33:1 Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.
33:2 He said,
“The LORD came from Sinai,
And ①dawned on them from Seir;
He shone from Mount Paran,
And He came from the midst of myriads of ②holy ones;
At His right hand there was ③flashing lightning for them.
▷ ①Lit rose to ②Lit holiness ③Or a fiery law
33:3 Indeed, He loves ①the people;
All ②Your holy ones are in Your hand,
And they ③followed in Your steps;
Everyone takes of Your words.
▷ ①Lit peoples ②Lit His ③Or lie down at Your feet
33:4 Moses issued to us the Law,
A possession for the assembly of Jacob.
33:5 And He was king in ①Jeshurun,
When the heads of the people gathered,
The tribes of Israel together.
▷ ①A symbolic name for Israel
33:6 “May Reuben live and not die,
Nor may his people be few.”
33:7 And this was regarding Judah; so he said:
“Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah,
And bring him to his people.
With his hands he contended for ①them,
And may You be a help against his adversaries.”
▷ ①Lit him
33:8 Of Levi he said,
“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man,
Whom You tested at Massah,
With ①whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;
▷ ①Lit him
33:9 Who said of his father and his mother,
‘I did not consider them’;
And he did not acknowledge his brothers,
Nor did he regard his own sons,
For they kept Your word,
And complied with Your covenant.
33:10 They will teach Your ordinances to Jacob,
And Your Law to Israel.
They shall put ①incense before You,
And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
▷ ①Lit smoke in Your nostrils
33:11 LORD, bless his strength,
And accept the work of his hands;
Smash the ①hips of those who rise up against him,
And those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”
▷ ①Lit loins
33:12 Of Benjamin he said,
“May the beloved of the LORD live in security beside Him
Who shields him all the day long,
And he lives between His shoulders.”
33:13 Of Joseph he said,
“Blessed of the LORD be his land,
With the choice things of heaven, with the dew,
And from the deep waters lying beneath,
33:14 And with the choice yield of the sun,
And the choice produce of the months;
33:15 And with the ①best things of the ancient mountains,
With the choice things of the everlasting hills,
▷ ①Or chief
33:16 And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness,
And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush.
Let it come to the head of Joseph,
And to the top of the head of the one who was prince among his brothers.
33:17 As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,
And his horns are the horns of the wild ox;
With them he will gore the peoples
All ①at once, to the ends of the earth.
And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”
▷ ①Or together
33:18 Of Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
And, Issachar, in your tents.
33:19 They will call peoples to the mountain;
There they will offer righteous sacrifices;
For they will ①draw out the abundance of the seas,
And the hidden treasures of the sand.”
▷ ①Lit suck
33:20 Of Gad he said,
“Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad;
He lies down as a ①lion,
And tears the arm, also the crown of the head.
▷ ①Or lioness
33:21 Then he ①selected the choicest part for himself,
For there the ruler’s portion was ②reserved;
And he came with the leaders of the people;
He executed the justice of the LORD,
And His ordinances with Israel.”
▷ ①Lit saw ②Lit covered
33:22 Of Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s cub;
He leaps out from Bashan.”
33:23 Of Naphtali he said,
“Naphtali, satisfied with favor,
And full of the blessing of the LORD,
Take possession of the sea and the south.”
33:24 Of Asher he said,
“More blessed than sons is Asher;
May he be favored by his brothers,
And may he dip his foot in olive oil.
33:25 Your ①bars will be iron and bronze,
And as your days, so will your strength be.
▷ ①I.e., to secure gates
33:26 “There is no one like the God of ①Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens ②to your help,
And the clouds in His majesty.
▷ ①I.e., Israel ②Lit in
33:27 The eternal God is a ①hiding place,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
And He drove out the enemy from you,
And said, ‘Destroy!’
▷ ①Or refuge
33:28 So Israel lives in security,
The fountain of Jacob secluded,
In a land of grain and new wine;
His heavens also drip down dew.
33:29 Blessed are you, Israel;
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD,
The shield of your help,
And He who is the sword of your majesty!
So your enemies will cringe before you,
And you will trample on their high places.”