Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
1 This is the blessing with which Moses ythe man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
z“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us;1
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came afrom the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire2 at his right hand.
call his holy ones were in his4 hand;
dso they followed5 in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
4 when eMoses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord6 fbecame king in gJeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 h“Let Reuben live, and not die,
but let his men be few.”
7 And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend7 for him,
and be a help against his adversaries.”
8 And iof Levi he said,
and your Urim to your godly one,
kwhom you tested at Massah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9 who said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
lhe disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For mthey observed your word
and kept your covenant.
10 nThey shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
othey shall put incense before you
and pwhole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and qaccept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 rOf Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God9 surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”
13 And sof Joseph he said,
t“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven uabove,10
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 vthe everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and wits fullness
and the favor of xhim 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 yA firstborn bull11—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a zwild ox;
with them ahe shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
bthey are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And of Zebulun he said,
c“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples dto their mountain;
there they offer eright sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And fof Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches glike a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
21 hHe chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and ihe came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel.”
22 And jof Dan he said,
k“Dan is a lion’s cub
lthat leaps from Bashan.”
23 And mof Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
24 And oof Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him pdip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 q“There is none like God, O rJeshurun,
swho rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is your tdwelling place,13
and underneath are the everlasting arms.14
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.’
28 So Israel lived in safety,
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! wWho is like you,
a people xsaved by the Lord,
ythe 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
1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ato Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah bas far as the western sea, 3 cthe Negeb, and dthe Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho ethe city of palm trees, as far as fZoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, g“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ hI have let you see it with your eyes, but iyou shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but jno one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 kMoses was 120 years old when he died. lHis eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel mwept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of nthe spirit of wisdom, for oMoses had laid his hands on him. So pthe people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not qarisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, rwhom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all sthe 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.
1 mBetter is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting1 with strife.
2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over na son who acts shamefully
and owill share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 pThe crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
qand the Lord tests hearts.
4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor rinsults his Maker;
he who is sglad at calamity will not go tunpunished.
6 uGrandchildren are vthe crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their fathers.
7 Fine speech is not wbecoming to a fool;
still less is xfalse speech to a prince.
8 yA bribe is like a magic2 stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;
wherever he turns he prospers.
9 Whoever zcovers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter aseparates close friends.
10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and ba cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 Let a man meet ca she-bear robbed of her cubs
drather than a fool in his folly.
13 If anyone ereturns evil for good,
fevil will not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so gquit before the quarrel breaks out.
15 He who hjustifies the wicked and he who icondemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
16 Why should a fool have money in his hand jto buy wisdom
when he has no sense?
17 kA friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 One who lacks sense gives a pledge
and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
he who lmakes his door high seeks destruction.
20 mA man of crooked heart does not discover good,
and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
21 He who nsires a fool gets himself sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 oA joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit pdries up the bones.
23 The wicked accepts qa bribe in secret3
to rpervert the ways of justice.
24 sThe discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 nA foolish son is a grief to his father
tand bitterness to uher who bore him.
26 vTo impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27 Whoever wrestrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool xwho keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
