English Standard Version

International Standard Version

1“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

1Hear, heavens, and I will speak! Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!

2May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb.

2May my instructions descend like rain and may my words flow like dew, as light rain upon the grass, and as showers upon new plants.

3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!

3For I'll proclaim the name of our LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!

4“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

4Flawless is the work of the Rock, because all his ways are just. A faithful God—never unjust— righteous and upright is he.

5They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

5But those who are not his children acted corruptly against him; they are a defective and perverted generation.

6Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

6This is not the way to repay the LORD, is it, you foolish and witless people? Is he not your father, who bought you, formed 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.

7Remember the days of old, reflect on the years of previous generations. Ask your father, and he'll tell you; your elders will inform you.

8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

8When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance, when he separated the human race, he set boundaries for the people according to the number of the children of God.

9But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.

9For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is his allotted portion.

10“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

10The LORD found him in a desert land, in a barren, eerie wilderness. He surrounded, cared for, and guarded him as the pupil of his eye.

11Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,

11Like an eagle stirs its nest, hovering near its young, spreading out his wings to take him and carry him on his pinions,

12the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.

12the LORD alone guided him. There was no foreign god with him.

13He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.

13He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,

14Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

14with curds from cattle and with milk from sheep, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, with the fat of goats, with the finest of wheat— and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.

15“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

15Jacob dined until satisfied; Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. He grew fat, coarse, and gross, so that he abandoned the God who made him and spurned the Rock that was his salvation.

16They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger.

16They provoked him to jealousy over foreigners and to anger over detestable things.

17They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

17They sacrificed to demons— not to the real God— gods whom they didn't know, new neighbors who had recently appeared, whom your ancestors never feared.

18You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

18You neglected the Rock that fathered you; you abandoned God, who was awaiting your birth.

19“The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

19The LORD saw it and became jealous, provoked by his sons and daughters.

20And he said, ‘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.

20So he said: "Let me hide my face from them. I will observe what their end will be, because they are a perverted generation, children within whom there is no loyalty.

21They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

21They provoked me to jealousy over non-gods, and to be angry over their vanity. Now I'll provoke them to jealousy over a non-people; and over a foolish nation I'll provoke them to anger.

22For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

22For a fire breaks out in my anger— burning to the deepest part of the afterlife, consuming the earth and its produce and igniting the foundations of the mountains.

23“‘And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them;

23I'll bury them in misfortunes and bring them to an end with my arrows.

24they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.

24Emaciated from famine, feverish from plague, and destroyed by bitterness, I'll send fanged beasts against them, along with poisonous snakes that glide through the dust.

25Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

25Outside, the sword will cause bereavement; within, there will be terror for the young man and virgin alike, also for the nursing infant and the aged man."

26I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory,”

26"I said, 'I will scatter them, erasing their memory from the human race,

27had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant, it was not the LORD who did all this.”’

27if it weren't for dreading the taunting of their enemies— otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say, "Our power is great. It isn't the LORD who made all of this happen."'"

28“For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.

28They are a nation devoid of purpose and without insight.

29If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!

29O, that they were wise to understand this and consider their future!

30How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?

30How can one person chase a thousand of them and two put a myriad to flight, unless their Rock delivers them and the LORD gives them up?

31For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.

31For their rock isn't like our Rock, as even our enemies admit.

32For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; their clusters are bitter;

32Instead, their vine is from the vines of Sodom and the vineyards of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous, their clusters bitter.

33their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps.

33Their wine is the venom of serpents, a poisonous cobra.

34“‘Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries?

34"Is this not kept in reserve, sealed up with me in my treasury?

35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

35To me belong vengeance and recompense. In due time their feet will slip, because their time of calamity is near and the things prepared for them draw near.

36For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.

36For the LORD will vindicate his people and bring comfort to his servants, because he will observe that their power has waned, when neither prisoner nor free person remain.

37Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

37"He will say, 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge?

38who 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!

38Who ate the fat of their offerings and drank the wine that was their drink offering? Let them rise and help you and be your hiding place!'

39“‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

39"Look now! I AM, and there is no other god besides me. I myself cause death and I sustain life; I wound severely and I also heal; from my power no one can deliver.

40For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever,

40"I solemnly swear to heaven— I say 'As certainly as I'm alive and living forever,

41if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.

41I'll whet my shining sword, with my hands in firm grasp of judgment. I'll show vengeance on my adversary and repay those who keep on hating me.

42I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

42I'll make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword will devour flesh, along with the blood of the slain, and I'll take their enemy leaders captive.'

43“Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

43"Sing for joy, nations! Sing for joy, people who belong to him! For he'll avenge the blood of his servants, turn on his adversary, and cleanse both his land and his people."

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

44So Moses and Nun's son Joshua came and recited all the words of this song while the people were assembled.

45And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,

45When Moses had finished addressing all of these words to all Israel,

46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.

46he told them, "Take to heart my entire testimony against you today. Command your children to observe carefully every word of this Law,

47For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

47because they're not just empty words for you—they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess."

48That very day the LORD spoke to Moses,

48Later that day, the LORD told Moses,

49“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession.

49"Ascend this Abarim mountain range toward Mount Nebo in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and look out over the land of Canaan that I'm about to give to the Israelis as a possession.

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

50You will die on the mountain that you are about to ascend and be taken to be with your ancestors, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was taken to be with his ancestors.

51because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel.

51Both of you acted unfaithfully against me among the Israelis at Meribah-kadesh in the desert of Zin, when you failed to uphold my holiness among the Israelis.

52For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

52You'll see the land from a distance, but you won't be able to enter the land that I am about to give to the Israelis."

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