1 And this [is] the blessing [with] which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death, 2 and he saith: — 'Jehovah from Sinai hath come, And hath risen from Seir for them; He hath shone from mount Paran, And hath come [with] myriads of holy ones; At His right hand [are] springs for them. 3 Also He [is] loving the peoples; All His holy ones [are] in thy hand, And they — they sat down at thy foot, [Each] He lifteth up at thy words. 4 A law hath Moses commanded us, A possession of the assembly of Jacob. 5 And he is in Jeshurun king, In the heads of the people gathering together, The tribes of Israel! 6 Let Reuben live, and not die, And let his men be a number. 7 And this [is] for Judah; and he saith: — Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And unto his people do Thou bring him in; His hand hath striven for him, And an help from his adversaries art Thou. 8 And of Levi he said: — Thy Thummim and thy Urim [are] for thy pious one, Whom Thou hast tried in Massah, Thou dost strive with Him at the waters of Meribah; 9 Who is saying of his father and his mother, I have not seen him; And his brethren he hath not discerned, And his sons he hath not known; For they have observed Thy saying, And Thy covenant they keep. 10 They teach Thy judgments to Jacob, And Thy law to Israel; They put perfume in Thy nose, And whole burnt-offering on Thine altar. 11 Bless, O Jehovah, his strength, And the work of his hands Thou acceptest, Smite the loins of his withstanders, And of those hating him — that they rise not! 12 Of Benjamin he said: — The beloved of Jehovah doth tabernacle confidently by him, Covering him over all the day; Yea, between his shoulders He doth tabernacle. 13 And of Joseph he said: — Blessed of Jehovah [is] his land, By precious things of the heavens, By dew, and by the deep crouching beneath, 14 And by precious things — fruits of the sun, And by precious things — cast forth by the moons, 15 And by chief things — of the ancient mountains, And by precious things — of the age-during heights, 16 And by precious things — of earth and its fulness, And the good pleasure Of Him who is dwelling in the bush, — Let it come for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of him Who is separate from his brethren. 17 His honour [is] a firstling of his ox, And his horns [are] horns of a reem; By them peoples he doth push together To the ends of earth; And they [are] the myriads of Ephraim, And they [are] the thousands of Manasseh. 18 And of Zebulun he said: — Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy going out, And, O Issachar, in thy tents; 19 Peoples [to] the mountain they call, There they sacrifice righteous sacrifices; For the abundance of the seas they suck, And hidden things hidden in the sand. 20 And of Gad he said: — Blessed of the Enlarger [is] Gad, As a lioness he doth tabernacle, And hath torn the arm — also the crown! 21 And he provideth the first part for himself, For there the portion of the lawgiver is covered, And he cometh [with] the heads of the people; The righteousness of Jehovah he hath done, And His judgments with Israel. 22 And of Dan he said: — Dan [is] a lion's whelp; he doth leap from Bashan. 23 And of Naphtali he said: — O Naphtali, satisfied with pleasure, And full of the blessing of Jehovah, West and south possess thou. 24 And of Asher he said: — Blessed with sons [is] Asher, Let him be accepted by his brethren, And dipping in oil his foot. 25 Iron and brass [are] thy shoes, And as thy days — thy strength. 26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Riding the heavens in thy help, And in His excellency the skies. 27 A habitation [is] the eternal God, And beneath [are] arms age-during. And He casteth out from thy presence the enemy, and saith, 'Destroy!' 28 And Israel doth tabernacle [in] confidence alone; The eye of Jacob [is] unto a land of corn and wine; Also His heavens drop down dew. 29 O thy happiness, O Israel! who is like thee? A people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And He who [is] the sword of thine excellency: And thine enemies are subdued for thee, And thou on their high places dost tread.'
Deuteronomy · Young's Literal Translation
Deuteronomy 33 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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
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)