#dueteronomy

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 

For the wicked themselves will perish, and the enemies of Jehovah will be like the preciousness of pastures. In smoke they must come to their end...

“And Moses together with the older men of Israel went on to command the people, saying: “There should be an observing of every commandment that I am commanding YOU today. And it must occur that in the day when YOU will cross the Jordan into the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, you must also set up for yourself great stones and whitewash them with lime. And you must write upon them all the words of this law when you have crossed, in order that you may enter into the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, according to what Jehovah the God of your forefathers has spoken to you. And it must occur that when YOU have crossed the Jordan, YOU should set up these stones, just as I am commanding YOU today, in Mount E’bal,  and you must whitewash them with lime. You must also build an altar there to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones. You must not wield an iron tool upon them. With whole stones you should build the altar of Jehovah your God, and you must offer burnt offerings to Jehovah your God on it. And you must sacrifice communion sacrifice  and eat them there, and you must rejoice before Jehovah your God. And you must write on the stones all the words of this law, making them quite clear.”

Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying: “Keep silent and listen, O Israel. This day you have become the people of Jehovah your God. And you must listen to the voice of Jehovah your God and carry out his commandments and his regulations, which I am commanding you today.”

And Moses went on to command the people on that day, saying: “The following are the ones who will stand to bless the people on Mount Ger’i·zim when YOU have crossed the Jordan: Sim’e·on and Le’vi and Judah and Is’sa·char and Joseph and Benjamin. And the following are the ones who will stand for the malediction on Mount E’bal: Reu’ben, Gad and Ash’er and Zeb’u·lun, Dan and Naph’ta·li. And the Levites must answer and say with raised voice to every man of Israel:

“‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved image or a molten statue, a thing detestable to Jehovah, the manufacture of the hands of a wood-and-metal worker, and who has put it in a hiding place.’ (And all the people must answer and say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who moves back the boundary mark of his fellowman.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who causes the blind to go astray in the way.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who perverts the judgment of an alien resident, a fatherless boy and a widow.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who lies down with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered the skirt of his father.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who lies down with any beast.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who lies down with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who lies down with his mother-in-law.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who fatally strikes his fellowman from a hiding place.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who accepts a bribe to strike a soul fatally, when it is innocent blood.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“‘Cursed is the one who will not put the words of this law in force by doing them.’ (And all the people must say, ‘Amen!’)

“And it must occur that if you will without fail listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by being careful to do all his commandments that I am commanding you today, Jehovah your God also will certainly put you high above all other nations of the earth. And all these blessings must come upon you and overtake you, because you keep listening to the voice of Jehovah your God:

“Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the field.

“Blessed will be the fruit of your belly and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your domestic beast, the young of your cattle and the progeny of your flock.

“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

“Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

“Jehovah will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. By one way they will come out against you, but by seven ways they will flee before you. Jehovah will decree for you the blessing on your stores of supply and every undertaking of yours, and he will certainly bless you in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you. Jehovah will establish you as a holy people to himself, just as he swore to you, because you continue to keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and you have walked in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth will have to see that Jehovah’s name has been called upon you, and they will indeed be afraid of you.

“Jehovah will also make you overflow indeed with prosperity in the fruit of your belly and the fruit of your domestic animals and the fruitage of your ground, on the ground that Jehovah swore to your forefathers to give you. Jehovah will open up to you his good storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain on your land in its season and to bless every deed of your hand; and you will certainly lend to many nations, while you yourself will not borrow. And Jehovah will indeed put you at the head and not at the tail; and you must come to be only on top, and you will not come to be on the bottom, because you keep obeying the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you today to observe and to do. And you must not turn aside from all the words that I am commanding YOU today, to the right or to the left, to walk after other gods to serve them.

“And it must occur that if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by taking care to do all his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, all these maledictions must also come upon you and overtake you:

“Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the field.

