Blessings for Obedience

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully followg all his commandsh I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.i 2 All these blessings will come on youj and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 You will be blessedk in the city and blessed in the country.l

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.m

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.n

7 The Lord will grant that the enemieso who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.p

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will blessq you in the land he is giving you.

9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people,r as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commandss of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the namet of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestocku and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.v

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehousew of his bounty,x to send rainy on your land in season and to blessz all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.a 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully followb them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.c 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left,d following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obeye the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,f all these curses will come on you and overtake you:g

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.h

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.i

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.j

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.k

20 The Lord will send on you curses,l confusion and rebukem in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruinn because of the evilo you have done in forsaking him.a 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.p 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,q with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,r with blights and mildew, which will plaguet you until you perish.u 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.v 24 The Lord will turn the rainw of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeatedx before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,y and you will become a thing of horrorz to all the kingdoms on earth.a 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birdsb and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.c 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egyptd and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will gropee about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescuef you.

30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.g You will build a house, but you will not live in it.h You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.i 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,j and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppressionk all your days.l 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.m 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boilsn that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.o

36 The Lord will drive you and the kingp you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.q There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.r 37 You will become a thing of horror,s a bywordt and an object of ridiculeu among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.v

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,w because locustsx will devoury it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the winez or gather the grapes, because worms will eata them.b 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.c 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.d 42 Swarms of locustse will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.f 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.g They will be the head, but you will be the tail.h

45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake youi until you are destroyed,j because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.k 47 Because you did not servel the Lord your God joyfully and gladlym in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst,n in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yokeo on your neckp until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against youq from far away, from the ends of the earth,r like an eagles swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,t 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the oldu or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new winev or olive oil,w nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.x 52 They will lay siegey to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.z

53 Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.a 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.b 56 The most gentle and sensitivec woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughterd 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat theme secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,f which are written in this book, and do not revereg this glorious and awesome nameh—the Lord your God—59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypti that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,j until you are destroyed.k 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the skyl will be left but fewm in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleasedn the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will pleaseo him to ruin and destroy you.p You will be uprootedq from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatterr you among all nations,s from one end of the earth to the other.t There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.u 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting placev for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyesw weary with longing, and a despairing heart.x 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.y 68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.z There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

Renewal of the Covenant

29 a These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,a in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.b

2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.c 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.d 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.e 5 Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I ledf you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.g 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.h I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”i

7 When you reached this place, Sihonj king of Heshbonk and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.l 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritancem to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.n

9 Carefully followo the terms of this covenant,p so that you may prosper in everything you do.q 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.r 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people,s that he may be your Godt as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant,u with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.v

16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. 17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.w 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turnsx away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.y

19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessingz on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”a they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgiveb them; his wrath and zealc will burnd against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blote out their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,f according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.g

22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.h 23 The whole land will be a burning wastei of saltj and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,k Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.l 24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?m Why this fierce, burning anger?”

25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.n 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.o 28 In furious anger and in great wrathp the Lord uprootedq them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God,r but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.s

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and cursest I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,u 2 and when you and your children returnv to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heartw and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunesa x and have compassiony on you and gatherz you again from all the nations where he scattereda you.b 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,c from there the Lord your God will gatherd you and bring you back.e 5 He will bringf you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerousg than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,h so that you may lovei him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these cursesj on your enemies who hate and persecute you.k 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.l The Lord will again delightm in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Lawn and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.o

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.p 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heavenq to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”r 13 Nor is it beyond the sea,s so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”t 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.u

15 See, I set before you today lifev and prosperity,w deathx and destruction.y 16 For I command you today to lovez the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will livea and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.b You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against youc that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.d Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may lovee the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,f and he will giveg you many years in the landh he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years oldi and I am no longer able to lead you.j The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’k 3 The Lord your God himself will crossl over ahead of you.m He will destroy these nationsn before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will crosso over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,p the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliverq them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous.r Do not be afraid or terrifieds because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;t he will never leave youu nor forsakev you.”

7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and saidw to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,x and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;y he will never leave you nor forsake you.z Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

9 So Moses wrotea down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carriedb the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,c during the Festival of Tabernacles,d 11 when all Israel comes to appeare before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,f you shall read this lawg before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learnh to feari the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children,j who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

14 The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your deathk is near. Call Joshual and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.m” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.n

15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.o 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,p and these people will soon prostituteq themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsaker me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angrys with them and forsaket them; I will hideu my facev from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disastersw and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’x 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

19 “Now writey down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witnessz for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,a and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other godsb and worship them,c rejecting me and breaking my covenant.d 21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them,e this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,f even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” 22 So Moses wroteg down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

23 The Lord gave this commandh to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,i for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

24 After Moses finished writingj in a book the words of this lawk from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carriedl the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.m 27 For I know how rebelliousn and stiff-neckedo you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.p 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corruptq and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disasterr will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

32 Listen,s you heavens,t and I will speak;

hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.u

2 Let my teaching fall like rainv

and my words descend like dew,w

like showersx on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

3 I will proclaimy the name of the Lord.z

Oh, praise the greatnessa of our God!

