1-3Lyt efter, himmel og jord,
livgivende er mine ord,
forfriskende er min tale
som dug i grønne dale.
Om Herren jeg vil jer lære,
så I lever ham til ære!
4Som en klippe er Herren urokkelig,
en trofast Gud, helt uden svig.
5Men hans eget folk, åh, hvilken skam,
vendte ryggen til og svigtede ham.
6Hvilken tåbelighed at begå,
hvilken måde at lønne hans trofasthed på.
Er han ikke jeres skaber og far,
som har givet jer alt, hvad I har?
7Lad nu tankerne gå tilbage
og husk på fortidens dage.
Lad de, som er grånet af ælde,
om tegn og undere fortælle.
8Da Herren fordelte jorden
mellem folk fra syden til norden,
satte han landenes skel
med tanke på menneskers32,8 Mens den masoretiske tekst siger „Israel”, siger Dødehavsrullerne „Guds sønner” og LXX „Guds engle”. I betydningen „skabt af Gud” er alle mennesker Adams børn og Guds børn. Det er også muligt, at hvert land får tildelt en skytsengel. vel.
9Men Israel beholdt han selv.
Det folk blev hans ejendom.
10Han fandt dem i ødemarken tom
under ørkenhimlens brændende hvælv.
Han vogted’ dem fra det høje,
som man værner sit sårbare øje.32,10 Den hebraiske tekst taler om at beskytte pupillen, den mest sårbare del af øjet. Oversættelsen „øjesten” er sprogligt set ikke korrekt.
11Som en ørn, der skubber ungen ud af reden32,11 For at lære ungen at flyve og tvinge den til at bruge sine vinger. Hvis ungen har problemer med at flyve og falder til jorden, vil moderen hurtigt dykke ned og sprede sine vinger ud nedenunder den faldende unge for på den måde at opsamle den på sit vingefang.
og spreder vingerne ud forneden,
han løfted’ sit folk på sit vingefang
og bar dem fremad dagen lang.
12Herren ville selv dem føre,
ingen fremmed gud fik lov dem at røre.
13De bosatte sig i landet med bakker og slugter
og blev næret af markens og træernes frugter.
Fra klippens spalter fik de honning på bord,
de fik olivenolie trods den stenede jord.
14Mælk fra geder og køer kunne tørsten slukke,
kød fra Bashans tyre, væddere og bukke.
De høstede en hvede så fin,
og dertil den blodrøde druevin.
15Israel32,15 På hebraisk: Jeshurun, som betyder „den retfærdige”, et hædersnavn for Israel. blev forkælet og fed,
opblæst og egenrådig derved.
De forkastede deres Skaber og Gud,
foragtede deres Frelsers bud.
16At de vakte Guds vrede rørte dem ikke,
de forlod ham til fordel for nye skikke.
17De ofred’ til dæmoner, som kun er tomhed,
frugten af menneskers frygtsomhed.
Til væmmelige afguder de sig vendte,
nye guder, som fædrene ikke kendte.
18De glemte den Gud, som livet dem gav,
skubbede ham ud i glemslens hav.
19Derfor må han støde sine egne børn bort—
tænk at han skulle lide en så frygtelig tort!
20Herren siger:
„Jeg vender dem ryggen og ser, hvad der sker.
De børn kan jeg ikke regne med mer.
De lovede mig troskab og lydighed,
men var falske og utro til stadighed.
21De har provokeret mig med tomheds guder,
de har opført sig som en anden luder.
Så provokerer jeg dem ved at elske en anden,
jeg vil gøre dem jaloux på et ‚uvidende’ folk.
22Min vrede er blusset op på ny,
den rammer alt fra havets dyb til himlens sky.
Jorden lægges øde, der er intet at høste,
alverden skal i sin grundvold ryste.
23De mange ulykker giver dem ingen hvile,
jeg skyder på dem med alle mine pile.
24De bliver ramt af hungersnød og tørke,
hærget af pest og dødens mørke.
Rovdyrtænder vil flænse dem op,
giftige slanger vil hugge i deres krop.
25På gaden slår fjenden børnene ned,
i hjemmene er der hverken ro eller fred.
Både børn og unge vil miste livet.
De gamle har hvert et håb opgivet.
26At udrydde dem helt jeg havde i sinde,
jeg ville for evigt udslette deres minde.
27Men så ville det lyde i fjendens lejr:
‚Det var vores magt, der gav os sejr!’
28Mit folk er uden forstand,
fatter de da ingenting?
29Havde de bare haft visdom til at se,
havde de været klar over, hvad der ville ske.
30Kunne en enkelt fjende jage tusind af dem på flugt,
eller to fjender med ti tusind krigere få bugt,
hvis ikke jeg havde vendt dem ryggen,
hvis ikke deres beskytter32,30 Teksten taler om en „klippe”, altså et symbol på beskyttelse mod fjenden. havde trukket sig bort?
31Deres fjender har ikke en sådan beskytter,
og det ved de godt.32,31 Septuaginta siger: „vores fjender er uforstandige”, mens den masoretiske tekst siger: „vores fjender er dommere”. Det er uvist, hvad den oprindelige tekst sagde, og hvad meningen er.
32De er fordærvede som Sodoma,
lige så rådne som Gomorra,
de er som bitre vindruer
fra giftige drueklaser,
33deres ord er som bid fra en slange,
som spyt fra en kobra.
34Alt dette ligger gemt hos mig,
forseglet i mine arkiver.
