Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
“The Lord wcame from Sinai
and dawned xfrom Seir upon us;1
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the yten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire2 at his right hand.
3 Yes, he loved his people,3
all his holy ones were zin his4 hand;
so they followed5 in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
4 when Moses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord6 became aking in bJeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 “Let cReuben live, and not die,
but let his men be few.”
7 And this he said dof 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 eof Levi he said,
and your Urim to your godly one,
whom you tested at gMassah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9 hwho said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
he disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For they observed your word
and kept your covenant.
10 They shall iteach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
they shall jput incense before you
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 kOf 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 lof Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven above,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 the meverlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of nhim 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 A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And oof Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples to their mountain;
there they offer right sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And pof Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches like a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
21 qHe chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and he came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel.”
22 And rof Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s cub
that leaps from Bashan.”
23 And sof Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
possess the lake12 and the south.”
24 And tof Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is uyour dwelling 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 saved by the Lord,
the 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 xwent up from the plains of Moab to 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 as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, y‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall znot 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 ano one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 bMoses was c120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel dwept 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 the spirit of wisdom, for eMoses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a fprophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew gface to face, 11 none like him for all the hsigns 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 igreat deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
