Category: Deuteronomy

1 And so, Moses went out, and he spoke all these words to all of Israel.

2 And he said to them: “Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to go out and return, especially since the Lord has also said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’

3 Therefore, the Lord your God will go across before you. He himself will abolish all these nations in your sight, and you shall possess them. And this man Joshua shall go across before you, just as the Lord has spoken.

4 And the Lord will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, and he will wipe them away.

5 Therefore, when the Lord will have delivered these to you also, you shall act similarly toward them, just as I have instructed you.

6 Act manfully and be strengthened. Do not be afraid, and do not dread at the sight of them. For the Lord your God himself is your commander, and he will neither dismiss nor abandon you.”

7 And Moses called Joshua, and, before all of Israel, he said to him: ‘Be strong and valiant. For you shall lead this people into the land which the Lord swore that he would give to their fathers, and you shall divide it by lot.

8 And the Lord, who is your commander, will himself be with you. He will neither renounce nor abandon you. Do not be afraid, and do not dread.”

9 And so, Moses wrote this law, and he handed it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

10 And he instructed them, saying: “After seven years, in the year of remission, at the solemnity of the Feast of Tabernacles,

11 when all of Israel has convened in order to appear in the sight of the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord will choose, you shall read the words of this law before all of Israel, in their hearing.

12 And when the people have gathered together, men as well as women and little children, and the new arrivals who are within your gates, they shall listen so that they may learn, and may fear the Lord your God, and may keep and fulfill all the words of this law,

13 and also so that their sons, who are now ignorant, may be able to listen, and may fear the Lord their God all the days that they live in the land to which you will travel, crossing the Jordan in order to obtain it.”

14 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, the days of your death draw near. Call Joshua, and stand in the tabernacle of the testimony, so that I may instruct him.” Therefore, Moses and Joshua went and stood in the tabernacle of the testimony.

15 And the Lord appeared there, in a pillar of cloud, which stood at the entrance of the tabernacle.

16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up and will fornicate after foreign gods, in the land which they will enter so that they may live in it. In that place, they will forsake me, and they will make void the covenant that I have formed with them.

17 And my fury will be enraged against them in that day. And I will abandon them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured. Every evil and affliction will find them, so much so that they will say in that day: ‘Truly, it is because God is not with me that these evils have found me.’

18 But I will hide myself, and I will conceal my face in that day, because of all the evils that they have done, because they have followed strange gods.

19 And so, write this canticle now, and teach it to the sons of Israel, so that they may retain it in memory, and may chant it by mouth, and so that this verse may be a testimony to me among the sons of Israel.

20 For I will lead them into the land, about which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. And when they have eaten, and have been satiated and fattened, they will turn aside to foreign gods, and they will serve them. And they will disparage me, and they will nullify my covenant.

21 And after many evils and afflictions have overwhelmed them, this canticle will answer them as a testimony; it shall never pass into oblivion, away from the mouths of their offspring. For I know their thoughts and what they are about to do today, even before I lead them into the land which I have promised to them.”

22 Therefore, Moses wrote the canticle, and he taught it to the sons of Israel.

23 And the Lord instructed Joshua, the son of Nun, and he said: “Be strong and valiant. For you shall lead the sons of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with you.”

24 Therefore, after Moses had written the words of this law in a volume, and had finished it,

25 he instructed the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:

26 “Take this book, and place it inside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may be there as a testimony against you.

27 For I know your contentiousness and your very stiff neck. Even while I am still living and entering with you, you have always acted with contention against the Lord. How much more so when I will be dead?

28 Gather to me all those greater by birth throughout your tribes, as well as your teachers, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and I will call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

29 For I know that, after my death, you will act with iniquity, and you will quickly depart from the way that I have instructed to you. And so, evils will meet you in the end time, when you will have done evil in the sight of the Lord so as to provoke him through the works of your hands.”

30 Thus did Moses speak, in the hearing of the entire assembly of Israel, the words of this canticle, and he completed it to its very end.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

28 They are a nation without counsel and without prudence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 This is the blessing, with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before his death.

2 And he said: “The Lord went forth from Sinai, and he arose for us from Seir. He appeared from Mount Paran, and thousands of holy ones were with him. The fiery law was in his right hand.