35Det er mit ansvar at straffe dem,
en dag skal deres fødder vakle.
Undergangen nærmer sig,
den vil komme over dem med hast.”
36Men når der kun er en rest tilbage,
når Herren ser, at deres kraft er opbrugt,
da vil han genrejse sit folk,
forbarme sig over sine tjenere.
37Da vil han spørge: „Hvor er nu jeres guder,
dem I troede, der ville hjælpe jer?
38De åd jo fedtet fra jeres ofre
og drak den vin, I gav dem.
Lad dem komme jer til hjælp,
lad dem beskytte jer!
39Forstår I nu, at jeg er Gud?
Der findes ingen anden som mig.
Jeg slår ihjel, men jeg giver også liv,
jeg sårer, men jeg læger også.
Den, jeg dømmer, kan ingen redde.
40Jeg løfter min hånd og sværger:
Så sandt jeg lever evindelig,
41vil jeg hvæsse mit lynende sværd
og udføre min knusende dom.
Jeg vil hævne mig på mine fjender,
og hugge dem ned, som hader mig.
42Mine pile vil svømme i blod,
mit sværd vil svælge i kød.
Det udgyder faldnes og fangnes blod,
hugger de tapreste hoveder af.”
43Glæd jer, I folkeslag, sammen med hans folk,
for Herren vil hævne sine tjeneres blod.
Han vil straffe fjenden
og skaffe soning for sit folks land.32,43 Betydningen usikker. Muligvis: „give sit folk deres land tilbage”.
44-45Moses stod med Josva ved sin side og fremsagde alle de her ord for hele Israels folk. 46Derefter sagde han:
„De love, jeg har pålagt jer i dag, skal I lægge jer grundigt på sinde, så I kan lære jeres børn at overholde dem. 47De er ikke tomme ord uden betydning. Jeres liv afhænger af dem! Hvis I adlyder dem, vil I få et langt og godt liv i det land, I skal over og tage i besiddelse på den anden side af Jordanfloden.”
Moses velsigner folket umiddelbart før sin død
48Samme dag sagde Herren til Moses: 49„Om kort tid skal du gå op på Nebos bjergtop i Abarimbjergene i Moabs land over for Jeriko og se ud over Kana’ans land, det land jeg nu vil give Israels folk. 50Når du har taget landet i øjesyn, skal du dø, ligesom din bror Aron måtte dø på Hors bjerg, 51for I var begge ulydige over for mig for øjnene af Israels folk, da I ved Meribas kilder uden for Kadesh i Zins ørken ikke gav mig ære. 52Du får lov at se ind i det land, jeg giver Israels folk, men du får ikke lov selv at komme ind i det.”
1Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
3I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
5They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
6Is this the way you repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people?
Is he not your Father, your Creator,32:6 Or Father, who bought you
who made you and formed you?
7Remember the days of old;
consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,
your elders, and they will explain to you.
8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel.32:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God
9For the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its pinions.
12The Lord alone led him;
no foreign god was with him.
13He made him ride on the heights of the land
and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock,
and with oil from the flinty crag,
14with curds and milk from herd and flock
and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan
and the finest grains of wheat.
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
15Jeshurun32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel. grew fat and kicked;
filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned the God who made them
and rejected the Rock their Saviour.
16They made him jealous with their foreign gods
and angered him with their detestable idols.
17They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God –
gods they had not known,
gods that recently appeared,
gods your ancestors did not fear.
18You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19The Lord saw this and rejected them
because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20‘I will hide my face from them,’ he said,
‘and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
children who are unfaithful.
21They made me jealous by what is no god
and angered me with their worthless idols.
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
22For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,
one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.
It will devour the earth and its harvests
and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23‘I will heap calamities on them
and expend my arrows against them.
24I will send wasting famine against them,
consuming pestilence and deadly plague;
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,
the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25In the street the sword will make them childless;
in their homes terror will reign.
The young men and young women will perish,
the infants and those with grey hair.
26I said I would scatter them
and erase their name from human memory,
27but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the adversary misunderstand
and say, “Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done all this.” ’
28They are a nation without sense,
there is no discernment in them.
29If only they were wise and would understand this
and discern what their end will be!
30How could one man chase a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the Lord had given them up?
31For their rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
32Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,
and their clusters with bitterness.
33Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.
34‘Have I not kept this in reserve
and sealed it in my vaults?
35It is mine to avenge; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them.’
36The Lord will vindicate his people
and relent concerning his servants
when he sees their strength is gone
and no-one is left, slave or free.32:36 Or and they are without a ruler or leader
37He will say: ‘Now where are their gods,
the rock they took refuge in,
38the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up to help you!
Let them give you shelter!
39‘See now that I myself am he!
There is no god besides me.
I put to death and I bring to life,
I have wounded and I will heal,
and no-one can deliver out of my hand.
40I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear:
as surely as I live for ever,
41when I sharpen my flashing sword
and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
and repay those who hate me.
42I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
while my sword devours flesh:
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.’
43Rejoice, you nations, with his people,32:43 Or Make his people rejoice, you nations32:43 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him, /
for he will avenge the blood of his servants;
he will take vengeance on his enemies
and make atonement for his land and people.
44Moses came with Joshua32:44 Hebrew Hoshea, a variant of Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47They are not just idle words for you – they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.’
Moses to die on Mount Nebo
48On that same day the Lord told Moses, 49‘Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, opposite Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. 52Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.’
