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Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel

33This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. ²He said:
The Lord came from Sinai,
   and dawned from Seir upon us;^*
   he shone forth from Mount Paran.
With him were myriads of holy ones;^*
   at his right, a host of his own.^*
3 Indeed, O favourite among^* peoples,
   all his holy ones were in your charge;
they marched at your heels,
   accepted direction from you.
⁴ Moses charged us with the law,
   as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
⁵ There arose a king in Jeshurun,
   when the leaders of the people assembled—
   the united tribes of Israel.

⁶ May Reuben live, and not die out,
   even though his numbers are few.

⁷And this he said of Judah:
O Lord, give heed to Judah,
   and bring him to his people;
strengthen his hands for him,^*
   and be a help against his adversaries.

⁸And of Levi he said:
Give to Levi^* your Thummim,
   and your Urim to your loyal one,
whom you tested at Massah,
   with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah;
⁹ who said of his father and mother,
   ‘I regard them not’;
he ignored his kin,
   and did not acknowledge his children.
For they observed your word,
   and kept your covenant.
¹⁰ They teach Jacob your ordinances,
   and Israel your law;
they place incense before you,
   and whole burnt-offerings on your altar.
¹¹ Bless, O Lord, his substance,
   and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
   of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

¹²Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—
the High God^* surrounds him all day long—
   the beloved^* rests between his shoulders.

¹³And of Joseph he said:
Blessed by the Lord be his land,
   with the choice gifts of heaven above,
   and of the deep that lies beneath;
¹⁴ with the choice fruits of the sun,
   and the rich yield of the months;
¹⁵ with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,
   and the abundance of the everlasting hills;
¹⁶ with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness,
   and the favour of the one who dwells on Sinai.^*
Let these come on the head of Joseph,
   on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
¹⁷ A firstborn^* bull—majesty is his!
   His horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he gores the peoples,
   driving them to^* the ends of the earth;
such are the myriads of Ephraim,
   such the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said:
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;
   and Issachar, in your tents.
¹⁹ They call peoples to the mountain;
   there they offer the right sacrifices;
for they suck the affluence of the seas
   and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰And of Gad he said:
Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!
   Gad lives like a lion;
   he tears at arm and scalp.
²¹ He chose the best for himself,
   for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;
he came at the head of the people,
   he executed the justice of the Lord,
   and his ordinances for Israel.

²²And of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s whelp
   that leaps forth from Bashan.

²³And of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, sated with favour,
   full of the blessing of the Lord,
   possess the west and the south.

²⁴And of Asher he said:
Most blessed of sons be Asher;
   may he be the favourite of his brothers,
   and may he dip his foot in oil.
²⁵ Your bars are iron and bronze;
   and as your days, so is your strength.

²⁶ There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
   who rides through the heavens to your help,
   majestic through the skies.
²⁷ He subdues the ancient gods,^*
   shatters^* the forces of old;^*
he drove out the enemy before you,
   and said, ‘Destroy!’
²⁸ So Israel lives in safety,
   untroubled is Jacob’s abode^*
in a land of grain and wine,
   where the heavens drop down dew.
²⁹ Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
   a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
   and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
   and you shall tread on their backs.