top Deuteronomy ch 32
Greek: Septuagint (LXX)
English: John Barach
Chapter 32
The Song of Moses: The Witness of Creation and the Nature of God
1 Πρόσεχε, οὐρανέ, καὶ λαλήσω, καὶ ἀκουέτω γῆ ῥήματα ἐκ στόματός μου. 2 προσδοκάσθω ὡς ὑετὸς τὸ ἀπόφθεγμά μου, καὶ καταβήτω ὡς δρόσος τὰ ῥήματά μου, ὡσεὶ ὄμβρος ἐπ' ἄγρωστιν καὶ ὡσεὶ νιφετὸς ἐπὶ χόρτον. 3 ὅτι ὄνομα κυρίου ἐκάλεσα· δότε μεγαλωσύνην τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν. 4 θεός, ἀληθινὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ κρίσεις· θεὸς πιστός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀδικία, δίκαιος καὶ ὅσιος κύριος. 5 ἡμάρτοσαν οὐκ αὐτῷ τέκνα μωμητά, γενεὰ σκολιὰ καὶ διεστραμμένη. 6 ταῦτα κυρίῳ ἀνταποδίδοτε οὕτω, λαὸς μωρὸς καὶ οὐχὶ σοφός; οὐκ αὐτὸς οὗτός σου πατὴρ ἐκτήσατό σὲ καὶ ἐποίησέν σὲ καὶ ἔκτισέν σε; 7 μνήσθητε ἡμέρας αἰῶνος, σύνετε ἔτη γενεᾶς γενεῶν· ἐπερώτησον τὸν πατέρα σου, καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ σοι, τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους σου, καὶ ἐροῦσίν σοι. 1 Give ear, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words from my mouth. 2 Let my speech be looked for as rain, and let my words descend as dew, like a rainstorm upon the grass and like snow upon the herbage. 3 For I have called upon the name of the Lord; ascribe majesty to our God. 4 God—true are his works, and all his ways are judgments; a faithful God, and there is no injustice; just and holy is the Lord. 5 They have sinned; they are not his children, but blameworthy; a crooked and perverted generation. 6 Is this how you repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is he himself not your father who acquired you, and made you, and created you? 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of generations upon generations; ask your father and he will declare it to you, your elders and they will tell you.
The Election and Care of Israel
8 ὅτε διεμέριζεν ὁ ὕψιστος ἔθνη, ὡς διέσπειρεν υἱοὺς Ἀδάμ, ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ, 9 καὶ ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακώβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ. 10 αὐτάρκησεν αὐτὸν ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἐν δίψει καύματος ἐν ἀνύδρῳ· ἐκύκλωσεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπαίδευσεν αὐτὸν καὶ διεφύλαξεν αὐτὸν ὡς κόραν ὀφθαλμοῦ 11 ὡς ἀετὸς σκεπάσαι νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς νεοσσοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπεπόθησεν, διεὶς τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐδέξατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀνέλαβεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν μεταφρένων αὐτοῦ. 12 κύριος μόνος ἦγεν αὐτούς, καὶ οὐκ ἦν μετ' αὐτῶν θεὸς ἀλλότριος. 13 ἀνεβίβασεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν τῆς γῆς, ἐψώμισεν αὐτοὺς γενήματα ἀγρῶν· ἐθήλασαν μέλι ἐκ πέτρας καὶ ἔλαιον ἐκ στερεᾶς πέτρας, 14 βούτυρον βοῶν καὶ γάλα προβάτων μετὰ στέατος ἀρνῶν καὶ κριῶν, υἱῶν ταύρων καὶ τράγων μετὰ στέατος νεφρῶν πυροῦ, καὶ αἷμα σταφυλῆς ἔπιον οἶνον. 15 καὶ ἔφαγεν Ἰακὼβ καὶ ἐνεπλήσθη, καὶ ἀπελάκτισεν ὁ ἠγαπημένος, ἐλιπάνθη, ἐπαχύνθη, ἐπλατύνθη· καὶ ἐγκατέλιπεν θεὸν τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπέστη ἀπὸ θεοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ. 8 When the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. 9 And the Lord’s portion became his people Jacob; the allotment of his inheritance was Israel. 10 He sustained him in a desert land, in the parching thirst of a waterless place; he encircled him and disciplined him and guarded him as the pupil of his eye— 11 like an eagle to shelter its nest and yearned over its young, spreading its wings he received them and took them up upon his pinions. 12 The Lord alone led them, and there was no foreign god with them. 13 He brought them up upon the strength of the land; he fed them the produce of the fields. They sucked honey from a rock and oil from a hard stone, 14 curd of oxen and milk of sheep with the fat of lambs and rams, of the sons of bulls and goats, with the finest fat of wheat—and they drank the blood of the grape, even wine. 15 And Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked; he grew fat, he grew thick, he grew broad. And he abandoned the God who made him and departed from God his Savior.