“Cursed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

“Cursed will be the fruit of your belly and the fruitage of your ground, the young of your cattle and the progeny of your flock.

“Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

“Jehovah will send upon you the curse, confusion and rebuke in every undertaking of yours that you try to carry out, until you have been annihilated and have perished in a hurry, because of the badness of your practices in that you have forsaken me. Jehovah will cause the pestilence to cling to you until he has exterminated you from off the ground to which you are going to take possession of it. Jehovah will strike you with tuberculosis and burning fever and inflammation and feverish heat and the sword and scorching and mildew, and they will certainly pursue you until you have perished. Your skies that are over your head must also become copper, and the earth that is beneath you iron. Jehovah will give powder and dust as the rain of your land. From the heavens it will come down upon you until you have been annihilated. Jehovah will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. By one way you will go out against them, but by seven ways you will flee before them; and you must become a frightful object to all the earth’s kingdoms. And your dead body must become food for every flying creature of the heavens and to the beast of the field, with no one to make [them] tremble.

“Jehovah will strike you with the boil of Egypt and piles and eczema and skin eruption, from which you will not be able to be healed. Jehovah will strike you with madness and loss of sight and bewilderment of heart. And you will indeed become one who gropes about at midday, just as a blind man gropes about in the gloom, and you will not make your ways successful; and you must become only one who is always defrauded and robbed, with no one to save you. You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house, but you will not dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not begin to use it. Your bull slaughtered there before your eyes—but you will not eat any of it. Your ass taken in robbery from before your face—but it will not return to you. Your sheep given to your enemies—but you will have no savior. Your sons and your daughters given to another people and your eyes looking on and yearning for them always—but your hands will be without power. The fruitage of your ground and all your production a people will eat whom you have not known; and you must become one who is only defrauded and crushed always. And you will certainly become maddened at the sight of your eyes that you will see.

“Jehovah will strike you with a malignant boil upon both knees and both legs, from which you will not be able to be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Jehovah will march you and your king whom you will set up over you to a nation whom you have not known, neither you nor your forefathers; and there you will have to serve other gods, of wood and of stone. And you must become an object of astonishment, a proverbial saying and a taunt among all the peoples to whom Jehovah will lead you away.

“A lot of seed you will take out to the field, but little will you gather, because the locust will devour it. Vineyards you will plant and certainly cultivate, but you will drink no wine and gather nothing in, because the worm will eat it up. You will come to have olive trees in all your territory, but you will rub yourself with no oil, because your olives will drop off. Sons and daughters you will bring forth, but they will not continue yours, because they will go off into captivity. All your trees and the fruitage of your ground whirring insects will take in possession. The alien resident who is in your midst will keep ascending higher and higher above you, while you—you will keep descending lower and lower. He will be the one to lend to you, while you—you will not lend to him. He will become the head, while you—you will become the tail.

“And all these maledictions will certainly come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you have been annihilated, because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by keeping his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. And they must continue on you and your offspring as a sign and a portent to time indefinite, due to the fact that you did not serve Jehovah your God with rejoicing and joy of heart for the abundance of everything. And you will have to serve your enemies whom Jehovah will send against you with hunger and thirst and nakedness and the want of everything; and he will certainly put an iron yoke upon your neck until he has annihilated you.

“Jehovah will raise up against you a nation far away, from the end of the earth, just as an eagle pounces, a nation whose tongue you will not understand, a nation fierce in countenance, who will not be partial to an old man or show favor to a young man. And they will certainly eat the fruit of your domestic animals and the fruitage of your ground until you have been annihilated, and they will let no grain, new wine or oil, no young of your cattle or progeny of your flock, remain for you until they have destroyed you. And they will indeed besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you are trusting fall in all your land, yes, they will certainly besiege you within all your gates in all your land, which Jehovah your God has given you. Then you will have to eat the fruit of your belly, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Jehovah your God has given you, because of the tightness and stress with which your enemy will hem you in.

