Day 149 of 365

¹Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

²My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.

³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God!

⁴The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.

⁵They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation.

⁶Do you thus requite the Lord, foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you, and established you.

⁷Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.

⁹For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

¹⁰He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.

¹¹As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.

¹²The Lord alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

¹³He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;

¹⁴Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.

¹⁵But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they did not know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers did not dread.

¹⁸Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

¹⁹The Lord saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

²⁰He said, "I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

²¹They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

²²For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

²³"I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

²⁴They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.

²⁵Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, The nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

²⁶I said, I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;

²⁷were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, 'Our hand is exalted, the Lord has not done all this.'"

²⁸For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

²⁹Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

³⁰How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had delivered them up?

³¹For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

³²For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter.

³³Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps.

³⁴"Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

³⁵Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste."

³⁶For the Lord will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, There is none remaining, shut up or left at large.

³⁷He will say, "Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge;

³⁸Which 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 I, even I, am he, There is no god with me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever,

⁴¹if I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, and will recompense those who hate me.

⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy."

⁴³Rejoice, O heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him. Rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God strengthen themselves in him. For he will avenge the blood of his sons, and render vengeance to his enemies, and will recompense them that hate him, and will cleanse the land for his people.

⁴⁴Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

⁴⁵Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel;

⁴⁶He said to them, "Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

⁴⁷For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it."

⁴⁸The Lord spoke to Moses that same day, saying,

⁴⁹"Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession;

⁵⁰and die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people:

⁵¹because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you did not sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel.

⁵²For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel."

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

²He said, "The Lord came from Sinai, And rose from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.

³Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet; each receives your words.

⁴Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵He was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together.

⁶"Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few."

⁷This is for Judah. He said, "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries."

⁸Of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah;

⁹who said of his father, and of his mother, 'I have not seen him;' Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he know his own children: For they have observed your word, and keep your covenant.

¹⁰They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.

¹¹The Lord, bless his substance. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again."

¹²Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between his shoulders."

¹³Of Joseph he said, "His land is blessed by the Lord, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,

¹⁴for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons,

¹⁵for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

¹⁷The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he shall push all of the peoples, to the ends of the earth: They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh."

¹⁸Of Zebulun he said, "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand."

²⁰Of Gad he said, "He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head.

²¹He provided the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver's portion reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of the Lord, His ordinances with Israel."

²²Of Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's cub that leaps out of Bashan."

²³Of Naphtali he said, "Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of the blessing of the Lord, Possess the west and the south."

²⁴Of Asher he said, "Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil.

²⁵Your bars shall be iron and brass. As your days, so your strength will be.

²⁶"There is none like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, In his majesty through the skies.

²⁷The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, 'Destroy!'

²⁸Israel dwells in safety; the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew.

²⁹You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you. You shall tread on their high places."

¹Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. The Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan,

²and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the hinder sea,

³and the Negev, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar.

⁴The Lord said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your seed.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."

⁵So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

⁶And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor: but no man knows of his tomb to this day.

⁷Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

⁸The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him: and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁰There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,

¹¹in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,

¹²and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel.

¹Praise Yah! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the holy ones.

²Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

³Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.

⁵Let the holy ones rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.

⁶May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

⁷To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;

⁸To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

⁹to execute on them the written judgment. All his holy ones have this honor. Praise Yah!

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

⁵Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

⁷for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

¹⁰lest one who hears it put you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.

¹⁵By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

²⁰As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:

²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring, and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

²⁸Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.