The Provocation and the Divine Response
16 παρώξυνάν με ἐπ' ἀλλοτρίοις, ἐν βδελύγμασιν αὐτῶν ἐξεπίκρανάν με· 17 ἔθυσαν δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ, θεοῖς, οἷς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν· καινοὶ πρόσφατοι ἥκασιν, οὓς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν. 18 θεὸν τὸν γεννήσαντά σὲ ἐγκατέλιπες καὶ ἐπελάθου θεοῦ τοῦ τρέφοντός σε. 19 καὶ εἶδεν κύριος καὶ ἐζήλωσεν καὶ παρωξύνθη δι' ὀργὴν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ θυγατέρων 20 καὶ εἶπεν ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ' αὐτῶν καὶ δείξω τί ἔσται αὐτοῖς ἐπ' ἐσχάτων· ὅτι γενεὰ ἐξεστραμμένη ἐστίν, υἱοί, οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν πίστις ἐν αὐτοῖς. 16 They provoked me with foreign things; with their abominations they embittered me. 17 They sacrificed to demons and not to God; to gods whom they did not know—new and recent ones they have come, whom their fathers did not know. 18 You abandoned the God who begot you and forgot the God who nurtures you. 19 And the Lord saw and was jealous, and was provoked because of the anger of his sons and daughters. 20 And he said, "I will turn my face away from them and show what shall be to them in the end; for it is a perverted generation, sons in whom there is no faith."
21 αὐτοὶ παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπ' οὐ θεῷ, παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπ' οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπ' ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς. 22 ὅτι πῦρ ἐκκέκαυται ἐκ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου, καυθήσεται ἕως ᾅδου κάτω, καταφάγεται γῆν καὶ τὰ γενήματα αὐτῆς, φλέξει θεμέλια ὀρέων. 23 συνάξω εἰς αὐτοὺς κακὰ καὶ τὰ βέλη μου συντελέσω εἰς αὐτούς. 24 τηκόμενοι λιμῷ καὶ βρώσει ὀρνέων καὶ ὀπισθότονος ἀνίατος· ὀδόντας θηρίων ἀποστελῶ εἰς αὐτοὺς μετὰ θυμοῦ συρόντων ἐπὶ γῆς. 25 ἔξωθεν ἀτεκνώσει αὐτοὺς μάχαιρα καὶ ἐκ τῶν ταμιείων φόβος· νεανίσκος σὺν παρθένῳ, θηλάζων μετὰ καθεστηκότος πρεσβύτου. 21 "They have made me jealous with what is 'not-god'; they have provoked me with their idols. And I will make them jealous with what is 'not-a-nation'; with a foolish nation I will provoke them. 22 For a fire has been kindled from my wrath; it shall burn unto Hades below; it shall devour the earth and its produce; it shall set ablaze the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will gather evils against them and spend my arrows upon them. 24 They shall be wasted by famine and the devouring of birds, and an incurable 'backward-bending' (opisthotonos). I will send the teeth of wild beasts against them with the wrath of those that crawl upon the earth. 25 From without, the sword shall bereave them of children, and from the inner chambers, terror—the youth along with the virgin, the nursing infant with the established elder."