“As for the very delicate and dainty man among you, his eye will be evil-inclined toward his brother and his cherished wife and the remainder of his sons whom he has remaining, so as not to give one of them any of the flesh of his sons that he will eat, because he has nothing at all remaining to him because of the tightness and stress with which your enemy will hem you in within all your gates. As for the delicate and dainty woman among you who never attempted to set the sole of her foot upon the earth for being of dainty habit and for delicateness, her eye will be evil-inclined toward her cherished husband and her son and her daughter, even toward her afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and toward her sons whom she proceeded to bear, because she will eat them in secrecy for the want of everything because of the tightness and stress with which your enemy will hem you in within your gates.

“If you will not take care to carry out all the words of this law that are written in this book so as to fear this glorious and fear-inspiring name, even Jehovah, your God, Jehovah also will certainly make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring especially severe, great and long-lasting plagues, and malignant and long-lasting sicknesses. And he will indeed bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt before which you got scared, and they will certainly hang onto you. Also, any sickness and any plague that is not written in the book of this law, Jehovah will bring them upon you until you have been annihilated. And YOU will indeed be left with very few in number, although YOU have become like the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God.

“And it must occur that just as Jehovah exulted over YOU to do YOU good and to multiply YOU, so Jehovah will exult over YOU to destroy YOU and to annihilate YOU; and YOU will simply be torn away from off the soil to which you are going to take possession of it.

“And Jehovah will certainly scatter you among all the peoples from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and there you will have to serve other gods whom you have not known, neither you nor your forefathers, wood and stone. And among those nations you will have no ease, nor will there prove to be any resting-place for the sole of your foot; and Jehovah will indeed give you there a trembling heart and a failing of the eyes and despair of soul. And you will certainly be in the greatest peril for your life and be in dread night and day, and you will not be sure of your life. In the morning you will say, ‘If it only were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If it only were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart with which you will be in dread and because of the sight of your eyes that you will see. And Jehovah will certainly bring you back to Egypt by ships by the way about which I have said to you, ‘You will never see it again,’ and YOU will have to sell yourselves there to your enemies as slave men and maidservants, but there will be no buyer.”

-Dueteronomy 27 & 28, NWT

At that time I shall bring you people in, even in the time of my collecting you together. For I shall make you people to be a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I gather back your captive ones before your eyes...  

“These are the words of the covenant that Jehovah commanded Moses to conclude with the sons of Israel in the land of Mo’ab aside from the covenant that he had concluded with them in Ho’reb.

And Moses proceeded to call all Israel and to say to them: “YOU were the ones seeing all that Jehovah did before YOUR eyes in the land of Egypt to Phar’aoh and all his servants and all his land, the great provings that your eyes saw, those great signs and miracles. And yet Jehovah has not given YOU a heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear down to this day. ‘While I kept guiding YOU forty years in the wilderness, YOUR garments did not wear out upon YOU, and your sandal did not wear out upon your foot. Bread YOU did not eat, and wine and intoxicating liquor YOU did not drink, in order that YOU might know that I am Jehovah YOUR God.’ Eventually YOU came to this place, and Si’hon the king of Hesh’bon and Og the king of Ba’shan proceeded to come out to meet us in battle, but we defeated them. After that we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reu’ben·ites and the Gad’ites and half the tribe of the Ma·nas’sites. So YOU must keep the words of this covenant and do them, in order that YOU may make everything YOU will do turn out well.

“YOU are all of YOU stationed today before Jehovah YOUR God, the heads of YOUR tribes, YOUR older men and YOUR officers, every man of Israel, YOUR little ones, YOUR wives, and your alien resident who is in the midst of your camp, from the gatherer of your wood to the drawer of your water, in order for you to enter into the covenant of Jehovah your God and his oath, which Jehovah your God is concluding with you today; for the purpose of establishing you today as his people and that he may prove himself your God, just as he has promised you and just as he has sworn to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

“Now it is not with YOU alone that I am concluding this covenant and this oath, but it is with him who is here standing with us today before Jehovah our God and with those who are not here with us today; (for YOU yourselves well know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the midst of the nations through whom YOU passed. And YOU used to see their disgusting things and their dungy idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, that were with them;) that there may not be among YOU a man or a woman or a family or a tribe whose heart is turning today away from Jehovah our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there may not be among YOU a root bearing the fruit of a poisonous plant and wormwood.

