the LORD will acquit his people,
will have compassion on those who serve him,
once he sees that their strength is all gone,
that both prisoners and free people are wiped out.v
37The Lord will ask, "Where are their gods--
the rocks they trusted in--
38who ate up the fat of their sacrifices,
who drank their sacred wine?
They should stand up and help you!
They should protect you now!
39Now, look here: I myself, I'm the one;
there are no other gods with me.
I'm the one who deals death and gives life;
I'm the one who wounded, but now I will heal.
There's no escaping my hand.
40But now I'm lifting my hand to heaven--
I swear by my own eternity:
41when I sharpen my blazing sword
and my hand grabs hold of justice,
I'll pay my enemies back;
I'll punish in kind everyone who hates me.
42I'll make my arrows drink much blood,
while my sword devours flesh,
the blood of the dead and captured,
flowing from the heads of enemy generals."w
43Heavens:x Rejoice with God!y
All you gods: bow down to the Lord!z
Because he will avenge his children'sa blood;
he will pay back his enemies;
he will punish in kind those who hate him;b
he will cleanse his people's land.c
44So Moses came and recited all the words of this poem in everyone's hearing; Joshua,d Nun's son, joined him. 45When Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he told them: Set your mind on all these words I'm testifying against you right now, because you must command your children to perform carefully all the words of this Instruction. 47This is no trivial matter for you--this is your very life! It is by this meanse alone that you will prolong your life on the fertile land you are crossing the Jordan River to possess.
Moses' death imminent
48The LORD spoke to Moses that very same day: 49"Hike up the Abarim mountains, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho. Take a good look at the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to the Israelites as their property. 50You will die on the mountain you have hiked up, and you will be gathered to your people just like your brother Aaron, who died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,51because the two of you were unfaithful toward me in front of the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh, in the Zin wilderness, because you didn't treat me with proper respect before the Israelites. 52You can look at the land from the other side of the river,f but you won't enter there."g
The fourth heading: Moses' blessing
Deuteronomy 33This is the blessing that Moses the man of God gave the Israelites before he died. 2He said:
The LORD came from Sinai:
from Seir he shone like the dawn on us,h
from Paran Mountain he beamed down.
Thousands of holy ones were with him;i
his warriors were next to him, ready.j
3Yes, those who lovek the nations--
all his holy ones--were at your command;
they followed your footsteps;
they got moving when you said so.
4Moses gave the Instruction to us--
it's the prized possession of Jacob's assembly.
5A king came to rule in Jeshurun,
when the people's leaders gathered together,
when Israel's tribes were one.
6"I pray that Reuben lives, doesn't die,
though his numbers are so few."
7Moses said this to Judah:
"LORD, listen to Judah's voice!
Bring him back to his own people,
strengthen his hands;l
be his help against every enemy."
8Then he told Levi:
"Give your Thummim to Levi,m
your Urim to your faithful one--
the one you tested at Massah,
the one you challenged by Meribah's waters;
9the one who said of his own mother and father:
'I don't consider them as such';
of their siblings: 'I don't recognize them';
of their own children, 'I don't know them'--
but who obeyed your words
and who guarded your covenant!
10They teach your case laws to Jacob,
your Instruction to Israel.
They hold sweet incense to your nose;
put the entirely burned offering on your altar.
11I pray that the LORD blesses Levi's strength,
favors his hard work,
and crushes the insides of his enemies
so that those who hate him can't fight anymore."
12He said to Benjamin:
"The LORD's dearest one
rests safely on him.
The Lord always shields him;
he rests on God's chest."
13Then he told Joseph:
"I pray that his land is blessed by God:
with heaven's gifts from above,n
with the deep waters stretching out underneath;
14with the gifts produced by the sun,
with the gifts generated by the moon;o
15with the best fruit from ancient mountains,
with the gifts of eternal hills;
16with the gifts of the earth and all that fills it,
and the favor of the one who lives on Sinai.p
I pray that all these rest on Joseph's head,
on the crown of that prince among brothers.
17A firstborn bullq --that's how majestic he is!
A wild ox's horns--those are his horns!
With them he gores all peoples
completely, to