “abandon” (TEV, NLT).
[31:16] 153 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 154 tn Heb “on that day.” This same expression also appears later in the verse and in v. 18.
[31:17] 155 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 156 tn Heb “find,” “encounter.”
[31:17] 157 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 158 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:17] 160 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
[31:17] 162 tn Heb “me.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “us,” which is necessary in any case in the translation because of contemporary English style.
[31:18] 163 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “certainly.”
[31:18] 164 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:20] 165 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:20] 166 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:20] 167 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:20] 168 tn Heb “and are satisfied.”
[31:20] 169 tn Heb “he.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “they.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:21] 170 tn Heb “Then it will come to pass that.”
[31:21] 171 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:21] 172 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:21] 173 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:21] 174 tn Heb “it will not be forgotten from the mouth of his seed.”
[31:21] 175 tn Heb “his.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “their.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:21] 176 tn Heb “which he is doing.”
[31:21] 177 tn Heb “him.” Smr, LXX, and the Targums read the plural “them.” See note on the first occurrence of “they” in v. 16.
[31:23] 178 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
[31:23] 179 tc The LXX reads, “as the
[31:25] 180 tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
[31:27] 181 tn Heb “stiffness of neck” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV). See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
[31:27] 182 tn Heb “How much more after my death?” The Hebrew text has a sarcastic rhetorical question here; the translation seeks to bring out the force of the question.
[31:29] 183 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “totally.”
[31:29] 184 tn Heb “do the evil.”
[31:29] 185 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
[32:2] 186 tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.
[32:3] 187 tc Smr and Tg read “in the name.”
[32:4] 188 tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”
[32:4] 189 tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).
[32:5] 190 tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).
[32:5] 191 tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”
[32:5] 192 tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.
[32:5] 193 tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.
[32:6] 194 tn Or “treat” (TEV).
[32:7] 195 tc The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read 2nd person masculine singular whereas the MT has 2nd person masculine plural. The former is preferred, the latter perhaps being a misreading (בִּינוּ [binu] for בִּינָה [binah]). Both the preceding (“remember”) and following (“ask”) imperatives are singular forms in the Hebrew text.
[32:7] 196 tn Heb “generation and generation.” The repetition of the singular noun here singles out each of the successive past generations. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3b.
[32:8] 197 tn The Hebrew term עֶליוֹן (’elyon) is an abbreviated form of the divine name El Elyon, frequently translated “God Most High” (so here NCV, CEV) or something similar. This full name (or epithet) occurs only in Gen 14, though the two elements are parallel in Ps 73:11; 107:11; etc. Here it is clear that Elyon has to do with the nations in general whereas in v. 9, by contrast, Yahweh relates specifically to Israel. See T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:400-401. The title depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world, who is enthroned high above his dominion.
[32:8] 198 tn Heb “the sons of man” (so NASB); or “the sons of Adam” (so KJV).
[32:8] 199 tc Heb “the sons of Israel.” The idea, perhaps, is that Israel was central to Yahweh’s purposes and all other nations were arranged and distributed according to how they related to Israel. See S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC), 355-56. For the MT יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bÿney yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) a Qumran fragment has “sons of God,” while the LXX reads ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelwn qeou, “angels of God”), presupposing בְּנֵי אֵל (bÿney ’el) or בְּנֵי אֵלִים (beney ’elim). “Sons of God” is undoubtedly the original reading; the MT and LXX have each interpreted it differently. MT assumes that the expression “sons of God” refers to Israel (cf. Hos. 1:10), while LXX has assumed that the phrase refers to the angelic heavenly assembly (Pss 29:1; 89:6; cf. as well Ps 82). The phrase is also attested in Ugaritic, where it refers to the high god El’s divine assembly. According to the latter view, which is reflected in the translation, the Lord delegated jurisdiction over the nations to his angelic host (cf. Dan. 10:13-21), while reserving for himself Israel, over whom he rules directly. For a defense of the view taken here, see M. S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52-74.