“And it must occur that when someone has heard the words of this oath, and he has blessed himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall come to have peace, although I shall walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ with the intention of sweeping away the well-watered one along with the thirsty ones, Jehovah will not want to forgive him, but then Jehovah’s anger and his ardor will smoke against that man, and all the oath written in this book will certainly settle down on him, and Jehovah will indeed wipe out his name from under the heavens. So Jehovah will have to separate him for calamity from all the tribes of Israel in accord with all the oath of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.

“And the future generation, YOUR sons who will rise up after YOU, will be bound to say, also the foreigner who will come from a distant land, even [when] they have seen the plagues of that land and its maladies with which Jehovah has sickened it, sulphur and salt and burning, so that its whole land will not be sown, nor sprout, nor will any vegetation spring up in it, like the overthrow of Sod’om and Go·mor’rah, Ad’mah and Ze·boi’im, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger and in his wrath; yes, all the nations will be bound to say, ‘Why did Jehovah do like this to this land? Why the heat of this great anger?’ Then they will have to say, ‘It was because they abandoned the covenant of Jehovah the God of their forefathers, which he concluded with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they proceeded to go and serve other gods and to bow down to them, gods that they had not known and he had not apportioned to them. Then Jehovah’s anger blazed against that land by bringing upon it the whole malediction written in this book. Hence Jehovah uprooted them from off their soil in anger and rage and great indignation and threw them into another land as at this day.’

“The things concealed belong to Jehovah our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons to time indefinite, that we may carry out all the words of this law.

“And it must occur that when all these words will come upon you, the blessing and the malediction, which I have put before you, and you have brought them back to your heart  among all the nations where Jehovah your God has dispersed you, and you have returned to Jehovah your God and listened to his voice according to all that I am commanding you today, you and your sons, with all your heart and all your soul, Jehovah your God must also bring back your captives and show you mercy and collect you again from all the peoples where Jehovah your God has scattered you. If your dispersed people should be at the end of the heavens, from there Jehovah your God will collect you and from there he will take you. Jehovah your God will indeed bring you into the land of which your fathers took possession, and you will certainly take possession of it; and he will indeed do you good and multiply you more than your fathers. And Jehovah your God will have to circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, that you may love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul for the sake of your life. And Jehovah your God will certainly put all these oaths upon your enemies and those who hate you, who have persecuted you.

“As for you, you will turn and certainly listen to the voice of Jehovah and do all his commandments that I am commanding you today. And Jehovah your God will indeed make you have more than enough in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your belly and the fruit of your domestic animals and the fruitage of your soil, resulting in prosperity; because Jehovah will again exult over you for good, just as he exulted over your forefathers; for you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your God so as to keep his commandments and his statutes written in this book of the law, because you will return to Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul.

“For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away. It is not in the heavens, so as to result in saying, ‘Who will ascend for us into the heavens and get it for us, that he may let us hear it that we may do it?’ Neither is it on the other side of the sea, so as to result in saying, ‘Who will pass over for us to the other side of the sea and get it for us, that he may let us hear it that we may do it?’  For the word is very near you, in your own mouth and in your own heart, that you may do it.

“See, I do put before you today life and good, and death and bad. [If you will listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God,] which I am commanding you today, so as to love Jehovah your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judicial decisions, then you will be bound to keep alive and to multiply, and Jehovah your God must bless you in the land to which you are going to take possession of it.

