Deu 32 | EE | STEP | Sky and earth, hear my words! Listen to me!

Deuteronomy 32

Moses’ song

1 Sky and earth, hear my words! Listen to me!

2 When I teach people, it will be like the rain when it falls.

My words will do good things to them, like water does to the fields.

They will be like rain on young plants and on new grass.

3 I will pronounce the name of the LORD.

Oh, tell everyone how great and important our God is!

4 He is The Rock that is strong. It does not move away.

His work is completely good. All the things that he does are fair.

He is a God who keeps his promises. He never does anything that is wrong.

He does what is fair and good.

5 But you have done wrong things. You cannot continue to be his people.

You are neither fair nor good. You enjoy doing bad things.

6 This is not the right way to live. The LORD has been very good to you. Do not do these things that make him angry and sad.

You are fools and not people who understand.

He is your Father and he made you. He himself made you from his own plan.

7 Remember the days that are past.

Think of all the people who have died. Ask your father and he will tell you.

Ask the old men. They will explain what happened.

8 The powerful God, who is very important, gave their own place to the people in each country. He decided where the edges of each country should be. And when he was doing that, he was thinking about the number of the descendants of Israel.

9 But the LORD‘s people are his own people.

He chose the descendants of Jacob to be his special people.

10 The LORD found them in an empty desert where the wind was blowing.

He was careful about them and he loved them.

He did not let anyone hurt them, because they were so valuable to him.

11 He was like a large bird. A bird teaches its young birds to fly.

The large bird flies below them and catches them.

It carries them on its back. They do not fall.

The LORD also was very careful about the Israelites and they were safe.

12 The LORD alone led his people. No foreign god gave the Israelites any help.

13 The LORD made them ride over the high places in the country.

He fed them with fruit that grows in the fields. He gave to them honey out of the rock.

He gave to them oil from a place that was full of stones.

14 Their cows and their sheep gave plenty of milk.

The people ate the best meat that they found in Bashan.

They ate the very best bread and they drank fresh wine.

15 Then the Israelites became lazy. They refused to obey.

They were full of food. But they did not want to obey the God who made them.

They refused to obey God, their Rock.

But he is the God who saved them.

16 They made the LORD angry with their foreign gods.

They made their own gods, which he hated.

17 They obeyed very bad gods and prayed to them.

These are not God. These are new gods, which they had not known.

Even your father was not afraid of them.

18 You refused to obey God, your Rock and your Father.

You forgot the God who caused you to be born.

19 When the LORD saw this, he was angry.

He looked away from his sons and daughters and he said,

20 ‘I will not continue to be with them. Then I will see what happens to them in the end.

They are children who do not obey me. They refuse to give me pleasure.

21 They made me angry with their false gods. These gods have no value.

So I will make them angry because of those who are not a nation.

I will make them angry, by a nation that does not understand.

22 My anger will be so great that it will seem like a hot fire.

You will meet with it everywhere that you go. You will meet with it in everything that you do.

Even on the day when you die, you will meet with it.

Even the great things that I have made will know the heat of my anger.

23 I will cause them to have many kinds of trouble. I will attack them.

24 They will become very thin because they have no food. They will have many cruel illnesses.

Wild animals will attack them. Snakes will bite them and they will die.

25 War will cause people to die in the streets. War will kill their children.

Even in their homes, they will be afraid.

Young men and young women will die. Babies and old men will also die.

26 I would have caused them to go out of their country completely. So nobody would remember them.

27 But that would give their enemies pleasure. They would not understand.

They would say, “We have destroyed these people! The LORD has not done it!”’

28 Israel‘s people do not understand anything. They are all fools.

29 If they were wise, they would understand.

They would know what will happen to them in the end.

30 One man runs after 1000 men!

Two men make 10,000 men run away!

This could only happen if God, their strong Rock, had made them slaves.

This could only happen if the LORD refused to help them.

31 Our enemies know that their own gods are weak.

They are not like the God of Israel.

32 Our enemies are bad and cruel, like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

They are like grapes full of poison. They are angry all the time.

33 They make their wine from the poison of snakes.

34 I, the LORD, remember what their enemies have done.

35 I have authority over them. And I will make bad things happen to them because of what they have done. I will punish them.

The time will come when they will fall in front of their enemies.

It will soon be the day for their trouble. My plans will happen quickly.

36 The LORD will judge his people. He will be very kind to his servants.

He will save them when he sees them, weak and without help.

37 Then the LORD will say to them, ‘Think about the strong gods that you believed in.

38 You fed them with the best part of your gifts of food. You gave them good wine to drink. Let them help you now! Let them save you from your troubles!

39 Remember this: I, and I alone, am God. Other gods are false.

I kill and I give life. I have hurt you, but I can make you well again.

Nobody can stop what I am doing.

40 I am the God who lives for all time.

I raise my hand to heaven, which is my home. And I promise

41 to make my big knife sharp. I will use it to punish my enemies.

I will judge them. And I will make bad things happen to them again.

I will do this to everybody who hates me.

42 Their blood will drop from my arrows. My big knife will kill everyone who is against me.

This will be the blood of the dead people and of the slaves and of the enemy’s leaders.’

43 All you people in every country, be happy with God’s people!

He will punish those who kill his servants. He will punish all his enemies.

But he will pay the price himself for all the bad things that his people have done.

44 Moses came with Joshua, the son of Nun, and he spoke all the words of this song. And all the Israelites listened to them. 45 When Moses had finished speaking these words, 46 he said to all the people, ‘Remember every word that I have said to you today. You must repeat them to your children. Tell them that they must obey all the words of this Law. 47 These words are not silly words. They are the most important things in your life. If you obey them, you will live for many years in the country across the Jordan. It will be your own country.’

Moses will die on Mount Nebo

48 On the same day, the LORD said to Moses: 49 ‘Go to the Abarim mountains in the country called Moab and climb Mount Nebo. It is across from the city of Jericho. Look down at the country called Canaan. I am giving this country to Israel‘s people. It will be their country. 50 You will die on that mountain and join your ancestors. You will die like Aaron your brother. He died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. 51 This is because both of you failed to obey me in front of the Israelites. This happened at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the desert of Zin. You did not make my special word important among the Israelites. 52 So you will only see the country from far away. You cannot go into the country that I am giving to the Israelites.’