Hearken, O heaven as I declare, let the earth hear my mouth’s sayings.

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Listen, O heavens, and I shall speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth [wherewith I am forewarning Israel, and be witnesses to the fact that I told them you would be my witnesses (see 30:19). (If they are meritorious, the heavens and the earth will give them their bounty; if not, they will withhold it.)]

Let my instruction flow like rainfall, let my saying drip like dew; like storm winds on verdure, and like raindrops on grass.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

[This is what you shall testify, that I say before you that the Torah that I gave to Israel is life to the world, just as rain is.] My teaching [i.e., Torah] shall drip as the rain; My word shall flow as the dew, [which is universally welcome], as winds upon the herbage, [which cause it to flourish (so Torah causes its disciples to flourish)], as showers upon the [(individual) blades] of grass.

When I pronounce the name of Adonoy, give greatness to our God,

because I will call on the name of the Lord: ascribe greatness to our God.

When I call the name of the L-rd, ascribe greatness to our G-d [(whence it is derived that after a blessing in the Temple, the response is "Blessed is the name of the glory of His kingdom" (Baruch shem kevod malchutho)].

The Almighty’s works are flawless, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness without injustice; righteous and upright is He.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are justice: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

The Rock [Even when He is strong (as a rock), when He brings punishment upon the flouters of His will] — perfect, [in absolute accord with justice] is His work, for all of His ways are judgment [and not blind fury]. He is a G-d of trust [to repay the righteous in the world to come], without wrong [even to the wicked. He repays their deeds of righteousness in this world.] He is [pronounced] righteous [i.e., All vindicate His judgment], and it is fit [that they do so].

Destructiveness does not affect Him, it is the defect of His children; a generation warped and twisted.

Not his the corruption, but the blemish of his sons: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

They have corrupted [themselves], not Him. [They were] His sons, [and the corruption that they wrought is] their blemish [and not His] — a crooked and twisted generation!

Is it with Adonoy that you deal this way? base people lacking wisdom. Is He not your Father, who made you His? He made you and gave you a base.

Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that bought thee? has he not made thee, and established thee?

Would you thus requite the L-rd, [who has the power to exact punishment of you, and who accorded you all manner of good?] Ignorant people, [who forgot all that was done to them], and not wise [to foresee consequences, it being in His power to do good and ill]. Is He not your father, your provider? He made you [a nation among nations], and He established you [securely].

Remember world history, study the generational epochs. Ask your father and he will relate to you, your elders and they will tell you.

Remember the days of old consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will recount it to thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

Remember the days of yore [i.e., what He did to the first ones who angered Him]; reflect upon the years of [the] generation [of Enosh, which He flooded with Oceanus], and [the] generation [of the flood]. Ask your father [the prophets], and he shall tell you; your elders [the sages], and they will relate it [the early happenings] to you.

When the Exalted One bequeathed nations, when He set apart the sons of man; He established the boundaries of peoples according to the number of Bnei Yisroel.

When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Yisra᾽el.

When the Most High caused [the] nations [who angered Him] to "inherit," [He inundated them]; when He separated the sons of man [i.e., when He scattered the generation of the Tower of Babel (dor haflagah), He could have removed them from the world; but He did not do so. Instead,] He set the bounds [(seventy tongues)] of the peoples [He established them and did not cause them to go lost], for the sake of the number of the children of Israel [that were destined to go forth from the children of Shem, and in accordance with the number of seventy souls of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt.]

Because [of] Adonoy’s portion, His people, Yaakov the cable of His heritage.

For the Lord’s portion is his people; Ya῾aqov is the lot of his inheritance.

[And why all this?] For the portion of the L-rd [was secreted among them and destined to come forth. And who is His "portion"?] — His people. [And who is His people?] Jacob, the cord of His inheritance, [the third cord of a three-fold cord (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), Jacob and his sons being His inheritance (not Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and not Esav, the son of Isaac.)]

He found them in a wilderness country, in arid, shrieking desolation. He encircled them around, He granted them understanding, He sheltered them like the pupil of His eye.

He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

He found them [(Jacob's sons) faithful unto Him] in a desert land, [Israel accepting His Torah, His kingdom, and His yoke, as opposed to Ishmael and Esav (see 33:2)], and in a wasteland, howling [with jackals, etc.] and desolate. [(Even there they were steadfast in their faith.)] [There] He surrounded them [with clouds, and with standards on four sides, and with the base of the mountain (Sinai), arching it over them like a barrel], He invested them [with Torah and understanding]. He protected them [from fiery serpents, scorpions, and the nations] like the pupil of His eye.

Like an eagle who rouses his nest, fluttering over his young, He extends His wings, grasps them, He bears them on His wing.

As an eagle stirs up her nest, broods over her young, spreads abroad her wings takes them, bears them on her pinions:

[He led them with mercy and compassion,] as an eagle [by soft motions] awakes its nest, hovering over its fledglings [and not bearing down upon them. (Likewise, the Holy One Blessed be He, in giving Israel the Torah, did not "bear down upon them" from one side, but "projected Himself" from four sides)], spreading its wings and taking them, bearing them on its pinion [from place to place, unlike other birds, who take their young in their talons, fearing the eagle who flies above them. Not so the eagle, which fears no other birds, but only projectiles, from which it shields its fledglings with its body.) The L-rd, likewise, "shielded" Israel at the Red Sea (See Exodus 19:4 and 14: 19-20)]

Adonoy conducted them alone, without [opposition by] alien gods.

so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

The L-rd led them [in the desert], alone [and secure], and there was no power [in any of the] strange [i.e., the nations' gods] against them.