“But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, and you are actually seduced and bow down to other gods and serve them, I do tell YOU today that YOU will positively perish. YOU will not lengthen YOUR days on the ground to which you are crossing the Jordan to go to take possession of it. I do take the heavens and the earth as witnesses against YOU today, that I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him; for he is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell upon the ground that Jehovah swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give to them.”

“Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel and said to them: “A hundred and twenty years old I am today. I shall no more be allowed to go out and come in, as Jehovah has said to me, ‘You will not cross this Jordan.’ Jehovah your God is the one crossing before you. He himself will annihilate these nations from before you, and you must drive them away.  Joshua is the one crossing before you, just as Jehovah has spoken. And Jehovah will certainly do to them just as he has done to Si’hon and to Og, the kings of the Am’or·ites, and to their land, when he annihilated them. And Jehovah has abandoned them to YOU, and YOU must do to them according to all the commandment that I have commanded YOU. BE courageous and strong. Do not be afraid or suffer a shock before them, because Jehovah your God is the one marching with you. He will neither desert you nor leave you entirely.”

And Moses proceeded to call Joshua and say to him before the eyes of all Israel: “Be courageous and strong, because you—you will bring this people into the land that Jehovah swore to their forefathers to give to them, and you yourself will give it to them as an inheritance. And Jehovah is the one marching before you. He himself will continue with you. He will neither desert you nor leave you entirely. Do not be afraid or be terrified.”

Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests the sons of Le’vi, the carriers of the ark of Jehovah’s covenant, and to all the older men of Israel. And Moses went on to command them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, in the appointed time of the year of the release, in the festival of booths, when all Israel comes to see the face of Jehovah your God in the place that he will choose, you will read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. Congregate the people, the men and the women and the little ones and your alien resident who is within your gates, in order that they may listen and in order that they may learn, as they must fear Jehovah YOUR God and take care to carry out all the words of this law. And their sons who have not known should listen, and they must learn to fear Jehovah YOUR God all the days that YOU are living upon the soil to which YOU are crossing the Jordan to take possession of it.”

After that Jehovah said to Moses: “Look! The days have drawn near for you to die. Call Joshua, and station yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and stationed themselves in the tent of meeting. Then Jehovah appeared at the tent in the pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud began to stand by the entrance of the tent.

Jehovah now said to Moses: “Look! You are lying down with your forefathers; and this people will certainly get up and have immoral intercourse with foreign gods of the land to which they are going, in their very midst, and they will certainly forsake me and break my covenant that I have concluded with them. At that my anger will indeed blaze against them in that day, and I shall certainly forsake them and conceal my face from them, and they must become something to be consumed; and many calamities and distresses must come upon them, and they will be bound to say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not in our midst that these calamities have come upon us?’ As for me, I shall absolutely conceal my face in that day because of all the badness that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

“And now WRITE for yourselves this song and teach it to the sons of Israel. Place it in their mouths in order that this song may serve as my witness against the sons of Israel. For I shall bring them to the ground that I have sworn about to their forefathers, which flows with milk and honey, and they will certainly eat and be satisfied and grow fat and turn to other gods, and they will indeed serve them and treat me with disrespect and break my covenant. And it must occur that when many calamities and distresses will come upon them, this song must also answer before them as a witness, because it should not be forgotten out of the mouth of their offspring, for I well know their inclination that they are developing today before I bring them into the land about which I have sworn.”

So Moses wrote this song in that day, that he might teach it to the sons of Israel.

And he proceeded to commission Joshua the son of Nun and to say: “Be courageous and strong, because you—you will bring the sons of Israel into the land about which I have sworn to them, and I myself shall continue with you.”