The Limitation of Judgment
26 εἶπα διασπερῶ αὐτούς, παύσω δὴ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν, 27 εἰ μὴ δι' ὀργὴν ἐχθρῶν, ἵνα μὴ μακροχρονίσωσιν, καὶ ἵνα μὴ συνεπιθῶνται οἱ ὑπεναντίοι, μὴ εἴπωσιν ἡ χεὶρ ἡμῶν ἡ ὑψηλὴ καὶ οὐχὶ κύριος ἐποίησεν ταῦτα πάντα. 28 ὅτι ἔθνος ἀπολωλεκὸς βουλήν ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπιστήμη. 29 οὐκ ἐφρόνησαν συνιέναι ταῦτα· καταδεξάσθωσαν εἰς τὸν ἐπιόντα χρόνον. 30 πῶς διώξεται εἷς χιλίους καὶ δύο μετακινήσουσιν μυριάδας, εἰ μὴ ὁ θεὸς ἀπέδοτο αὐτοὺς καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτούς; 31 ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν ἀνόητοι. 32 ἐκ γὰρ ἀμπέλου Σοδόμων ἡ ἄμπελος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ κληματὶς αὐτῶν ἐκ Γομόρρας· ἡ σταφυλὴ αὐτῶν σταφυλὴ χολῆς, βότρυς πικρίας αὐτοῖς· 33 θυμὸς δρακόντων ὁ οἶνος αὐτῶν καὶ θυμὸς ἀσπίδων ἀνίατος. 26 "I said I would scatter them, I would indeed cease the memory of them from among men— 27 were it not for the wrath of the enemies, lest they should live long and lest the adversaries should join together and say, 'Our own high hand, and not the Lord, has done all these things.'" 28 For it is a nation that has lost counsel, and there is no understanding in them. 29 They did not think to understand these things; let them accept them for the time to come. 30 How could one pursue a thousand and two move ten thousand, unless God had sold them and the Lord had delivered them? 31 For their gods are not as our God—and our enemies are without understanding. 32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their shoot is from Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, a cluster of bitterness for them. 33 Their wine is the wrath of dragons and the incurable wrath of asps.
The Vindication and Vengeance of God
34 οὐκ ἰδοὺ ταῦτα συνῆκται παρ' ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐσφράγισται ἐν τοῖς θησαυροῖς μου; 35 ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐκδικήσεως ἀνταποδώσω, ἐν καιρῷ, ὅταν σφαλῇ ὁ ποὺς αὐτῶν· ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἡμέρα ἀπωλείας αὐτῶν, καὶ πάρεστιν ἕτοιμα ὑμῖν. 36 ὅτι κρινεῖ κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ παρακληθήσεται· εἶδεν γὰρ παραλελυμένους αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκλελοιπότας ἐν ἐπαγωγῇ καὶ παρειμένους. 37 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν, ἐφ' οἷς ἐπεποίθεισαν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς, 38 ὧν τὸ στέαρ τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν ἠσθίετε καὶ ἐπίνετε τὸν οἶνον τῶν σπονδῶν αὐτῶν; ἀναστήτωσαν καὶ βοηθησάτωσαν ὑμῖν καὶ γενηθήτωσαν ὑμῖν σκεπασταί. 34 "Behold, are these things not collected with me and sealed in my treasures? 35 In the day of vengeance I will repay, at the time when their foot slips; for the day of their destruction is near, and what is prepared for you is at hand." 36 For the Lord will judge his people and be comforted over his servants; for he saw them paralyzed and failing in the affliction and exhausted. 37 And the Lord said, "Where are their gods, in whom they trusted? 38 Whose fat of their sacrifices you ate and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and help you and become your shelters!"
