Deu 32:1-43 | ESV | STEP | Give ear , O heavens , and I will speak , and let the earth hear the words of my mouth .

‏ Deuteronomy 32:1-43

1 “Give ear, ^aO heavens, and I will speak,
and let ^bthe earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May ^cmy teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and ^dlike showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe ^egreatness to our God!
4 ^f“The Rock, ^ghis work is perfect,
for ^hall his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and ⁱwithout iniquity,
just and upright is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children ^jbecause they are blemished;
they are ^ka crooked and twisted generation.
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he ^lyour father, who ^mcreated you,
who ⁿmade you and established you?
7 ^oRemember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
^pask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High ^qgave to the nations their inheritance,
when he ^rdivided mankind,
he fixed the borders ^{▼▼Or territories} of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God. ^{▼▼Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel}
9 But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
10 “He found him ^uin a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he ^vencircled him, he cared for him,
he ^wkept him as the apple of his eye.
11 ^xLike an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 ^ythe Lord alone guided him,
^zno foreign god was with him.
13 ^aaHe made him ride on the high places of the land,
and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with ^abhoney out of the rock,
and ^acoil out of ^adthe flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat ^{▼▼That is, with the best} of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
with the very finest ^{▼▼Hebrew with the kidney fat} of the wheat—
and you drank foaming wine made from ^agthe blood of the grape.
15 “But ^ahJeshurun grew fat, and ^aikicked;
^ajyou grew fat, stout, and sleek;
^akthen he forsook God ^alwho made him
and scoffed at ^amthe Rock of his salvation.
16 ^anThey stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 ^aoThey sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
to gods they had never known,
to ^apnew gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of ^aqthe Rock that bore ^{▼▼Or fathered} you,
and you ^asforgot the God who gave you birth.
19 ^at“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
because of the provocation of ^auhis sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, ^av‘I will hide my face from them;
I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 ^awThey have made me jealous with what is no god;
they have provoked me to anger ^axwith their idols.
So ^ayI will make them jealous with those who are no people;
I will provoke them to anger with ^aza foolish nation.
22 For ^baa fire is kindled by my anger,
and it burns to ^bbthe depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
^bcI will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured by plague
and poisonous pestilence;
I will send ^bdthe teeth of beasts against them,
with the venom of ^bethings that crawl in the dust.
25 ^bfOutdoors the sword shall bereave,
and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
26 ^bgI would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
^bhI will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, ^bi“Our hand is triumphant,
it was not the Lord who did all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation void of counsel,
and there is ^bjno understanding in them.
29 ^bkIf they were wise, they would understand this;
they would ^bldiscern their latter end!
30 How could ^bmone have chased a thousand,
and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock ^bnhad sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For ^botheir rock is not as our Rock;
^bpour enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine ^bqcomes from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of ^brpoison;
their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of ^bsserpents
and the cruel venom of asps.
34 “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
^btsealed up in my treasuries?
35 ^buVengeance is mine, and recompense, ^{▼▼Septuagint and I will repay}
^bwfor the time when their foot shall slip;
for ^bxthe day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For ^bythe Lord will vindicate ^{▼▼Septuagint judge} his people
^caand have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, ^cbbond or free.
37 Then he will say, ^cc‘Where are their gods,
^cdthe rock in which they took refuge,
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
let them be your protection!
39 “‘See now that ^ceI, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
^cfI kill and I make alive;
^cgI wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For ^chI lift up my hand to heaven
and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I ^cisharpen my flashing sword ^{▼▼Hebrew the lightning of my sword}
and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and ^ckmy sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the ^cllong-haired heads of the enemy.’
43 ^cm“Rejoice with him, O heavens; ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations}
bow down to him, all gods, ^{▼▼Masoretic Text lacks bow down to him, all gods}
for he ^cpavenges the blood of his children ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants}
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him}
and cleanses ^{▼▼Or atones for} his people’s land.” ^{▼▼Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people}