And it came about that as soon as Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book until their completion, Moses began to command the Levites, the carriers of the ark of Jehovah’s covenant, saying: “Taking this book of the law, YOU must place it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah YOUR God, and it must serve as a witness there against you. For I—I well know your rebelliousness and your stiff neck. If while I am yet alive with YOU today, YOU have proved rebellious in behavior toward Jehovah, then how much more so after my death! Congregate to me all the older men of YOUR tribes and YOUR officers, and let me speak in their hearing these words, and let me take the heavens and the earth as witnesses against them. For I well know that after my death YOU will without fail act ruinously, and YOU will certainly turn aside from the way about which I have commanded YOU; and calamity will be bound to befall YOU at the close of the days, because YOU will do what is bad in the eyes of Jehovah so as to offend him by the works of YOUR hands.”

-Dueteronomy 29-31:1-29, NWT

They are singing the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty...

“And Moses proceeded to speak in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until their completion:

Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;  And let the earth hear the sayings of my mouth.

My instruction will drip as the rain, My saying will trickle as the dew, As gentle rains upon grass And as copious showers upon vegetation.

For I shall declare the name of Jehovah. Do YOU attribute greatness to our God!

The Rock, perfect is his activity, For all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; Righteous and upright is he.

They have acted ruinously on their own part; They are not his children, the defect is their own. A generation crooked and twisted!

Is it to Jehovah that YOU keep doing this way, O people stupid and not wise? Is he not your Father who has produced you, He who made you and proceeded to give you stability?

Remember the days of old, CONSIDER the years back from generation to generation; Ask your father, and he can tell you; Your old men, and they can say it to you.

When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, When he parted the sons of Adam from one another, He proceeded to fix the boundary of the peoples With regard for the number of the sons of Israel.

For Jehovah’s share is his people; Jacob is the allotment that he inherits.

He came to find him in a wilderness land, And in an empty, howling desert. He began to encircle him, to take care of him, To safeguard him as the pupil of his eye.

Just as an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its fledglings, Spreads out its wings, takes them, Carries them on its pinions,

Jehovah alone kept leading him, And there was no foreign god along with him.

He kept making him ride upon earth’s high places, So that he ate the produce of the field. And he kept making him suck honey out of a crag, And oil out of a flinty rock;

Butter of the herd and milk of the flock Together with the fat of rams, And male sheep, the breed of Ba’shan, and he-goats Together with the kidney fat of wheat; And the blood of the grape you kept drinking as wine.

When Jesh’u·run began to grow fat, then he kicked.

You have grown fat, you have become thick, you have become gorged. So he forsook God, who made him, And despised the Rock of his salvation.

They began inciting him to jealousy with strange gods; With detestable things they kept offending him.

They went sacrificing to demons, not to God, Gods whom they had not known, New ones who recently came in, With whom YOUR forefathers were not acquainted.

The Rock who fathered you, you proceeded to forget, And you began to leave God out of memory, the One bringing you forth with childbirth pains.

When Jehovah saw it, then he came to disrespect them, Because of the vexation his sons and his daughters gave.

So he said, ‘Let me conceal my face from them, Let me see what their end will be afterward. For they are a generation of perverseness, Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.

They, for their part, have incited me to jealousy with what is no god; They have vexed me with their vain idols; And I, for my part, shall incite them to jealousy with what is no people; With a stupid nation I shall offend them.

For a fire has been ignited in my anger And it will burn down to She’ol, the lowest place, And it will consume the earth and its produce And will set ablaze the foundations of mountains.

I shall increase calamities upon them; My arrows I shall spend upon them.

Exhausted from hunger they will be and eaten up by burning fever And bitter destruction. And the teeth of beasts I shall send upon them, With the venom of reptiles of the dust.

Outdoors a sword will bereave them, And indoors fright, Of both young man and virgin, Suckling together with gray-haired man.

I should have said: “I shall disperse them, I will make the mention of them cease from mortal men,”

Were it not that I was afraid of vexation from the enemy, That their adversaries might misconstrue it, That they might say: “Our hand has proved superior, And it was not Jehovah who worked all this out.”

For they are a nation on whom counsel perishes, And among them there is no understanding.

O that they were wise! Then they would ponder over this. They would consider their end afterward.