[32:9] 200 tc Heb “the portion of his inheritance.” The LXX and Smr add “Israel” and BHS suggests the reconstruction: “The
[32:10] 201 tn Heb “he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[32:10] 202 tn The reference is to “his people/Jacob” (cf. v. 9), that is, Israel (using a collective singular). The singular pronouns are replaced by plural ones throughout vv. 10-14 by some English versions as an aid to the modern reader (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT).
[32:10] 203 tn Heb “in an empty, howling wasteland.” The word “howling” is derived from a verbal root that typically refers to the wailing of mourners. Here it likely refers to the howling of desert animals, or perhaps to the howling wind, in which case one may translate, “in an empty, windy wasteland.”
[32:10] 204 tn Heb “was surrounding him.” The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing care during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.
[32:10] 205 tn Heb “he gave him understanding.” The form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.
[32:10] 206 tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing protection during the period in view. See A. F. Rainey, “The Ancient Hebrew Prefix Conjugation in the Light of Amarnah Canaanite,” Hebrew Studies 27 (1986): 15-16.
[32:10] 207 tn Heb “the little man.” The term אִישׁוֹן (’ishon) means literally “little man,” perhaps because when one looks into another’s eyes he sees himself reflected there in miniature. See A. Harman, NIDOTTE 1:391.
[32:11] 208 tn The prefixed verbal form is an imperfect, indicating habitual or typical behavior. The parallel verb (cf. “hovers” in the next line) is used in the same manner.
[32:11] 209 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[32:11] 210 tn The form of the suffix on this and the following verb forms (cf. “lifted him up”) indicates that the verbs are preterites, not imperfects. As such they simply state the action factually. The use of the preterite here suggests that the preceding verb (cf. “spread out”) is preterite as well.
[32:12] 211 tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing guidance during the period in view.
[32:13] 212 tn The form of the suffix on this verbal form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. Note as well the preterites with vav (ו) consecutive that follow in the verse.
[32:13] 213 tn Heb “he made him suck honey from the rock.”
[32:13] 214 tn Heb “oil,” but this probably refers to olive oil; see note on the word “rock” at the end of this verse.
[32:13] 216 sn Olive oil from rock probably suggests olive trees growing on rocky ledges and yet doing so productively. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 415; cf. TEV “their olive trees flourished in stony ground.”
[32:15] 217 tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).
[32:15] 218 tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.
[32:16] 219 tc Heb “with strange (things).” The Vulgate actually supplies diis (“gods”).
[32:16] 220 tn Heb “abhorrent (things)” (cf. NRSV). A number of English versions understand this as referring to “idols” (NAB, NIV, NCV, CEV), while NLT supplies “acts.”
[32:17] 221 tn Heb “your fathers.”
[32:18] 222 tc The Hebrew text is corrupt here; the translation follows the suggestion offered in HALOT 1477 s.v. שׁיה. Cf. NASB, NLT “You neglected”; NIV “You deserted”; NRSV “You were unmindful of.”
[32:20] 223 tn Heb “I will hide my face from them.”
[32:20] 224 tn Heb “sons” (so NAB, NASB); TEV “unfaithful people.”
[32:21] 225 sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.
[32:21] 226 tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”
[32:21] 227 tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).
[32:21] 228 tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).
[32:21] 229 tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”
[32:22] 230 tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”
[32:23] 231 tn Heb “upon them.”
[32:24] 232 tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).
[32:25] 233 tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.
[32:26] 234 tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).
[32:27] 237 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
[32:30] 238 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[32:30] 239 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[32:31] 240 tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[32:32] 242 sn Sodom…Gomorrah. The term “vine” is a reference to the pagan deities which, the passage says, find their ultimate source in Sodom and Gomorrah, that is, in the soil of perversion exemplified by these places (cf. Gen 18:20; 19:4-28; Isa 1:10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Ezek 16:44-52; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24).
