Moses' Final Blessing on Israel

Deuteronomy 33

1 This is the blessing with which Moses y the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death.

2 He said,
z "The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us; 1
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came a from the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire 2 at his right hand.
 3 Yes, b he loved his people, 3
c all his holy ones were in his 4 hand;
d so they followed 5 in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
 4 when e Moses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
 5 Thus the Lord f became king in g Jeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.

6 h "Let Reuben live, and not die,
but let his men be few."

7 And this he said of Judah:
"Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend 6 for him,
and be a help against his adversaries."

8 And i of Levi he said,
"Give to Levi 7 j your Thummim,
and your Urim to your godly one,
k whom you tested at Massah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
 9 who said of his father and mother,
'I regard them not';
l he disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For m they observed your word
and kept your covenant.
 10 n They shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
o they shall put incense before you
and p whole burnt offerings on your altar.
 11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and q accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again."

12 r Of Benjamin he said,
"The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God 8 surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders."

13 And s of Joseph he said,
t "Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven u above, 9
and of the deep that crouches beneath,
 14 with the choicest fruits of the sun
and the rich yield of the months,
 15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
and the abundance of v the everlasting hills,
 16 with the best gifts of the earth and w its fullness
and the favor of x him who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
 17 y A firstborn bull 10 - he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a z wild ox;
with them a he shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
b they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh."

18 And of Zebulun he said,
c "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
 19 They shall call peoples d to their mountain;
there they offer e right sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand."

20 And f of Gad he said,
"Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches g like a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
 21 h He chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander's portion was reserved;
and i he came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel."

22 And j of Dan he said,
k "Dan is a lion's cub
l that leaps from Bashan."

23 And m of Naphtali he said,
"O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
n possess the lake 11 and the south."

24 And o of Asher he said,
"Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him p dip his foot in oil.
 25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.

26 q "There is none like God, O r Jeshurun,
s who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
 27 The eternal God is your t dwelling place, 12
and underneath are the everlasting arms. 13
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, Destroy.
 28 So Israel lived in safety,
u Jacob lived v alone, 14
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
 29 Happy are you, O Israel! w Who is like you,
a people x saved by the Lord,
y the shield of your help,
and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
and you shall tread upon their backs."

  1. Cross References
    Joshua 14:6
    Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.
    1 Chronicles 23:14
    But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi.
    2 Chronicles 30:16
    They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites.
    Ezra 3:2
    Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 19:18
    Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
    Exodus 19:20
    The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
    Judges 5:4 - 5
    Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water.
    Psalms 68:7 - 8
    O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
    Habakkuk 3:3
    God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. Selah
  3. Cross References
    Psalms 68:17
    The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, tho...
    Daniel 7:10
    A stream of fire issued and came out from befor...
    Acts 7:53
    You who received the law as delivered by angels...
    Galatians 3:19
    Why then the law? It was added because of trans...
    Hebrews 2:2
    For since the message declared by angels proved...
    Jude 1:14
    It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh...
    Revelation 5:11
    Then I looked, and I heard around the throne an...
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:7 - 8
    It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
    Deuteronomy 10:15
    Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
    Hosea 11:1
    When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
  5. Cross References
    John 10:27 - 29
    My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
    Romans 8:35
    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
    Romans 8:38 - 39
    For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers.
  6. Cross References
    Luke 10:39
    And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
    Acts 22:3
    I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
  7. Cross References
    John 1:17
    For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
    John 7:19
    Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 23:21
    He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.
    Judges 8:23
    Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.
    Isaiah 33:22
    For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.
  9. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:15
    But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 49:3 - 4
    Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 49:5
    Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 28:30
    And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 17:7
    And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?
    Numbers 20:13
    These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 32:26 - 29
    Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord 's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
  15. Cross References
    Malachi 2:4 - 6
    So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts.
  16. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 17:9 - 11
    And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision.
    Ezekiel 44:23
    They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
    Leviticus 10:11
    And you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 30:7 - 8
    And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it.
    1 Samuel 2:28
    Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 51:19
    Then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
    Ezekiel 43:27
    And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.
  19. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:40 - 41
    For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings.
    Ezekiel 43:27
    And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.
    Amos 5:22
    Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.
  20. Cross References
    Genesis 49:27
    "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil."
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 49:22
    Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.
  22. Cross References
    Genesis 49:25
    By the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 33:28
    So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew.
    Genesis 27:28
    May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
  24. Cross References
    Genesis 49:26
    The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
    Habakkuk 3:6
    He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways.
    Psalms 90:2
    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 24:1
    The earth is the Lord 's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 3:2 - 4
    And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
    Acts 7:30
    Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
    Acts 7:35
    This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' - this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
  27. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 5:1
    The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel ( for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son.
  28. Cross References
    Numbers 23:22
    God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
  29. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:11
    And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.'
    Psalms 44:5
    Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
    Daniel 8:4
    I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
  30. Cross References
    Genesis 48:19
    But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.
    Numbers 1:33
    Those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
    Numbers 1:35
    Those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
  31. Cross References
    Genesis 49:13 - 15
    Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.
  32. Cross References
    Exodus 15:17
    You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
    Isaiah 2:3
    And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
  33. Cross References
    Psalms 4:5
    Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
    Psalms 51:19
    Then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
  34. Cross References
    Genesis 49:19
    Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.
  35. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 12:8
    From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains:
  36. Cross References
    Numbers 32:1 - 5
    Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock.
    Numbers 32:16 - 19
    Then they came near to him and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones.
  37. Cross References
    Numbers 32:31 - 32
    And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, "What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do.
    Joshua 1:12 - 15
    And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said.
    1 Chronicles 5:18 - 22
    The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war.
  38. Cross References
    Genesis 49:16
    Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
  39. Cross References
    Genesis 49:9
    Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
  40. Cross References
    Joshua 19:47
    When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.
    Judges 18:27
    But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.
  41. Cross References
    Genesis 49:21
    Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.
  42. Cross References
    Joshua 19:32 - 39
    The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.
  43. Cross References
    Genesis 49:20
    Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.
  44. Cross References
    Job 29:6
    When my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
  45. Cross References
    Exodus 15:11
    Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
  46. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:15
    But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
  47. Cross References
    Psalms 68:33 - 34
    To him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
    Psalms 104:3
    He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind.
    Isaiah 19:1
    An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
    Habakkuk 3:8
    Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord ? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation?
  48. Cross References
    Psalms 90:1
    Book Four Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
    Psalms 91:9
    Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place - the Most High, who is my refuge -
  49. Cross References
    Psalms 68:26
    "Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!"
    Isaiah 48:1
    Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
  50. Cross References
    Numbers 23:9
    For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!
  51. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:23
    And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
  52. Cross References
    Isaiah 45:17
    But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity.
  53. Cross References
    Psalms 33:20
    Our soul waits for the Lord ; he is our help and our shield.
    Psalms 115:9 - 11
    O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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