How could one pursue a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight? Not unless their Rock had sold them And Jehovah had surrendered them.

For their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies being the ones to decide.

For their vine is from the vine of Sod’om And from the terraces of Go·mor’rah. Their grapes are grapes of poison, Their clusters are bitter.

Their wine is the venom of big snakes And the cruel poison of cobras.

Is it not laid up with me, With a seal affixed to it in my storehouse?

Vengeance is mine, and retribution. At the appointed time their foot will move unsteadily, For the day of their disaster is near, And the events in readiness for them do make haste.’

For Jehovah will judge his people And he will feel regret over his servants, Because he will see that support has disappeared And there is only a helpless and worthless one.

And he will certainly say, ‘Where are their gods, The rock in whom they sought refuge,

Who used to eat the fat of their sacrifices, To drink the wine of their drink offerings? Let them get up and help YOU. Let them become a concealment place for YOU.

SEE now that I—I am he And there are no gods together with me. I put to death, and I make alive. I have severely wounded, and I—I will heal, And there is no one snatching out of my hand.

For I raise my hand to heaven [in an oath], And I do say: “As I am alive to time indefinite,”

If I do indeed sharpen my glittering sword, And my hand takes hold on judgment, I will pay back vengeance to my adversaries And render retribution to those who intensely hate me.

I shall intoxicate my arrows with blood, While my sword will eat flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, With the heads of the leaders of the enemy.’

Be glad, YOU nations, with his people, For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And he will pay back vengeance to his adversaries And will indeed make atonement for the ground of his people.”

Thus Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Ho·she’a the son of Nun. After Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he went on to say to them: “Apply YOUR hearts to all the words that I am speaking in warning to YOU today, that YOU may command YOUR sons to take care to do all the words of this law. For it is no valueless word for YOU, but it means YOUR life, and by this word YOU may lengthen YOUR days upon the soil to which YOU are crossing the Jordan to take possession of it.”

And Jehovah proceeded to speak to Moses on this same day, saying: “Go up into this mountain of Ab’a·rim, Mount Ne’bo, which is in the land of Mo’ab, which fronts toward Jer’i·cho, and see the land of Ca’naan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. Then die on the mountain into which you are going up, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and got to be gathered to his people; for the reason that YOU men acted undutifully toward me in the middle of the sons of Israel at the waters of Mer’i·bah of Ka’desh in the wilderness of Zin; for the reason that YOU men did not sanctify me in the middle of the sons of Israel. For from a distance you will see the land, but you will not go there into the land that I am giving to the sons of Israel.”

Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of the [true] God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.  And he proceeded to say:

“Jehovah—from Si’nai he came, And he flashed forth from Se’ir upon them. He beamed forth from the mountainous region of Pa’ran, And with him were holy myriads, At his right hand warriors belonging to them.

He was also cherishing his people; All their holy ones are in your hand. And they—they reclined at your feet; They began to receive some of your words.

(Moses laid as a command upon us a law, A possession of the congregation of Jacob.)

And he came to be king in Jesh’u·run, When the heads of the people gathered themselves, The entire number of the tribes of Israel.

Let Reu’ben live and not die off, And let his men [not] become few.”

And this was Judah’s [blessing], as he went on to say:

“Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And may you bring him to his people. His arms have contended for what is his; And may you prove yourself a helper from his adversaries.”

And as to Le’vi he said:

“Your Thum’mim and your U’rim belong to the man loyal to you, Whom you put to the test at Mas’sah. You began to contend with him by the waters of Mer’i·bah,

The man who said to his father and his mother, ‘I have not seen him. ’Even his brothers he did not acknowledge, And his sons he did not know. For they kept your saying, And your covenant they continued to observe.

Let them instruct Jacob in your judicial decisions And Israel in your law. Let them render up incense before your nostrils And a whole offering on your altar.

Bless, O Jehovah, his vital energy, And may you show pleasure in the activity of his hands. Wound severely in their hips those who rise up against him, And those who intensely hate him, that they may not rise up.”

