Deuteronomy - The Old Testament

¹ This is the blessing that Moses, man of God, pronounced over the Israelites before he died.

² He said: Yahweh came from Sinai, from Seir he dawned on us, from Mount Paran blazed forth, For them he came, after the mustering at Kadesh, from his zenith as far as the foothills.

³ You who love the ancestors! Your holy ones are all at your command. At your feet they fell, under your guidance went swiftly on.

⁴ (Moses enjoined a law on us.) The assembly of Jacob comes into its inheritance;

⁵ there was a king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people foregathered and the tribes of Israel were all assembled!

⁶ May Reuben survive and not die out, survive though his men be few!

⁷ Of Judah he said this: Listen, Yahweh, to the voice of Judah, and bring him back to his people. That his hands may defend his rights, come to his help against his foes!

⁸ Of Levi he said: To Levi, give your urim, to your faithful one, your thummim, having tested him at Massah, having striven with him at the Waters of Meribah.

⁹ Of his father and mother, he says, 'I have not seen them.' He does not acknowledge his brothers, nor does he know his own children. Yes, they have kept your word, they hold firmly to your covenant.

¹⁰ They will teach your customs to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will put incense before you and burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹ Yahweh, bless his worthiness, and accept the actions he performs. Crush the loins of those who rise against him and of his foes, so that they rise no more!

¹² Of Benjamin he said: Beloved of Yahweh, he rests trustfully near him. The Most High protects him day after day and dwells between his hillsides.

¹³ Of Joseph he said: His land is blessed by Yahweh. For him the best of heaven's dew and of the deep that lies below,

¹⁴ the best of what the sun makes grow, of what springs with every month,

¹⁵ the first-fruits of the ancient mountains, the best from the hills of old

¹⁶ the best of the land and all it holds, the favour of him who dwells in the Bush. May the hair grow thick on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the consecrated one among his brothers!

¹⁷ First-born of the Bull, his the glory. His horns are the wild ox's horns, with which he gores the peoples to the very ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, such are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸ Of Zebulun he said: Prosper, Zebulun, in your expeditions, and you, Issachar, in your tents!

¹⁹ On the mountain where the people come to pray they offer upright sacrifices, for they taste the riches of the seas and the treasures hidden in the sands.

²⁰ Of Gad he said: Blessed be he who gives Gad space enough! He lies there like a lioness; he has savaged arm and face and head.

²¹ Then he took the first portion for himself, saw that there was stored up for him a leader's share. He has come at the head of the people, has carried out the saving justice of Yahweh and his judgements on Israel.

²² Of Dan he said: Dan is a lion cub leaping from Bashan.

²³ Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali, sated with favours, filled with the blessings of Yahweh: the west and south are to be his domain.

²⁴ Of Asher he said: Most blessed of the sons let Asher be! Let him be the most privileged of his brothers and let him bathe his feet in oil!

²⁵ Be your bolts of iron and of bronze and your security as lasting as your days!

²⁶ No one is like the God of Jeshurun: he rides the heavens to your rescue, rides the clouds in his majesty!

²⁷ The God of old is your refuge, his the eternal arm which here below drives the enemy before you; he it is who says, 'Destroy!'

²⁸ Israel rests trustfully. The well-spring of Jacob is chosen out for a land of corn and wine; there heaven itself rains down dew.

²⁹ Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O victorious people? Yahweh is the shield that protects you and the sword that leads you to triumph. Your enemies will try to corrupt you, but you yourself will trample on their backs.