The Song of Moses
The song opens by calling heaven and earth to listen and by presenting its words as life-giving instruction. It begins with the LORD Himself, whose name, work, and ways are wholly right.
G1ive ear, O heavens, and I will speak; 2Let my teaching fall like rain 3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. 4He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
Against the LORD’s uprightness stands Israel’s corruption and thankless return. The song recalls how He chose His people from among the nations, guarded them in the wilderness, and fed them richly in the land.
5His people have acted corruptly toward Him; 6Is this how you repay the LORD, 7Remember the days of old; 8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, 9But the LORD’s portion is His people, 10He found him in a desert land, 11As an eagle stirs up its nest 12The LORD alone led him, 13He made him ride on the heights of the land 14with curds from the herd and milk from the flock,
Prosperity turns to rebellion as Jeshurun grows full and turns from the God who made him. Israel abandons the Rock, chases foreign gods, and gives worship where it does not belong.
15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked— 16They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; 17They sacrificed to demons, not to God, 18You ignored the Rock who brought you forth;
The LORD sees Israel’s betrayal and answers by hiding His face and sending calamity. Hunger, destruction, fear, and the sword spread through the people as the covenant curses fall.
19When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, 20He said: “I will hide My face from them; 21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; 22For a fire has been kindled by My anger, 23I will heap disasters upon them; 24They will be wasted from hunger 25Outside, the sword will take their children,
The LORD does not utterly erase His people, lest the enemy misunderstand and boast. Israel’s collapse reveals their lack of wisdom, while the nations they trust prove bitter and false beside the LORD their true Rock.
26I would have said that I would cut them to pieces 27if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, 28Israel is a nation devoid of counsel, 29If only they were wise, they would understand it; 30How could one man pursue a thousand, 31For their rock is not like our Rock, 32But their vine is from the vine of Sodom 33Their wine is the venom of serpents,
The LORD keeps judgment in reserve until its appointed time, then rises to repay His enemies and expose the helplessness of false gods. Yet the same act brings vindication for His servants and joy to heaven at His justice.
34“Have I not stored up these things, 35Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. 36For the LORD will vindicate His people 37He will say: “Where are their gods, 38which ate the fat of their sacrifices 39See now that I am He; 40For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: 41when I sharpen My flashing sword, 42I will make My arrows drunk with blood, 43Rejoice, O heavens, with Him,
Moses and Joshua recite the song before Israel, and Moses urges the people to take these words to heart and teach them to their children. The law is not empty speech but their life in the land ahead.
44Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited 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 carefully follow all the words of this law. 47For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”