Moses’ Final Blessing

Deuteronomy 33:1-34:8

Bible Stories

 

Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the blessing, with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before his death. Deuteronomy 33:2 And he said: “The Lord went forth from Sinai, and he arose for us from Seir. He appeared from Mount Paran, and thousands of holy ones were with him. The fiery law was in his right hand.

Deuteronomy 33:3 He loved the people; all the holy ones are in his hand. And those who approach his feet shall receive from his doctrine.

Deuteronomy 33:4 Moses instructed us in the law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob.

Deuteronomy 33:5 The king shall have great righteousness, at the gathering of the princes of the people with the tribes of Israel.

Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Ruben live, and not die, and may he be small in number.”

Deuteronomy 33:7 This is the blessing of Judah. “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and lead him to his people. His hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his adversaries.”

Deuteronomy 33:8 Likewise, to Levi he said: “Your perfection and your doctrine are for your holy man, whom you have proven by temptation, and whom you have judged at the Waters of Contradiction.

Deuteronomy 33:9 He has said to his father and to his mother, ‘I do not know you,’ and to his brothers, ‘I will disregard you.’ And they have not known their own sons. Such as these have kept your word and have observed your covenant:

Deuteronomy 33:10 your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O Israel. They shall place incense before your fury and a holocaust upon your altar.

Deuteronomy 33:11 O Lord, bless his strength, and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his enemies, and do not let those who hate him rise up.”

Deuteronomy 33:12 And to Benjamin he said: “The most beloved of the Lord will live confidently in him. He shall remain all day long, as if in a bridal chamber, and he shall rest amid her arms.”

Deuteronomy 33:13 Likewise, to Joseph he said: “His land shall be from the blessing of the Lord, from the fruits of heaven, and from the dew, and from the abyss which lies below,

Deuteronomy 33:14 from the fruits of the crops under the sun and the moon,

Deuteronomy 33:15 from the heights of the ancient mountains, from the fruits of the everlasting hills,

Deuteronomy 33:16 and from the fruits of the earth with all its plenitude. May the blessing of him who appeared in the bush, settle upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of the Nazarite among his brothers.

Deuteronomy 33:17 His excellence is like that of a first-born bull. His horns are like the horns of a rhinoceros; he shall brandish these against the Gentiles, even to the ends of the earth. These are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh.”

Deuteronomy 33:18 And to Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, O Zebulun, in your departure, and Issachar, in your tabernacles.

Deuteronomy 33:19 They shall summon the peoples to the mountain. There, they shall immolate the victims of justice, who feed on the flood of the sea, as if on milk, and on the hidden treasures of the sands.”

Deuteronomy 33:20 And to Gad he said: “Blessed is Gad in his breadth. He has rested like a lion, and he has seized the arm and the top of the head.

Deuteronomy 33:21 And he has seen his own pre-eminence, which his teacher has stored up as his portion. He was with the princes of the people, and he accomplished the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.”

Deuteronomy 33:22 Likewise, to Dan he said: “Dan is a young lion. He shall flow plentifully from Bashan.”

Deuteronomy 33:23 And to Naphtali he said: “Naphtali shall enjoy abundance, and he shall be full of the blessings of the Lord. He shall possess the sea and the Meridian.”

Deuteronomy 33:24 Likewise, to Asher he said: “Let Asher be blessed with sons. Let him be pleasing to his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.

Deuteronomy 33:25 His shoe shall be of iron and of brass. As were the days of your youth, so also shall be your old age.

Deuteronomy 33:26 There is no other god like the God of the most righteous one. He who rides upon the heavens is your helper. His magnificence scatters the clouds.

Deuteronomy 33:27 His habitation is above, and the everlasting arms are below. He shall cast out the enemy before your face, and he shall say: ‘Be utterly broken!’

Deuteronomy 33:28 Israel shall live in confidence and alone, as the eye of Jacob in a land of grain and of wine; and the heavens shall be misty with dew.

Deuteronomy 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, the people who are saved by the Lord? He is the shield of your assistance and the sword of your glory. Your enemies will refuse to acknowledge you, and so you shall tread upon their necks.”

Deuteronomy 34:1 Therefore, Moses ascended from the plains of Moab onto Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. And the Lord revealed to him the entire land of Gilead, as far as Dan,

Deuteronomy 34:2 and all of Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the entire land of Judah, even to the furthest sea,

Deuteronomy 34:3 and the southern region, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho, the city of palms, as far as Zoar.

Deuteronomy 34:4 And the Lord said to him: “This is the land, about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. You have seen it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over to it.”

Deuteronomy 34:5 And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died in that place, in the land of Moab, by order of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 34:6 And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Peor. And no man knows where his sepulcher is, even to the present day.

Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dimmed, nor were his teeth displaced.

Deuteronomy 34:8 And the sons of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab for thirty days. And then the days of their wailing, during which they mourned Moses, were completed.