1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said: Yahweh came from Sinai and rose from Seir upon them. He shined out from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of holy ones. In his right hand were flashes of lightning. 3 Indeed, he loves the peoples; all his holy ones are in your hand, and they bowed down at your feet; they received your words. 4 Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 5 Then there was a king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people had gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. 6 Let Reuben live and not die, but may his men be few. 7 This is the blessing for Judah. Moses said: Listen, Yahweh, to the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people again. Fight for him; be a help against his enemies. 8 About Levi, Moses said: Your Thummim and your Urim belong your loyal one, the one whom you tested at Massah, with whom you struggled at the waters of Meribah. 9 The man who said about his father and mother, “I have not seen them.” Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor did he take account of his own children. For he guarded your word and kept your covenant. 10 He teaches Jacob your decrees and Israel your law. He will put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar. 11 Bless, Yahweh, his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, and those of the people who hate him, so that they do not rise up again. 12 About Benjamin, Moses said: The one loved by Yahweh lives in security beside him; Yahweh shields him all the day long, and he lives between Yahweh's arms. 13 About Joseph, Moses said: May his land be blessed by Yahweh with the precious things of heaven, with the dew, and with the deep that lies beneath. 14 May his land be blessed with the precious things of the harvest of the sun, with the precious things of the produce of the months, 15 with the finest things of the ancient mountains, and with the precious things of the everlasting hills. 16 May his land be blessed with the precious things of the earth and its abundance, and with the good will of him who was in the bush. Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of him who was prince over his brothers. 17 The firstborn of an ox, majestic is he, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will push the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth. These are the ten thousands of Ephraim; these are the thousands of Manasseh. 18 About Zebulun, Moses said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you, Issachar, in your tents. 19 They will call the peoples to the mountains. There will they offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they will suck the abundance of the seas, and from the sand on the seashore. 20 About Gad, Moses said: Blessed be he who enlarges Gad. He will live there like a lioness, and he will tear off an arm or a head. 21 He provided the best part for himself, for there was the leader's portion of land reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He carried out the justice of Yahweh and his decrees with Israel. 22 About Dan, Moses said: Dan is a lion cub that leaps out from Bashan. 23 About Naphtali, Moses said: Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of Yahweh, take possession of the land to the west and south. 24 About Asher, Moses said: Blessed be Asher more than the other sons; let him be acceptable to his brothers, and let him dip his foot in olive oil. 25 May your city bars be iron and bronze; as long as will be your days, so long will your security be. 26 There is no one like God, Jeshurun—the upright one, who rides through the heavens to your help, and in his majesty on the clouds. 27 The eternal God is a refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and he said, “Destroy!” 28 Israel dwelt in safety. Jacob's spring was secure in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, let his heavens drop dew on him. 29 Your blessings are many, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, and the sword of your majesty? Your enemies will come trembling to you; you will trample down their high places.
Deuteronomy · Unlocked Literal Bible
Deuteronomy 33 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
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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
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joshua 14:6; Psalm 90:1; 2 Timothy 3:17; 2 Peter 1:21; John 14:27
- 2 Habakkuk 3:3; Jude 14; Revelation 5:11; Psalm 68:17; Judges 5:4–5
- 3 Luke 10:39; Malachi 1:2; Deuteronomy 7:6–8; Acts 22:3; Ephesians 2:4–5
- 4 Psalm 119:111; John 7:19; John 1:17; Deuteronomy 9:26–29; Psalm 119:72
- 5 Deuteronomy 32:15; Judges 17:6; Genesis 36:31; Judges 8:22; Exodus 18:19
- 6 Genesis 49:8; Numbers 32:31–32; Joshua 22:1–9; Genesis 49:3–4
- 7 Genesis 49:8–12; Psalm 21:8; Psalm 20:2; Revelation 20:10–15; 1 Corinthians 15:25
- 8 Exodus 17:7; Exodus 28:30; Numbers 20:13; Leviticus 8:8; Psalm 106:16
- 9 Matthew 10:37; Exodus 32:25–29; Jeremiah 18:18; Leviticus 21:11; Luke 14:26
- 10 Psalm 51:19; Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 17:9–11; Exodus 30:7–8; Ezekiel 43:27
- 11 2 Samuel 24:23; Ezekiel 43:27; Ezekiel 20:40–41; Amos 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:8
- 12 2 Chronicles 15:2; Psalm 91:4; Matthew 23:37; Isaiah 37:35; Isaiah 51:16
- 13 Genesis 49:22–26; Micah 5:7; Proverbs 3:20; Genesis 27:28–29; Isaiah 18:4
- 14 Psalm 8:3; Psalm 65:9–13; Leviticus 26:4; Psalm 74:16; Deuteronomy 28:8
- 15 Habakkuk 3:6; Genesis 49:26; James 5:7
- 16 Acts 7:35; Exodus 3:2–4; Psalm 24:1; Genesis 49:26; Psalm 89:11
- 17 Numbers 23:22; 1 Kings 22:11; Psalm 44:5; Genesis 48:19; 1 Chronicles 5:1
- 18 Genesis 49:13–15; Joshua 19:11; Judges 5:14
- 19 Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 60:5; Psalm 4:5; Exodus 15:17; Psalm 50:13–15
- 20 Genesis 49:19; 1 Chronicles 12:8–14; Micah 5:8; Joshua 13:8; 1 Chronicles 12:37–38
- 21 Joshua 4:12–13; Judges 5:2; Numbers 32:1–6; Joshua 22:1–4; Judges 5:11
- 22 Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:27; Judges 16:30; Judges 13:24–25; Judges 15:15
- 23 Genesis 49:21; Jeremiah 31:14; Psalm 36:8; Matthew 4:16; Matthew 4:13
- 24 Genesis 49:20; Job 29:6; Romans 14:18; Proverbs 3:3–4; Psalm 128:6
- 25 Isaiah 41:10; Philippians 4:13; Psalm 138:3; Colossians 1:11; Isaiah 40:29
- 26 Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 43:11–13; Habakkuk 3:8; Jeremiah 10:6; Psalm 104:3
- 27 Psalm 90:1–2; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 25:4; Psalm 91:1–2
- 28 Numbers 23:9; Genesis 27:28; Jeremiah 23:6; Exodus 33:16; Revelation 21:27
- 29 Isaiah 45:17; Isaiah 12:2; Psalm 115:9–11; Deuteronomy 4:7–8; 2 Samuel 7:23
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
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).
Of whom Moses also says in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, "Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not known thee; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and he disinherited his own sons: he kept Thy commandments, and observed Thy covenant." But who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu to all …
… of idols, but even to stone them; and in Deuteronomy again, admiring these, He saith, "Who said unto his father, and to his mother, I have not seen thee; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and his own sons he disowned: he kept Thy oracles." And if Paul gives many directions touching parents, commanding us to obey them in all …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… "They mount up to heaven." Moses, blessing the tribe of Joseph, desires for it the fruits and the dews of heaven, of the suns of summer and the conjunctions of the moon, and blessings from the tops of the mountains and from the everlasting hills, in one word, from all which fertilises the earth.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)