Moses' Final Blessing on Israel

33 This is the blessing with which Moses (A)the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. He said,

(B)“The Lord came from Sinai
    and dawned from Seir upon us;[a]
    he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came (C)from the ten thousands of holy ones,
    with flaming fire[b] at his right hand.
Yes, (D)he loved his people,[c]
    (E)all his holy ones were in his[d] hand;
(F)so they followed[e] in your steps,
    receiving direction from you,
when (G)Moses commanded us a law,
    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
Thus the Lord[f] (H)became king in (I)Jeshurun,
    when the heads of the people were gathered,
    all the tribes of Israel together.

(J)“Let Reuben live, and not die,
    but let his men be few.”

And this he said of Judah:

“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
    and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend[g] for him,
    and be a help against his adversaries.”

And (K)of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi[h] (L)your Thummim,
    and your Urim to your godly one,
(M)whom you tested at Massah,
    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I regard them not’;
(N)he disowned his brothers
    and ignored his children.
For (O)they observed your word
    and kept your covenant.
10 (P)They shall teach Jacob your rules
    and Israel your law;
(Q)they shall put incense before you
    and (R)whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
    and (S)accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

12 (T)Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God[i] surrounds him all day long,
    and dwells between his shoulders.”

13 And (U)of Joseph he said,

(V)“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
    with the choicest gifts of heaven (W)above,[j]
    and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14 with the choicest fruits of the sun
    and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
    and the abundance of (X)the everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and (Y)its fullness
    and the favor of (Z)him who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
17 (AA)A firstborn bull[k]—he has majesty,
    and his horns are the horns of a (AB)wild ox;
with them (AC)he shall gore the peoples,
    all of them, to the ends of the earth;
(AD)they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18 And of Zebulun he said,

(AE)“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples (AF)to their mountain;
    there they offer (AG)right sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
    and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

20 And (AH)of Gad he said,

“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
    Gad crouches (AI)like a lion;
    he tears off arm and scalp.
21 (AJ)He chose the best of the land for himself,
    for there a commander's portion was reserved;
and (AK)he came with the heads of the people,
    with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
    and his judgments for Israel.”

22 And (AL)of Dan he said,

(AM)“Dan is a lion's cub
    (AN)that leaps from Bashan.”

23 And (AO)of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
    and full of the blessing of the Lord,
    (AP)possess the lake[l] and the south.”

24 And (AQ)of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
    let him be the favorite of his brothers,
    and let him (AR)dip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
    and as your days, so shall your strength be.

26 (AS)“There is none like God, O (AT)Jeshurun,
    (AU)who rides through the heavens to your help,
    through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is your (AV)dwelling place,[m]
    and underneath are the everlasting arms.[n]
And he thrust out the enemy before you
    and said, ‘Destroy.’
28 So Israel lived in safety,
    (AW)Jacob lived (AX)alone,[o]
in a land of grain and wine,
    whose heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! (AY)Who is like you,
    a people (AZ)saved by the Lord,
(BA)the shield of your help,
    and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
    and you shall tread upon their backs.”

The Death of Moses

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab (BB)to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah (BC)as far as the western sea, (BD)the Negeb, and (BE)the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho (BF)the city of palm trees, as far as (BG)Zoar. And the Lord said to him, (BH)“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ (BI)I have let you see it with your eyes, but (BJ)you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but (BK)no one knows the place of his burial to this day. (BL)Moses was 120 years old when he died. (BM)His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel (BN)wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And Joshua the son of Nun was full of (BO)the spirit of wisdom, for (BP)Moses had laid his hands on him. So (BQ)the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not (BR)arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, (BS)whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all (BT)the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them
  2. Deuteronomy 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  3. Deuteronomy 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples
  4. Deuteronomy 33:3 Hebrew your
  5. Deuteronomy 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  6. Deuteronomy 33:5 Hebrew Thus he
  7. Deuteronomy 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended
  8. Deuteronomy 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi
  9. Deuteronomy 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He
  10. Deuteronomy 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew
  11. Deuteronomy 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull
  12. Deuteronomy 33:23 Or west
  13. Deuteronomy 33:27 Or a dwelling place
  14. Deuteronomy 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old
  15. Deuteronomy 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone

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