4 He is the Rock,b his works are perfect,c

and all his ways are just.

A faithful Godd who does no wrong,

uprighte and just is he.f

5 They are corrupt and not his children;

to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.g

6 Is this the way you repayh the Lord,

you foolishi and unwise people?j

Is he not your Father,k your Creator,a

who made you and formed you?l

7 Remember the days of old;m

consider the generations long past.n

Ask your father and he will tell you,

your elders, and they will explain to you.o

8 When the Most Highp gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided all mankind,q

he set up boundariesr for the peoples

according to the number of the sons of Israel.b s

9 For the Lord’s portiont is his people,

Jacob his allotted inheritance.u

10 In a desertv land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.w

He shieldedx him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,y

11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young,z

that spreads its wings to catch them

and carries them aloft.a

12 The Lord alone ledb him;c

no foreign god was with him.d

13 He made him ride on the heightse of the land

and fed him with the fruit of the fields.

He nourished him with honey from the rock,f

and with oilg from the flinty crag,

14 with curds and milk from herd and flock

and with fattened lambs and goats,

with choice rams of Bashanh

and the finest kernels of wheat.i

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.j

15 Jeshurunc k grew fatl and kicked;

filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandonedm the God who made them

and rejected the Rockn their Savior.

16 They made him jealouso with their foreign gods

and angeredp him with their detestable idols.

17 They sacrificedq to false gods,r which are not God—

gods they had not known,s

gods that recently appeared,t

gods your ancestors did not fear.

18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgotu the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected themv

because he was angered by his sons and daughters.w

20 “I will hide my facex from them,” he said,

“and see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,y

children who are unfaithful.z

21 They made me jealousa by what is no god

and angered me with their worthless idols.b

I will make them envious by those who are not a people;

I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.c

22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,d

one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.e

It will devourf the earth and its harvestsg

and set afire the foundations of the mountains.h

23 “I will heap calamitiesi on them

and spend my arrowsj against them.

24 I will send wasting faminek against them,

consuming pestilencel and deadly plague;m

I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,n

the venom of viperso that glide in the dust.p

25 In the street the sword will make them childless;

in their homes terrorq will reign.r

The young men and young women will perish,

the infants and those with gray hair.s

26 I said I would scattert them

and erase their name from human memory,u

27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest the adversary misunderstandv

and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;

the Lord has not done all this.’ ”w

28 They are a nation without sense,

there is no discernmentx in them.

29 If only they were wise and would understand thisy

and discern what their end will be!z

30 How could one man chase a thousand,

or two put ten thousand to flight,a

unless their Rock had sold them,b

unless the Lord had given them up?c

31 For their rock is not like our Rock,d

as even our enemies concede.e

32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodomf

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are filled with poison,g

and their clusters with bitterness.h

33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,

the deadly poison of cobras.i

34 “Have I not kept this in reserve

and sealed it in my vaults?j

35 It is mine to avenge;k I will repay.l

In due time their foot will slip;m

their day of disaster is near

and their doom rushes upon them.n”

36 The Lord will vindicate his peopleo

and relentp concerning his servantsq

when he sees their strength is gone

and no one is left, slaver or free.d

37 He will say: “Now where are their gods,

the rock they took refuge in,s

38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?t

Let them rise up to help you!

Let them give you shelter!

39 “See now that I myself am he!u

There is no god besides me.v

I put to deathw and I bring to life,x

I have wounded and I will heal,y

and no one can deliver out of my hand.z

40 I lift my handa to heaven and solemnly swear:

As surely as I live forever,b

41 when I sharpen my flashing swordc

and my hand grasps it in judgment,

I will take vengeanced on my adversaries

and repay those who hate me.e

42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,f

while my sword devours flesh:g

the blood of the slain and the captives,

the heads of the enemy leaders.”

43 Rejoice,h you nations, with his people,e,f

for he will avenge the blood of his servants;i

he will take vengeance on his enemiesj

and make atonement for his land and people.k

44 Moses came with Joshuag l son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day,m so that you may commandn your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.o By them you will live longp in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48 On that same day the Lord told Moses,q 49 “Go up into the Abarimr Range to Mount Nebos in Moab, across from Jericho,t and view Canaan,u the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will diev and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron diedw on Mount Horx and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadeshy in the Desert of Zinz and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.a 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance;b you will not enterc the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Moses Blesses the Tribes

33:1–29Ref—Ge 49:1–28

33 This is the blessingd that Moses the man of Gode pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2 He said:

“The Lord came from Sinaif

and dawned over them from Seir;g

he shone forthh from Mount Paran.i

He came witha myriads of holy onesj

from the south, from his mountain slopes.b

3 Surely it is you who lovek the people;

all the holy ones are in your hand.l

At your feet they all bow down,m

and from you receive instruction,

4 the law that Moses gave us,n

the possession of the assembly of Jacob.o

5 He was kingp over Jeshurunc q

when the leaders of the people assembled,

along with the tribes of Israel.