As to Benjamin he said:

“Let the beloved one of Jehovah reside in security by him, While he shelters him the whole day, And he must reside between his shoulders.”

And as to Joseph he said:

“May his land be continually blessed from Jehovah With the choice things of heaven, with dew, And with the watery deep lying down below,

And with the choice things, the products of the sun, And with the choice things, the yield of the lunar months,

And with the choicest from the mountains of the east, And with the choice things of the indefinitely lasting hills,

And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness, And with the approval of the One residing in the thornbush. May they come upon the head of Joseph And upon the crown of the head of the one singled out from his brothers.

As the firstborn of a bull his splendor is, And his horns are the horns of a wild bull. With them he will push peoples All together to the ends of the earth, And they are the tens of thousands of E’phra·im, And they are the thousands of Ma·nas’seh.”

And as to Zeb’u·lun he said:

“Rejoice, O Zeb’u·lun, in your going out, And, Is’sa·char, in your tents.

Peoples to the mountain they will call. There they will sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness. For they will suck the abounding wealth of the seas And the hidden hoards of the sand.”

And as to Gad he said:

“Blessed is the one widening the borders of Gad. As a lion he must reside, And he must tear the arm, yes, the crown of the head.

And he will pick out the first part for himself, For there the allotment of a statute-giver is reserved. And the heads of the people will gather themselves together. The righteousness of Jehovah will he certainly execute And his judicial decisions with Israel.”

And as to Dan he said:

“Dan is a lion cub. He will leap out from Ba’shan.”

And as to Naph’ta·li he said:

“Naph’ta·li is satisfied with the approval And full of the blessing of Jehovah. Do take possession of the west and south.”

And as to Ash’er he said:

“Blessed with sons is Ash’er. Let him become one approved by his brothers, And one dipping his foot in oil.

Iron and copper are your gate locks, And in proportion to your days is your leisurely walk.

There is none like the [true] God of Jesh’u·run, Who rides upon heaven in help of you And upon cloudy skies in his eminence.

A hiding place is the God of ancient time, And underneath are the indefinitely lasting arms. And he will drive away from before you the enemy, And he will say, ‘Annihilate [them]!’

And Israel will reside in security, The fountain of Jacob by itself, Upon a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens will let the dew drip down.

Happy you are, O Israel! Who is there like you, A people enjoying salvation in Jehovah, The shield of your help, And the One who is your eminent sword? So your enemies will cringe before you, And you—upon their high places you will tread.”

Then Moses proceeded to go up from the desert plains of Mo’ab into Mount Ne’bo, to the top of Pis’gah, which fronts toward Jer’i·cho. And Jehovah went showing him all the land, Gil’e·ad as far as Dan, and all Naph’ta·li and the land of E’phra·im and Ma·nas’seh and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, and the Neg’eb and the District, the valley plain of Jer’i·cho, the city of the palm trees, as far as Zo’ar.

And Jehovah went on to say to him: “This is the land about which I have sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘To your seed I shall give it.’ I have caused you to see it with your own eyes, as you will not cross over there.”

After that Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Mo’ab at the order of Jehovah. And he proceeded to bury him in the valley in the land of Mo’ab in front of Beth-pe’or, and nobody has come to know his grave down to this day. And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old at his death. His eye had not grown dim, and his vital strength had not fled. And the sons of Israel proceeded to weep for Moses on the desert plains of Mo’ab thirty days. At length the days of weeping of the mourning period for Moses were completed.

And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hand upon him; and the sons of Israel began to listen to him and they went doing just as Jehovah had commanded Moses. But there has never yet risen up a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face, as respects all the signs and the miracles that Jehovah sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Phar’aoh and all his servants and all his land, and as regards all the strong hand and all the great awesomeness that Moses exercised before the eyes of all Israel.

-Dueteronomy 31:30 - 32-34, NWT