1 ` Give ear, O heavens, and I speak; And thou dost hear, O earth, sayings of my mouth!

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2 D rop as rain doth My doctrine; Flow as dew doth My sayings; As storms on the tender grass, And as showers on the herb,

My message shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the light rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb.

3 F or the Name of Jehovah I proclaim, Ascribe ye greatness to our God!

For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Concede and ascribe greatness to our God.

4 T he Rock! -- perfect His work, For all His ways just; God of stedfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright He.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are law and justice. A God of faithfulness without breach or deviation, just and right is He.

5 I t hath done corruptly to Him; Their blemish is not His sons', A generation perverse and crooked!

They have spoiled themselves. They are not sons to Him, and that is their blemish—a perverse and crooked generation!

6 T o Jehovah do ye act thus, O people foolish and not wise? Is not He thy father -- thy possessor? He made thee, and doth establish thee.

Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not He your Father Who acquired you for His own, Who made and established you ?

7 R emember days of old -- Understand the years of many generations -- Ask thy father, and he doth tell thee; Thine elders, and they say to thee:

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

8 I n the Most High causing nations to inherit, In His separating sons of Adam -- He setteth up the borders of the peoples By the number of the sons of Israel.

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the Israelites.

9 F or Jehovah's portion His people, Jacob the line of His inheritance.

For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob (Israel) is the lot of His inheritance.

10 H e findeth him in a land -- a desert, And in a void -- a howling wilderness, He turneth him round -- He causeth him to understand -- He keepeth him as the apple of His eye.

He found him in a desert land, in the howling void of the wilderness; He kept circling around him, He scanned him, He kept him as the pupil of His eye.

11 A s an eagle waketh up its nest, Over its young ones fluttereth, Spreadeth its wings -- taketh them, Beareth them on its pinions; --

As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, He spread abroad His wings and He took them, He bore them on His pinions.

12 J ehovah alone doth lead him, And there is no strange god with him.

So the Lord alone led him; there was no foreign god with Him.

13 H e maketh him ride on high places of earth, And he eateth increase of the fields, And He maketh him suck honey from a rock, And oil out of the flint of a rock;

He made Israel ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the increase of the field; and He made him suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock,

14 B utter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, and rams, sons of Bashan, And he-goats, with fat of kidneys of wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou dost drink wine!

Butter and curds of the herd and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, with the finest of the wheat; and you drank wine of the blood of the grape.

15 A nd Jeshurun waxeth fat, and doth kick: Thou hast been fat -- thou hast been thick, Thou hast been covered. And he leaveth God who made him, And dishonoureth the Rock of his salvation.

But Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat and kicked. You became fat, you grew thick, you were gorged and sleek! Then he forsook God Who made him and forsook and despised the Rock of his salvation.

16 T hey make Him zealous with strangers, With abominations they make Him angry.

They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked Him to anger.

17 T hey sacrifice to demons -- no god! Gods they have not known -- New ones -- from the vicinity they came; Not feared them have your fathers!

They sacrificed to demons, not to God—to gods whom they knew not, to new gods lately come up, whom your fathers never knew or feared.

18 T he Rock that begat thee thou forgettest, And neglectest God who formeth thee.

Of the Rock Who bore you you were unmindful; you forgot the God Who travailed in your birth.

19 A nd Jehovah seeth and despiseth -- For the provocation of His sons and His daughters.

And the Lord saw it and He spurned and rejected them, out of indignation with His sons and His daughters.

20 A nd He saith: I hide My face from them, I see what their latter end; For a froward generation they, Sons in whom is no stedfastness.

And He said, I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

21 T hey have made Me zealous by `no-god,' They made Me angry by their vanities; And I make them zealous by `no-people,' By a foolish nation I make them angry.

They have moved Me to jealousy with what is not God; they have angered Me with their idols. So I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will anger them with a foolish nation.

22 F or a fire hath been kindled in Mine anger, And it burneth unto Sheol -- the lowest, And consumeth earth and its increase, And setteth on fire foundations of mountains.

For a fire is kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I gather upon them evils, Mine arrows I consume upon them.

And I will heap evils upon them; I will spend My arrows upon them.

24 E xhausted by famine, And consumed by heat, and bitter destruction. And the teeth of beasts I send upon them, With poison of fearful things of the dust.

They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and poisonous pestilence; and the teeth of beasts will I send against them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust.

25 W ithout bereave doth the sword, And at the inner-chambers -- fear, Both youth and virgin, Suckling with man of grey hair.