3 He loved the people; all the holy ones are in his hand. And those who approach his feet shall receive from his doctrine.

4 Moses instructed us in the law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob.

5 The king shall have great righteousness, at the gathering of the princes of the people with the tribes of Israel.

6 Let Ruben live, and not die, and may he be small in number.”

7 This is the blessing of Judah. “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and lead him to his people. His hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his adversaries.”

8 Likewise, to Levi he said: “Your perfection and your doctrine are for your holy man, whom you have proven by temptation, and whom you have judged at the Waters of Contradiction.

9 He has said to his father and to his mother, ‘I do not know you,’ and to his brothers, ‘I will disregard you.’ And they have not known their own sons. Such as these have kept your word and have observed your covenant:

10 your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O Israel. They shall place incense before your fury and a holocaust upon your altar.

11 O Lord, bless his strength, and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his enemies, and do not let those who hate him rise up.”

12 And to Benjamin he said: “The most beloved of the Lord will live confidently in him. He shall remain all day long, as if in a bridal chamber, and he shall rest amid her arms.”

13 Likewise, to Joseph he said: “His land shall be from the blessing of the Lord, from the fruits of heaven, and from the dew, and from the abyss which lies below,

14 from the fruits of the crops under the sun and the moon,

15 from the heights of the ancient mountains, from the fruits of the everlasting hills,

16 and from the fruits of the earth with all its plenitude. May the blessing of him who appeared in the bush, settle upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of the Nazarite among his brothers.

17 His excellence is like that of a first-born bull. His horns are like the horns of a rhinoceros; he shall brandish these against the Gentiles, even to the ends of the earth. These are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh.”

18 And to Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, O Zebulun, in your departure, and Issachar, in your tabernacles.

19 They shall summon the peoples to the mountain. There, they shall immolate the victims of justice, who feed on the flood of the sea, as if on milk, and on the hidden treasures of the sands.”

20 And to Gad he said: “Blessed is Gad in his breadth. He has rested like a lion, and he has seized the arm and the top of the head.

21 And he has seen his own pre-eminence, which his teacher has stored up as his portion. He was with the princes of the people, and he accomplished the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.”

22 Likewise, to Dan he said: “Dan is a young lion. He shall flow plentifully from Bashan.”

23 And to Naphtali he said: “Naphtali shall enjoy abundance, and he shall be full of the blessings of the Lord. He shall possess the sea and the Meridian.”

24 Likewise, to Asher he said: “Let Asher be blessed with sons. Let him be pleasing to his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.

25 His shoe shall be of iron and of brass. As were the days of your youth, so also shall be your old age.

26 There is no other god like the God of the most righteous one. He who rides upon the heavens is your helper. His magnificence scatters the clouds.

27 His habitation is above, and the everlasting arms are below. He shall cast out the enemy before your face, and he shall say: ‘Be utterly broken!’

28 Israel shall live in confidence and alone, as the eye of Jacob in a land of grain and of wine; and the heavens shall be misty with dew.

29 Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, the people who are saved by the Lord? He is the shield of your assistance and the sword of your glory. Your enemies will refuse to acknowledge you, and so you shall tread upon their necks.”

1 Therefore, Moses ascended from the plains of Moab onto Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And the Lord revealed to him the entire land of Gilead, as far as Dan,

2 and all of Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the entire land of Judah, even to the furthest sea,

3 and the southern region, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho, the city of palms, as far as Zoar.

4 And the Lord said to him: “This is the land, about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. You have seen it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over to it.”

5 And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died in that place, in the land of Moab, by order of the Lord.

6 And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Peor. And no man knows where his sepulcher is, even to the present day.

7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dimmed, nor were his teeth displaced.

8 And the sons of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days. And then the days of their wailing, during which they mourned Moses, were completed.

9 Truly, Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the sons of Israel were obedient to him, and they did as the Lord instructed Moses.

10 And no other prophet rose up in Israel like Moses, one whom the Lord knew face to face,

11 one with all the signs and wonders, which he sent through him, to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land,

12 nor one with such a powerful hand and such great miracles as Moses did in the sight of all Israel.