Daily Bible Reading

1“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,

and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2May my teaching drop as the rain,

my speech distill as the dew,

like gentle rain upon the tender grass,

and like showers upon the herb.

3For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;

ascribe greatness to our God!

4“The Rock, his work is perfect,

for all his ways are justice.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,

just and upright is he.

5They have dealt corruptly with him;

they are no longer his children because they are blemished;

they are a crooked and twisted generation.

6Do you thus repay the Lord,

you foolish and senseless people?

Is not he your father, who created you,

who made you and established you?

7Remember 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.

8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he divided mankind,

he fixed the borders of the peoples

according to the number of the sons of God.

9But the Lord’s portion is his people,

Jacob his allotted heritage.

10“He found him in a desert land,

and in the howling waste of the wilderness;

he encircled him, he cared for him,

he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,

that flutters over its young,

spreading out its wings, catching them,

bearing them on its pinions,

12the Lord alone guided him,

no foreign god was with him.

13He made him ride on the high places of the land,

and he ate the produce of the field,

and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,

and oil out of the flinty rock.

14Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,

with fat of lambs,

rams of Bashan and goats,

with the very finest of the wheat—

and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

15“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;

you grew fat, stout, and sleek;

then he forsook God who made him

and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

16They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;

with abominations they provoked him to anger.

17They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,

to gods they had never known,

to new gods that had come recently,

whom your fathers had never dreaded.

18You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,

and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19“The Lord saw it and spurned them,

because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

20And 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.

21They have made me jealous with what is no god;

they have provoked me to anger with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;

I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22For a fire is kindled by my anger,

and it burns to the depths of Sheol,

devours the earth and its increase,

and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23“‘And I will heap disasters upon them;

I will spend my arrows on them;

24they shall be wasted with hunger,

and devoured by plague

and poisonous pestilence;

I will send the teeth of beasts against them,

with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.

25Outdoors the sword shall bereave,

and indoors terror,

for young man and woman alike,

the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

26I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;

I will wipe them from human memory,”

27had I not feared provocation by the enemy,

lest their adversaries should misunderstand,

lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,

it was not the Lord who did all this.”’

28“For they are a nation void of counsel,

and there is no understanding in them.

29If they were wise, they would understand this;

they would discern their latter end!

30How could one have chased a thousand,

and two have put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

and the Lord had given them up?

31For their rock is not as our Rock;

our enemies are by themselves.

32For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of poison;

their clusters are bitter;

33their wine is the poison of serpents

and the cruel venom of asps.

34“‘Is not this laid up in store with me,

sealed up in my treasuries?

35Vengeance is mine, and recompense,

for the time when their foot shall slip;

for the day of their calamity is at hand,

and their doom comes swiftly.’

36For the Lord will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants,

when he sees that their power is gone

and there is none remaining, bond or free.

37Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

38who 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“‘See now that I, even 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 that can deliver out of my hand.

40For I lift up my hand to heaven

and swear, As I live forever,

41if I sharpen my flashing sword

and my hand takes hold on judgment,

I will take vengeance on my adversaries

and will repay those who hate me.

42I 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 enemy.’

43“Rejoice with him, O heavens;

bow down to him, all gods,

for he avenges the blood of his children

and takes vengeance on his adversaries.

He repays those who hate him

and cleanses his people’s land.”

44Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

48That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

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,

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.

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 aloft.

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 kernels of wheat.

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.

15Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;

filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandoned the God who made them

and rejected the Rock their Savior.

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 afire the foundations of the mountains.

23“I will heap calamities on them

and spend 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 gray 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.

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 forever,

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,

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 Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45When Moses 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, across from 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.”