Moses’s Final Blessing on Israel
33 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death.(A)2 He said,
“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us;[a]
he shone forth from Mount Paran.
With him were myriads of holy ones,[b]
at his right, a host of his own.[c](B)
3 Indeed, O favorite among[d] peoples,
all his holy ones were in your charge;
they marched at your heels,
accepted direction from you.(C)
4 Moses charged us with the law
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.(D)
5 There arose a king in Jeshurun
when the leaders of the people assembled,
the united tribes of Israel.
6 May Reuben live and not die out,
even though his numbers are few.”
7 And this he said of Judah,
“O Lord, give heed to Judah,
and bring him to his people;
strengthen his hands for him,[e]
and be a help against his adversaries.”(E)
8 And of Levi he said,
“Give to Levi[f] your Thummim
and your Urim to your loyal one,
whom you tested at Massah,
with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah,(F)
9 who said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
he ignored his kin
and did not acknowledge his children.
For they observed your word
and kept your covenant.(G)
10 They teach Jacob your ordinances
and Israel your law;
they place incense before you
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.(H)
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”(I)
12 Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—
the Most High[g] surrounds him all day long—
and he rests between his shoulders.”
13 And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choice gifts of heaven above
and of the deep that lies beneath,(J)
14 with the choice fruits of the sun
and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
and the abundance of the everlasting hills,(K)
16 with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.[h]
Let these come on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.(L)
17 A firstborn[i] bull—majesty is his!
His horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he gores the peoples
all together to the ends of the earth;
such are the myriads of Ephraim,
such the thousands of Manasseh.”(M)
18 And of Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.(N)
19 They call peoples to the mountain;
there they offer the right sacrifices,
for they suck the affluence of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”(O)
20 And of Gad he said,
“Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!
Like a lion he lives;
he tears at arm and scalp.(P)
21 He chose the best for himself,
for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;
he came at the head of the people;
he executed the justice of the Lord
and his ordinances with Israel.”(Q)
22 And of Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s whelp
that leaps forth from Bashan.”(R)
23 And of Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
full of the blessing of the Lord,
possess the west and the south.”(S)
24 And of Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
may he be the favorite of his brothers,
and may he dip his foot in oil.(T)
25 Your bars are iron and bronze,
and as your days, so is your strength.[j](U)
26 There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
majestic through the clouds.(V)
27 He subdues the ancient gods,[k]
shatters[l] the forces of old;[m]
he drove out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy!’(W)
28 So Israel lives in safety,
untroubled is Jacob’s abode[n]
in a land of grain and wine,
where the heavens drop down dew.(X)
29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help
and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
but you shall tread on their backs.”(Y)
Footnotes
- 33.2Gk Syr Vg Compare Tg: Heb upon them
- 33.2Cn Compare Gk Sam Syr Vg: MT He came from Ribeboth-kodesh,
- 33.2Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 33.3Or O lover of the
- 33.7Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 33.8Q ms Gk: MT lacks Give to Levi
- 33.12Cn: Heb above him
- 33.16Cn: Heb in the bush
- 33.17Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT His firstborn
- 33.25Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 33.27Cn: Heb The eternal God is a dwelling place
- 33.27Cn: Heb from underneath
- 33.27Or the everlasting arms
- 33.28Or fountain
Cross references
- 33.1 : Josh 14.6
- 33.2 : Dan 7.10; Hab 3.3; Acts 7.53; Gal 3.19; Rev 5.11
- 33.3 : Deut 14.2; Hos 11.1
- 33.4 : Ps 119.111; Jn 1.17
- 33.7 : Gen 49.8–12
- 33.8 : Ex 17.7; 28.30
- 33.9 : Ex 32.26–29
- 33.10 : Ex 30.7, 8; Deut 31.9–13; Ps 51.19
- 33.11 : 2 Sam 24.23; Ps 20.3
- 33.13 : Gen 27.28; 49.25
- 33.15 : Gen 49.26
- 33.16 : Ex 3.2, 4; Acts 7.30, 35
- 33.17 : Num 23.22; Ps 44.5
- 33.18 : Gen 49.13–15
- 33.19 : Ps 4.5; Isa 2.3
- 33.20 : Gen 49.19
- 33.21 : Num 31; 32; Josh 4.12; 22.1–3
- 33.22 : Gen 49.16
- 33.23 : Gen 49.21
- 33.24 : Gen 49.20; Job 29.6
- 33.25 : Deut 4.40; 32.47
- 33.26 : Ex 15.11; Ps 68.33, 34
- 33.27 : Josh 24.18; Ps 90.1, 2
- 33.28 : Gen 27.28; Num 23.9
- 33.29 : Deut 32.13; 2 Sam 7.23; Ps 18.44; 144.15