[32:34] 243 tn Verses 34-35 appear to be a quotation of the
[32:35] 244 tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.
[32:36] 245 tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.
[32:39] 246 tn Verses 39-42 appear to be a quotation of the
[32:39] 247 tn Heb “deliver from” (so NRSV, NLT).
[32:41] 248 tn Heb “judgment.” This is a metonymy, a figure of speech in which the effect (judgment) is employed as an instrument (sword, spear, or the like), the means, by which it is brought about.
[32:41] 249 tn The Hebrew term שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) in this covenant context speaks of those who reject Yahweh’s covenant overtures, that is, who disobey its stipulations (see note on the word “rejecting” in Deut 5:9; also see Deut 7:10; 2 Chr 19:2; Ps 81:15; 139:20-21).
[32:42] 250 tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).
[32:44] 251 tn Heb “Hoshea” (so KJV, ASV), another name for the same individual (cf. Num 13:8, 16).
[32:49] 252 sn Abarim. This refers to the high plateau region of the Transjordan, the highest elevation of which is Mount Pisgah (or Nebo; cf. Deut 34:1). See also the note on the name “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.
[32:49] 253 map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[32:50] 254 tn In the Hebrew text the forms translated “you will die…and join” are imperatives, but the actions in view cannot really be commanded. The imperative is used here in a rhetorical, emphatic manner to indicate the certainty of Moses’ death on the mountain. On the rhetorical use of the imperative see IBHS 572 §34.4c.
[32:50] 255 tn Heb “be gathered to your people.” The same phrase occurs again later in this verse.
[32:50] 256 sn Mount Hor. See note on the name “Moserah” in Deut 10:6.
[32:51] 257 tn The use of the plural (“you”) in the Hebrew text suggests that Moses and Aaron are both in view here, since both had rebelled at some time or other, if not at Meribah Kadesh then elsewhere (cf. Num 20:24; 27:14).
[32:51] 258 tn Heb “did not esteem me holy.” Cf. NIV “did not uphold my holiness”; NLT “failed to demonstrate my holiness.”
[33:2] 259 tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).
[33:2] 260 tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.
[33:2] 261 tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[33:2] 262 tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.
[33:2] 263 tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.
[33:3] 264 tc Heb “peoples.” The apparent plural form is probably a misunderstood singular (perhaps with a pronominal suffix) with enclitic mem (ם). See HALOT 838 s.v. עַם B.2.
[33:3] 265 tc Heb “his holy ones.” The third person masculine singular suffix of the Hebrew MT is problematic in light of the second person masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדֶךָ (bÿyadekha, “your hands”). The LXX versions by Lucian and Origen read, therefore, “the holy ones.” The LXX version by Theodotion and the Vulgate, however, presuppose third masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדָיו (bÿyadayv, “his hands”), and thus retain “his holy ones.” The efforts to bring pronominal harmony into the line is commendable but unnecessary given the Hebrew tendency to be untroubled by such grammatical inconsistencies. However, the translation harmonizes the first pronoun with the second so that the referent (the Lord) is clear.
[33:3] 266 tn Heb “hands.” For the problem of the pronoun see note on the term “holy ones” earlier in this verse.
[33:3] 267 tn The Hebrew term תֻּכּוּ (tuku, probably Pual perfect of תָּכָה, takhah) is otherwise unknown. The present translation is based on the reference to feet and, apparently, receiving instruction in God’s words (cf. KJV, ASV). Other options are as follows: NIV “At your feet they all bow down” (cf. NCV, CEV); NLT “They follow in your steps” (cf. NAB, NASB); NRSV “they marched at your heels.”
[33:3] 268 tn The singular verbal form in the Hebrew text (lit. “he lifts up”) is understood in a distributive manner, focusing on the action of each individual within the group.
[33:4] 269 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) here should be understood more broadly as instruction.