6 “Let Reuben live and not die,

nord his people be few.”r

7 And this he said about Judah:s

“Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah;

bring him to his people.

With his own hands he defends his cause.

Oh, be his help against his foes!”

8 About Levit he said:

“Your Thummim and Urimu belong

to your faithful servant.v

You testedw him at Massah;

you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.x

9 He said of his father and mother,y

‘I have no regard for them.’

He did not recognize his brothers

or acknowledge his own children,

but he watched over your word

and guarded your covenant.z

10 He teachesa your precepts to Jacob

and your law to Israel.b

He offers incense before youc

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.d

11 Bless all his skills, Lord,

and be pleased with the work of his hands.e

Strike down those who rise against him,

his foes till they rise no more.”

12 About Benjaminf he said:

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,g

for he shields him all day long,h

and the one the Lord lovesi rests between his shoulders.j”

13 About Josephk he said:

“May the Lord bless his land

with the precious dew from heaven above

and with the deep waters that lie below;l

14 with the best the sun brings forth

and the finest the moon can yield;

15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountainsm

and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;

16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.n

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince amonge his brothers.o

17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;

his hornsp are the horns of a wild ox.q

With them he will gorer the nations,

even those at the ends of the earth.

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;s

such are the thousands of Manasseh.t”

18 About Zebulunu he said:

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and you, Issachar,v in your tents.

19 They will summon peoples to the mountainw

and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous;x

they will feast on the abundance of the seas,y

on the treasures hidden in the sand.”

20 About Gadz he said:

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain!a

Gad lives there like a lion,

tearing at arm or head.

21 He chose the best land for himself;b

the leader’s portion was kept for him.c

When the heads of the people assembled,

he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,d

and his judgments concerning Israel.”

22 About Dane he said:

“Dan is a lion’s cub,

springing out of Bashan.”

23 About Naphtalif he said:

“Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord

and is full of his blessing;

he will inherit southward to the lake.”

24 About Asherg he said:

“Most blessed of sons is Asher;

let him be favored by his brothers,

and let him bathe his feet in oil.h

25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,i

and your strength will equal your days.j

26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,k

who ridesl across the heavens to help youm

and on the cloudsn in his majesty.o

27 The eternalp God is your refuge,q

and underneath are the everlastingr arms.

He will drive out your enemies before you,s

saying, ‘Destroy them!’t

28 So Israel will live in safety;u

Jacob will dwellf secure

in a land of grain and new wine,

where the heavens drop dew.v

29 Blessed are you, Israel!w

Who is like you,x

a people saved by the Lord?y

He is your shield and helperz

and your glorious sword.

Your enemies will cower before you,

and you will tread on their heights.a”

The Death of Moses

34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebob from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah,c across from Jericho.d There the Lord showede him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,f 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,g 3 the Negevh and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms,i as far as Zoar.j 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oathk to Abraham, Isaac and Jacobl when I said, ‘I will give itm to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not crossn over into it.”

5 And Moses the servant of the Lordo diedp there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried hima in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor,q but to this day no one knows where his grave is.r 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years olds when he died, yet his eyes were not weakt nor his strength gone.u 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moabv thirty days,w until the time of weeping and mourningx was over.

9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spiritb of wisdomy because Moses had laid his hands on him.z So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 Since then, no propheta has risen in Israel like Moses,b whom the Lord knew face to face,c 11 who did all those signs and wondersd the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officialse and to his whole land. 12 For no one hasf ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deedsg that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Joshua

After Moses’ death, Joshua became the leader of God’s people. He commanded the armies that conquered much of the territory in the promised land. This book is the first of the twelve books of the Israelites’ history. The book of Joshua recalls their move into the land of Canaan, the allotment of inheritances to the twelve tribes, and the establishment of a kingdom that lasted almost 500 years.

Joshua Installed as Leader

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,a the Lord said to Joshuab son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan Riverc into the landd I am about to give to theme—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot,f as I promised Moses.g 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,h and from the great river, the Euphratesi—all the Hittitej country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.k 5 No one will be able to stand against youl all the days of your life. As I was withm Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsaken you. 6 Be strongo and courageous,p because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestorsq to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obeyr all the laws my servant Mosest gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,u that you may be successful wherever you go.v 8 Keep this Book of the Laww always on your lips;x meditatey on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.z 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;a do not be discouraged,b for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”c

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:d 11 “Go through the campe and tell the people, ‘Get your provisionsf ready. Three daysg from now you will cross the Jordanh here to go in and take possessioni of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ”

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,j Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you restk by giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives,l your children and your livestock may stay in the landm that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle,n must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.o You are to help them 15 until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”p

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.q 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.r Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obeys it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!t”