Deuteronomy · Literal Standard Version
Deuteronomy 32 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 “Give ear, O heavens, and I speak; And you hear, O earth, sayings of my mouth!
1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine drops as rain; My sayings flow as dew; As storms on the tender grass, || And as showers on the herb,
2 My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.
3 For I proclaim the Name of YHWH; Ascribe greatness to our God!
3 For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock—His work [is] perfect, || For all His ways [are] just; God of steadfastness, and without iniquity; Righteous and upright [is] He.
4 The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he.
5 It has done corruptly to Him; Their blemish is not of His sons, || A generation perverse and crooked!
5 They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you act thus to YHWH, || O people foolish and not wise? Is He not your Father—He who bought you? He made you, and establishes you.
6 Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.
7 Remember days of old—Understand the years of many generations—Ask your father, and he tells you; Your elderly, and they say to you:
7 Remember 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.
8◆ In the Most High causing nations to inherit, || In His separating sons of Adam—He sets up the borders of the peoples || By the number of the sons of God [[or sons of Israel]].
8 When 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.
9 For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He finds him in a land—a desert, || And in a void—a howling wilderness, || He turns him around—He causes him to understand—He keeps him as the apple of His eye.
10 He 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.
11 As an eagle wakes up its nest, || Flutters over its young ones, || Spreads its wings [and] takes them, || Carries them on its pinions—
11 As 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.
12 YHWH alone leads him, || And there is no strange god with him.
12 Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.
13 He makes him ride on high places of earth, || And he eats increase of the fields, || And He makes him suck honey from a rock, || And oil out of the flint of a rock;
13 He 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;
14 Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, || With fat of lambs, and rams of sons of Bashan, || And male goats, with fat of kidneys of wheat; And of the blood of the grape you drink wine!
14 butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
15 And Yeshurun waxes fat, and kicks: You have been fat, you have been thick, || You have been covered. And he leaves God who made him, || And dishonors the Rock of his salvation.
15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
16 They make Him zealous with strangers, || They make Him angry with abominations.
16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.
17 They sacrifice to the demons, not God, || To gods they have not known, || New ones—they came from the vicinity; Your fathers have not feared them!
17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.
18 You forget the Rock that begot you, || And neglect God who forms you.
18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
19 And YHWH sees and despises—For the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
19 Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 And He says: I hide My face from them, || I see what their latter end [is]; For they [are] a contrary generation, || Sons in whom is no steadfastness.
20 He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have made Me jealous by [what is] not God, || They made Me angry by their vanities; And I make them jealous by [what is] not a people, || I make them angry by a foolish nation.
21 They 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.
22 For a fire has been kindled in My anger, || And it burns to the lowest [part] of Sheol, || And consumes earth and its increase, || And sets on fire [the] foundations of mountains.
22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
23 I heap calamities on them, || I consume My arrows on them.
23 “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.
24 Exhausted by famine, || And consumed by heat and bitter destruction—I also send the teeth of beasts on them, || With poison of fearful things of the dust.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 The sword destroys from outside, || And out of the inner-chambers—terror, || Both youth and virgin, || Suckling with man of grey hair.
25 Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.
26 I have said: I blow them away, || I cause their remembrance to cease from man;
26 I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
27 If I do not fear the anger of an enemy, || Lest their adversaries know—Lest they say, Our hand is high, || And YHWH has not worked all this.
27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted; Yahweh has not done all this.’”
28 For they [are] a nation lost to counsels, || And there is no understanding in them.
28 For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.
29 If only they were wise, || They would deal wisely [with] this, || They would attend to their latter end!
29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30 How does one pursue a thousand, || And two cause a myriad to flee, || If not that their Rock has sold them, || And YHWH has shut them up?
30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
31 For their rock [is] not as our Rock || (And our enemies [are] judges!)
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede.
32 For their vine [is] of the vine of Sodom, || And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes [are] grapes of gall—They have bitter clusters;
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.
33 The poison of dragons [is] their wine || And the fierce venom of cobras.
33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.
34 Is it not laid up with Me? Sealed among My treasures?
34 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?
35 Vengeance and retribution [are] Mine, || At the due time—their foot slides; For near is a day of their calamity, || And things prepared for them have hastened.
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
36 For YHWH judges His people, || And gives comfort over His servants. For He sees the going away of power, || And none is restrained and left.
36 For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
37 And He has said, Where [are] their gods—The rock in which they trusted?
37 He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,
38 Who eat the fat of their sacrifices, || [And] drink the wine of their drink-offering? Let them arise and help you, || Let it be a hiding place for you!
38 which 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 [am] He, || And there is no god besides Me; I put to death and I keep alive; I have struck and I heal; And there is not a deliverer from My hand,
39 “See now that I myself 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.