39 ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου. 40 ὅτι ἀρῶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν τὴν χεῖρά μου καὶ ὀμοῦμαι τῇ δεξιᾷ μου καὶ ἐρῶ ζῶ ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, 41 ὅτι παροξυνῶ ὡς ἀστραπὴν τὴν μάχαιράν μου, καὶ ἀνθέξεται κρίματος ἡ χείρ μου, καὶ ἀνταποδώσω δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσίν με ἀνταποδώσω· 42 μεθύσω τὰ βέλη μου ἀφ' αἵματος, καὶ ἡ μάχαιρά μου καταφάγεται κρέα, ἀφ' αἵματος τραυματιῶν καὶ αἰχμαλωσίας, ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς ἀρχόντων ἐχθρῶν. 39 "See, see that I am He, and there is no god besides me. I will kill and I will make to live; I will strike and I will heal, and there is no one who shall deliver from my hands. 40 For I will lift up my hand to heaven and swear by my right hand and say, 'As I live forever, 41 I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand will take hold of judgment; I will render justice to my enemies and I will repay those who hate me. 42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh—from the blood of the wounded and of the captivity, from the head of the leaders of the enemies.'"
The Finale: Universal Praise and Moses' Departure
43 εὐφράνθητε, οὐρανοί, ἅμα αὐτῷ, καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες υἱοὶ θεοῦ· εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη, μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ· ὅτι τὸ αἷμα τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκδικᾶται, καὶ ἐκδικήσει καὶ ἀνταποδώσει δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἀνταποδώσει, καὶ ἐκκαθαριεῖ κύριος τὴν γῆν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ. 43 Rejoice, O heavens, with him, and let all the sons of God worship him! Rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God give him strength! For the blood of his sons is avenged; he will avenge and render justice to the enemies and repay those who hate him, and the Lord will cleanse the land of his people.
44 καὶ ἔγραψεν Μωυσῆς τὴν ᾠδὴν ταύτην ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὴν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ. καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Μωυσῆς καὶ ἐλάλησεν πάντας τοὺς λόγους τοῦ νόμου τούτου εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ, αὐτὸς καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυή. 45 καὶ συνετέλεσεν Μωυσῆς λαλῶν παντὶ Ἰσραὴλ 46 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς προσέχετε τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς λόγους τούτους, οὓς ἐγὼ διαμαρτύρομαι ὑμῖν σήμερον, ἃ ἐντελεῖσθε τοῖς υἱοῖς ὑμῶν φυλάσσειν καὶ ποιεῖν πάντας τοὺς λόγους τοῦ νόμου τούτου· 47 ὅτι οὐχὶ λόγος κενὸς οὗτος ὑμῖν, ὅτι αὕτη ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν, καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ λόγου τούτου μακροημερεύσετε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἰς ἣν ὑμεῖς διαβαίνετε τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἐκεῖ κληρονομῆσαι αὐτήν. 44 And Moses wrote this song on that day and taught it to the sons of Israel. And Moses entered and spoke all the words of this law into the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 And Moses finished speaking to all Israel, 46 and he said to them, "Apply your heart to all these words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your sons, to observe and to do all the words of this law. 47 For this is not an empty word for you, for this is your life; and because of this word you shall be long-lived upon the land into which you are crossing the Jordan there to inherit."
48 καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ λέγων 49 ἀνάβηθι εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Ἀβαρὰν τοῦτο, ὄρος Ναβαύ, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν γῇ Μωὰβ κατὰ πρόσωπον Ἰεριχώ, καὶ ἰδὲ τὴν γῆν Χαναάν, ἣν ἐγὼ δίδωμι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς κατάσχεσιν, 50 καὶ τελεύτα ἐν τῷ ὄρει, εἰς ὃ ἀναβαίνεις ἐκεῖ, καὶ προστέθητι πρὸς τὸν λαόν σου, ὃν τρόπον ἀπέθανεν Ἀαρὼν ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἐν Ὤρ τῷ ὄρει καὶ προσετέθη πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, 51 διότι ἠπειθήσατε τῷ ῥήματί μου ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος ἀντιλογίας Κάδης ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Σίν, διότι οὐχ ἡγιάσατέ με ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· 52 ὅτι ἀπέναντι ὄψῃ τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐκεῖ οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ. 48 And the Lord spoke to Moses on that day, saying, 49 "Ascend this Mount Abaran, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you ascend there, and be added to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was added to his people. 51 Because you were disobedient to my word among the sons of Israel at the water of contradiction at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not sanctify me among the sons of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land from opposite, but you shall not enter there."