From without the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers shall be terror, destroying both young man and virgin, the sucking child with the man of gray hairs.

26 I have said: I blow them away, I cause their remembrance to cease from man;

I said, I would scatter them afar and I would have made the remembrance of them to cease from among men,

27 I f not -- the anger of an enemy I fear, Lest their adversaries know -- Lest they say, Our hand is high, And Jehovah hath not wrought all this.

Had I not feared the provocation of the foe, lest their enemies misconstrue it and lest they should say, Our own hand has prevailed; all this was not the work of the Lord.

28 F or a nation lost to counsels they, And there is no understanding in them.

For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.

29 I f they were wise -- They deal wisely this; They attend to their latter end:

O that they were wise and would see through this to their ultimate fate!

30 H ow doth one pursue a thousand, And two cause a myriad to flee! If not -- that their rock hath sold them, And Jehovah hath shut them up?

How could one have chased a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had delivered them up?

31 F or not as our Rock their rock, (And our enemies judges!)

For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves judge this.

32 F or of the vine of Sodom their vine, And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes grapes of gall -- They have bitter clusters;

For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.

33 T he poison of dragons their wine And the fierce venom of asps.

Their wine is the venom of serpents, and the pitiless poison of vipers.

34 I s it not laid up with Me? Sealed among My treasures?

Is not this laid up in store with Me, sealed up in My treasuries?

35 M ine vengeance and recompense, At the due time -- doth their foot slide; For near is a day of their calamity, And haste do things prepared for them.

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, in the time when their foot shall slide; for the day of their disaster is at hand and their doom comes speedily.

36 F or Jehovah doth judge His people, And for His servants doth repent Himself. For He seeth -- the going away of power, And none is restrained and left.

For the Lord will revoke sentence for His people and relent for His servants’ sake when He sees that their power is gone and none remains, whether bond or free.

37 A nd He hath said, Where their gods -- The rock in which they trusted;

And He will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,

38 W hich the fat of their sacrifices do eat, They drink the wine of their libation! Let them arise and help you, Let it be for you a hiding-place!

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, let them be your protection!

39 S ee ye, now, that I -- I He, And there is no god with Me: I put to death, and I keep alive; I have smitten, and I heal; And there is not from My hand a deliverer,

See now that I, I am He, and there is no god beside Me; I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand.

40 F or I lift up unto the heavens My hand, And have said, I live -- to the age!

For I lift up My hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever,

41 I f I have sharpened the brightness of My sword, And My hand doth lay hold on judgment, I turn back vengeance to Mine adversaries, And to those hating Me -- I repay!

If I whet My lightning sword and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will wreak vengeance on My foes and recompense those who hate Me.

42 I make drunk Mine arrows with blood, And My sword devoureth flesh, From the blood of the pierced and captive, From the head of the freemen of the enemy.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the foe.

43 S ing ye nations -- his people, For the blood of His servants He avengeth, And vengeance He turneth back on His adversaries, And hath pardoned His land -- His people.'

Rejoice His people, O you nations, for He avenges the blood of His servants, and vengeance He inflicts on His foes and clears guilt from the land of His people.

44 A nd Moses cometh and speaketh all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea son of Nun;

And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea (Joshua) son of Nun.

45 a nd Moses finisheth to speak all these words unto all Israel,

And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,

46 a nd saith unto them, `Set your heart to all the words which I am testifying against you to-day, that ye command your sons to observe to do all the words of this law,

He said to them, Set your hearts on all the words which I command you this day, that you may command them to your children, that they may be watchful to do all the words of this law.

47 f or it not a vain thing for you, for it your life, and by this thing ye prolong days on the ground whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it.'

For it is not an empty and worthless trifle for you; it is your life. By it you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess.

48 A nd Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in this self-same day, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses that same day,

49 ` Go up unto this mount Abarim, mount Nebo, which in the land of Moab, which on the front of Jericho, and see the land of Canaan which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession;

Get up into this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan which I give to the Israelites for a possession.

50 a nd die in the mount whither thou art going up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother hath died in the mount Hor, and is gathered unto his people:

And die on the mountain which you ascend and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

51 ` Because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribath-Kadesh, the wilderness of Zin -- because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the sons of Israel;

Because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin and because you did not set Me apart as holy in the midst of the Israelites.

52 b ut over-against thou seest the land, and thither thou dost not go in, unto the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel.'

For you shall see the land opposite you at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I give the Israelites.