40 For I lift up My hand to the heavens, || And have said, I live for all time!
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,
41 If I have sharpened the brightness of My sword, || And My hand lays hold on judgment, || I return vengeance to My adversaries, || And to those hating Me—I repay!
41 if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
42 I make My arrows drunk with blood, || And My sword devours flesh, || From the blood of the pierced and captive, || From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
42 I 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.”
43 Sing, O nations, [with] His people, || For He avenges the blood of His servants, || And He turns back vengeance on His adversaries, || And has pardoned His land [and] His people.”
43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.
44 And Moses comes and speaks all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea son of Nun;
44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.
45 and Moses finishes to speak all these words to all Israel,
45 Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.
46 and says to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I am testifying against you today, that you command your sons to observe to do all the words of this law,
46 He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47 for it [is] not a vain thing for you, for it [is] your life, and by this thing you prolong days on the ground to where you are passing over the Jordan to possess it.”
47 For 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.”
48 And YHWH speaks to Moses on this very same day, saying,
48 Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day, saying,
49 “Go up to this Mount Abarim, Mount Nebo, which [is] in the land of Moab, which [is] on the front of Jericho, and see the land of Canaan which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession;
49 “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession.
50 and die on the mountain to where you are going up, and be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron has died on Mount Hor and is gathered to his people;
50 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;
51 because you trespassed against Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribath-Kadesh, the wilderness of Zin, because you did not sanctify Me in the midst of the sons of Israel.
51 because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel.
52 Indeed, you see the land before [you], but you do not go in there to the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel.”
52 For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Places
Mount Nebo
A summit in the Transjordan highlands of Moab. From here Moses surveyed Canaan before his death; the view spans the Jordan Valley, Jericho, and the Dead Sea.
Cited in the guide: Deuteronomy 34:1; Deuteronomy 32:49
Cross references (51)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 1:2; Deuteronomy 4:26; Jeremiah 22:29; Psalm 49:1; Jeremiah 6:19
- 2 Isaiah 55:10–11; Psalm 72:6; Micah 5:7; Job 29:22–23; Hosea 14:5
- 3 Jeremiah 10:6; Psalm 150:2; Ephesians 1:19; Deuteronomy 5:24; Exodus 33:19
- 4 Psalm 18:30–31; Psalm 92:15; Isaiah 26:4; Psalm 18:2; 2 Samuel 22:31–32
- 5 Philippians 2:15; Isaiah 1:4; Deuteronomy 31:29; Matthew 17:17; Luke 9:41
- 6 Isaiah 63:16; 1 John 3:1; Isaiah 64:8; Isaiah 44:2; Psalm 74:2
- 7 Psalm 78:3–4; Psalm 44:1; Job 8:8–10; Isaiah 46:9; Psalm 77:5–6
- 8 Acts 17:26; Genesis 11:8–9; Daniel 4:17; Genesis 15:18–21; Psalm 115:16
- 9 Jeremiah 10:16; 1 Peter 2:9–10; 1 Kings 8:51; Exodus 19:5–6; 1 Kings 8:53
- 10 Psalm 17:8; Zechariah 2:8; Deuteronomy 8:15–16; Hosea 13:5; Jeremiah 2:6
- 11 Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 46:4; Isaiah 63:9; Isaiah 40:31; Isaiah 31:5
- 12 Isaiah 46:4; Psalm 78:52–53; Isaiah 44:7–8; Deuteronomy 1:31; Isaiah 43:11–12
- 13 Isaiah 58:14; Job 29:6; Psalm 81:16; Ezekiel 36:2; Deuteronomy 33:29
- 14 Genesis 49:11; Psalm 81:16; Psalm 147:14; Matthew 26:28–29; Psalm 22:12
- 15 Deuteronomy 31:20; Hosea 13:6; Deuteronomy 33:5; Psalm 89:26; Acts 28:27
- 16 Psalm 78:58; 1 Corinthians 10:22; 2 Kings 23:13; Deuteronomy 7:25; Deuteronomy 5:9
- 17 Judges 5:8; Deuteronomy 28:64; Leviticus 17:7; Isaiah 44:8; 1 Timothy 4:1
- 18 Isaiah 17:10; Jeremiah 2:32; Psalm 106:21; Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:15
