Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
1Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2And he said:
“The LORD came from Sinai,
And dawned on them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
And He came with ten thousands of saints;
From His right hand
Came a fiery law for them.
3Yes, He loves the people;
All His saints are in Your hand;
They sit down at Your feet;
Everyone receives Your words.
4Moses commanded a law for us,
A heritage of the congregation of Jacob.
5And He was King in Jeshurun,
When the leaders of the people were gathered,
All the tribes of Israel together.
6“Let Reuben live, and not die,
Nor let his men be few.”
7And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah,
And bring him to his people;
Let his hands be sufficient for him,
And may You be a help against his enemies.”
8And of Levi he said:
“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one,
Whom You tested at Massah,
And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
9Who says of his father and mother,
‘I have not seen them’;
Nor did he acknowledge his brothers,
Or know his own children;
For they have observed Your word
And kept Your covenant.
10They shall teach Jacob Your judgments,
And Israel Your law.
They shall put incense before You,
And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar. Insight: The Teachers of Israel
11Bless his substance, LORD,
And accept the work of his hands;
Strike the loins of those who rise against him,
And of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12Of Benjamin he said:
“The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him,
Who shelters him all the day long;
And he shall dwell between His shoulders.”
13And of Joseph he said:
“Blessed of the LORD is his land,
With the precious things of heaven, with the dew,
And the deep lying beneath, Insight: The Tribe of Joseph
14With the precious fruits of the sun,
With the precious produce of the months,
15With the best things of the ancient mountains,
With the precious things of the everlasting hills,
16With the precious things of the earth and its fullness,
And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush.
Let the blessing come ‘on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.’a
17His glory is like a firstborn bull,
And his horns like the horns of the wild ox;
Together with them
He shall push the peoples
To the ends of the earth;
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18And of Zebulun he said:
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
And Issachar in your tents!
19They shall call the peoples to the mountain;
There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness;
For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas
And of treasures hidden in the sand.”
20And of Gad he said:
“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad;
He dwells as a lion,
And tears the arm and the crown of his head.
21He provided the first part for himself,
Because a lawgiver’s portion was reserved there.
He came with the heads of the people;
He administered the justice of the LORD,
And His judgments with Israel.”
22And of Dan he said:
“Dan is a lion’s whelp;
He shall leap from Bashan.”
23And of Naphtali he said:
“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,
And full of the blessing of the LORD,
Possess the west and the south.”
24And of Asher he said:
“Asher is most blessed of sons;
Let him be favored by his brothers,
And let him dip his foot in oil.
25Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;
As your days, so shall your strength be.
26“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens to help you,
And in His excellency on the clouds.
27The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
And will say, ‘Destroy!’
28Then Israel shall dwell in safety,
The fountain of Jacob alone,
In a land of grain and new wine;
His heavens shall also drop dew.
29Happy are you, O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD,
The shield of your help
And the sword of your majesty!
Your enemies shall submit to you,
And you shall tread down their high places.”
Moses Dies on Mount Nebo
1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, Place Profile: Mount Nebo
2all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,a
3the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
4Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.”
5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
6And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
7Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
8And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.
9Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
10But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
11in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land,
12and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.