[33:5] 270 tn Heb “he was king.” The present translation avoids the sudden shift in person and the mistaken impression that Moses is the referent by specifying the referent as “the
[33:5] 271 sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.
[33:5] 272 sn The following blessing is given to the tribes in order, although the tribe of Simeon is curiously missing from the list.
[33:6] 273 tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
[33:7] 274 tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
[33:8] 275 sn Thummim and Urim. These terms, whose meaning is uncertain, refer to sacred stones carried in a pouch on the breastplate of the high priest and examined on occasion as a means of ascertaining God’s will or direction. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6. See also C. Van Dam, NIDOTTE 1:329-31.
[33:8] 276 tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.
[33:8] 277 sn Massah means “testing” in Hebrew; the name is a wordplay on what took place there. Cf. Exod 17:7; Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 95:8-9.
[33:8] 278 sn Meribah means “contention, argument” in Hebrew; this is another wordplay on the incident that took place there. Cf. Num 20:13, 24; Ps 106:32.
[33:9] 279 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).
[33:11] 280 tn Heb “smash the sinews [or “loins,” so many English versions].” This part of the body was considered to be center of one’s strength (cf. Job 40:16; Ps 69:24; Prov 31:17; Nah 2:2, 11). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 325.
[33:12] 281 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[33:12] 282 tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.
[33:13] 283 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
[33:14] 284 tn Heb “goings forth of the sun.”
[33:14] 285 tn Heb “and from the harvest of the yield of.” This has been simplified in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[33:14] 286 tn Heb “the moon.” Many English versions regard this as a reference to “months” (“moons”) rather than the moon itself (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
[33:15] 287 tn Heb “head” or “top.”
[33:16] 288 tn The expression “him who resided in the bush” is frequently understood as a reference to the appearance of the Lord to Moses at Sinai from a burning bush (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT; cf. Exod 2:2-6; 3:2, 4). To make this reference clear the word “burning” is supplied in the translation.
[33:16] 289 sn This apparently refers to Joseph’s special status among his brothers as a result of his being chosen by God to save the family from the famine and to lead Egypt.
[33:17] 290 sn Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became founders of the two tribes into which Joseph’s descendants were split (Gen 48:19-20). Jacob’s blessing granted favored status to Ephraim; this is probably why Ephraim is viewed here as more numerous than Manasseh.
[33:19] 291 tn Or “acceptable”; Heb “righteous” (so NASB).
[33:19] 293 tn Heb “of the sand” (so NRSV, NLT); CEV “the sandy beach.”
[33:20] 294 tn Heb “forehead,” picturing Gad attacking prey.
[33:21] 295 tn The Hebrew term מְחֹקֵק (mÿkhoqeq; Poel participle of חָקַק, khaqaq, “to inscribe”) reflects the idea that the recorder of allotments (the “ruler”) is able to set aside for himself the largest and best. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 444-45.
[33:21] 296 tn Heb “covered in” (if from the root סָפַן, safan; cf. HALOT 764-65 s.v. ספן qal).
[33:21] 297 tn Heb “heads” (in the sense of chieftains).
[33:22] 298 sn He will leap forth from Bashan. This may refer to Dan’s conquest of Laish, a region just to the west of Bashan (Judg 18:27-28).
[33:24] 299 sn Dip his foot in olive oil. This is a metaphor for prosperity, one especially apt in light of the abundance of olive groves in the area settled by Asher. The Hebrew term refers to olive oil, which symbolizes blessing in the OT. See R. Way, NIDOTTE 4:171-73.
[33:25] 300 tn The words “of your gates” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of “bars.”
[33:26] 301 sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.
[33:26] 302 tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.
[33:27] 303 tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the
[33:28] 304 tn Heb “all alone.” The idea is that such vital resources as water will some day no longer need protection because God will provide security.
[33:28] 305 tn Or “skies.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[33:28] 306 tn Or perhaps “drizzle, showers.” See note at Deut 32:2.