- 19 Psalm 106:40; Isaiah 1:2; Judges 2:14; Psalm 5:4; Jeremiah 44:21–23
- 20 Deuteronomy 31:17–18; Luke 7:31–32; Deuteronomy 32:5; Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19
- 21 Romans 10:19; Romans 9:25; Romans 11:11–14; 1 Kings 16:26; 1 Kings 16:13
- 22 Lamentations 4:11; Jeremiah 15:14; Zephaniah 3:8; Micah 1:4; Numbers 16:35
- 23 Ezekiel 5:16; Psalm 7:12–13; Isaiah 24:17–18; Ezekiel 14:21; Isaiah 26:15
- 24 Leviticus 26:22; Ezekiel 5:17; Genesis 3:14; Deuteronomy 28:22; Lamentations 5:10
- 25 Ezekiel 7:15; Lamentations 1:20; Jeremiah 9:21; 2 Corinthians 7:5; Lamentations 4:4
- 26 Deuteronomy 28:64; Isaiah 63:16; Leviticus 26:38; Deuteronomy 28:37; Leviticus 26:33
- 27 Numbers 14:15–16; Zechariah 1:14–15; 1 Samuel 12:22; Joshua 7:9; Psalm 140:8
- 28 Jeremiah 4:22; Hosea 4:6; Proverbs 1:7; Job 28:28; Isaiah 27:11
- 29 Psalm 81:13; Deuteronomy 5:29; Hosea 14:9; Luke 19:41–42; Luke 12:20
- 30 Leviticus 26:8; Joshua 23:10; Isaiah 30:17; Psalm 31:8; Psalm 44:12
- 31 1 Samuel 4:8; Exodus 14:25; Jeremiah 40:3; Daniel 2:47; 1 Samuel 2:2
- 32 Deuteronomy 29:18; Isaiah 1:10; Ezekiel 16:45–51; Isaiah 5:4; Jeremiah 2:21
- 33 Psalm 58:4; Romans 3:13; Jeremiah 8:14; Job 20:14–16; Psalm 140:3
- 34 Job 14:17; Hosea 13:12; Jeremiah 2:22; Romans 2:5; 1 Corinthians 4:5
- 35 Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; Nahum 1:2; Psalm 73:17–19; 2 Peter 2:3
- 36 Psalm 135:14; Psalm 106:45; 2 Kings 14:26; Judges 2:18; Joel 2:14
- 37 Jeremiah 2:28; Judges 10:14; 2 Kings 3:13
- 38 Judges 10:14; Ezekiel 16:18–19; Leviticus 21:21; Psalm 50:13; Zephaniah 2:11
- 39 1 Samuel 2:6; Hosea 6:1; Job 5:18; Isaiah 45:5; Isaiah 45:22
- 40 Hebrews 6:17–18; Genesis 14:22; Revelation 10:5–6; Jeremiah 4:2; Numbers 14:28–30
- 41 Isaiah 66:16; Isaiah 34:5–6; Exodus 20:5; Psalm 7:12; Isaiah 27:1
- 42 Deuteronomy 32:23; Jeremiah 46:10; Jeremiah 30:14; Lamentations 2:5; Ezekiel 38:21–22
- 43 Revelation 19:2; Romans 12:19; Revelation 6:10; Psalm 85:1; Deuteronomy 32:35
- 44 Numbers 13:16; Numbers 13:8; Deuteronomy 31:30; Deuteronomy 31:22
- 46 1 Chronicles 22:19; Ezekiel 40:4; Deuteronomy 11:18; Proverbs 3:1–4; Hebrews 2:1
- 47 Proverbs 4:22; Leviticus 18:5; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 Peter 3:10–12; Proverbs 3:22
- 48 Numbers 27:12–13
- 49 Numbers 27:12; Numbers 33:47–48; Deuteronomy 34:1–5; Isaiah 33:17; 2 Corinthians 5:1
- 50 Genesis 25:8; Numbers 33:38; Numbers 20:24–29; Genesis 15:15; Genesis 25:17
- 51 Numbers 27:14; Numbers 20:11–14; 1 Kings 13:21–26; Deuteronomy 3:23–27; Numbers 20:24
- 52 Deuteronomy 34:1–4; Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 32:49; Numbers 27:12; Hebrews 11:13
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Deuteronomy 32:8: “sons of Israel” or “sons of God”?
The Masoretic Hebrew says God fixed the borders of the peoples “according to the number of the sons of Israel.” A Hebrew manuscript from Qumran reads “sons of God,” and the Septuagint reads “angels of God.” Many scholars, Jewish and Christian, now think “sons of God” is the older reading. The Orthodox Church reads “angels of God.”
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and Israel the lot of His inheritance." And in another place [the Scripture] saith, "Behold, the Lord taketh unto Himself a nation out of the midst of the nations, as a man takes the first-fruits of his threshing-floor; and from that nation shall come forth the Most Holy." Chapter XXX — …
… also make one race of men to dwell upon all the earth; as also Moses declared: "When the Most High divided the nations, as He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations after the number of the angels of God;" but that people which believes in God is not now under the power of angels, …
But where I could meet with such except in Thee, O Lord, I could not find,--except in Thee, who teachest by sorrow, and woundest us to heal us, and killest us that we may not die from Thee.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For the apostle too saith of the woman, "That she ought to have power on her head because of the angels." And Moses, "He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." But here He is discoursing not of angels only, but rather of angels that are greater than others.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Do ye thus requite the Lord? This people is foolish and unwise.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)