He shall transport them over the summit of the earth where they will consume the produce of the fields; and He shall nurture them with honey of bedrock and oil of staunchest rock mass.

He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the fields; and he made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

He made him ride on the high places of the earth [(Eretz Yisrael is the highest of all the lands)], and he ate the shoots of the field [(The fruits of Eretz Yisrael "shoot up" faster than all others)]. And He gave him to suck [fig-] honey from the rock, and oil from the flint of the rock [(These are the olives of Gush Chalav.)]

Butter-fat of cattle and milk of sheep with the fat of lambs, and rams native to Bashan and goats, with the fat of wheat kidneys, and the wine-flavored blood of the grapes will you drink.

butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink wine of the pure blood of the grape.

Cream from the herd and milk from the flock [(as transpired in the days of Solomon (I Kings 5:2-3)], with fat of lambs [(as transpired in the days of the ten tribes (Amos 6:4)], and [fat] rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, with wheat [as fat as] the fat of kidneys [(as transpired in the days of Solomon (I Kings 5:2)], and blood of the grape did you drink [as choice] wine [(as transpired in the days of the ten tribes (Amos 6:6)].

Yeshurun grew fat and rebelled, you grew fat, you have become thick, and are covered with fat; he forsook the God who made him, he insulted the Rock of his salvation.

But Yeshurun grew fat, and kicked: thou art grown fat, thou art become thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

And Yeshurun grew fat and it kicked. You grew fat, you grew thick, you were covered [with fat], and he forsook the G-d who made him and abased the Rock of his salvation [see Ezekiel 8:16].

They incited His vengeance with strangers, with loathsomeness did they spite Him.

They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked him to anger.

They provoked Him with strange [gods]; they angered Him with abominations [like sodomy and necromancy].

They slaughtered to ineffectual demons, gods they did not know; novelties, lately arrived—your forefathers were not awed by them.

They sacrificed to powerless spirits; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

They sacrificed to demons, which availed naught [(If there were some utility to them, His anger would not be "doubled" as it is now)], (to) gods they had not known, new ones, newly come, [who were unknown even to the heathens, (who thought them to be Jewish images)] — your fathers had not dreaded them.

the Rock Who bore you, you disregarded; you forsook the Almighty Who delivered you.

Of the Rock that begot thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

The Rock of your birth you forgot; and you forgot the G-d who brought you forth [from the womb].

Adonoy saw and was angered, by the spite of His sons and His daughters.

And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provocation of his sons, and of his daughters.

And the L-rd saw and He thrust away in anger His sons and His daughters.

He said, ‘‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; for they are an upsetting generation, sons who are devoid of breeding.

And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faith.

And He said: I shall hide My face from them. I shall see what their end shall be. For they are a generation of conversion [They convert My favor to anger], sons in whom there is no rearing [i.e., in whom My rearing is not evident, I, having reared them to good, and they, having departed from it.]

They have incited Me to vengeance with a non-god—have spited Me with their idols; and I will incite them with a non-people, I shall anger them with a faithless nation.

They have moved me to jealousy with a no god; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with a no people; I will provoke them to anger with a vile nation.

They have incited Me with a no-god; they have angered Me with their vanities. And I will incite them with a no-people [i.e., a people of no repute (viz. Isaiah 23:13; Ovadiah 1:2)]. With a base nation [i.e., the heretics (viz. Psalms 14:1)] will I anger them.

For a fire shall blaze in My anger, that will burn till the lowest grave; it shall consume the land and its produce, and enflame the bases of mountains.

For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn to the nethermost parts of the earth, and shall consume the earth with its produce, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

For a fire has been kindled in My wrath, and it shall burn [in you] to the nethermost pit [the foundation], and it shall consume the land [i.e., your land] and its produce, and it shall set ablaze the foundations of the mountains [i.e., Jerusalem, which is founded on the mountains].

I shall amass iniquity against them, I shall deplete my arrows against them.

I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend my arrows on them.

I will join evils [i.e., evil upon evil] upon them. I will end [all of] My arrows in them [(— but they themselves will not end)].

Bloated with hunger, and embattled with demons and slashed by Meriri; and the teeth of animals will I send against them along with the venom of dust-crawlers.

They shall be sucked empty by hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust.

(They will be) hairy with hunger and embattled by reshef [demons] and cut down by Meriri [a demon]. And the tooth of beasts will I send against them [(as it, indeed, happened, that the bite of lambs caused death)], with the venom of the crawlers in the dust [i.e., the serpents].

From without, the sword shall decimate, and from within chambers, terror; both lad and lass, suckling and aged man.

The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of grey hairs.

On the outside [of the city] the sword [of legions] shall devour [them], and in the chambers [of their hearts, when they flee], fright [will pound, eventually killing them], both young man and virgin, suckling and the man of gray hairs.

I thought, ‘I shall abandon them,’, I would eliminate from mankind mention of them.

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

I said: I would disclaim them; I would cut off their remembrance from men,

Were it not for the enemy’s amassed rage, lest their oppressors estrange; lest they say, ‘Our armed might has prevailed, and not Adonoy has performed all this.’

were it not for the heaped up wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should misdeem, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord has not done all this.

Were it not that the anger of the foe were stored up [against them to destroy them. And if they did destroy them, they would attribute the victory to themselves and to their gods, and not to Me] — lest their oppressors estrange [i.e., lest they attribute their triumph to a stranger], lest they say: Our hand is exalted, and it is not the L-rd who has wrought all this.

For those nations squander counsel, they lack intelligence.

For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

For it [the foe] is a nation devoid of counsel, and there is no understanding in them, [for]

Were they wise they would grasp this, they would contemplate their ending.

O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

If they were wise, they would understand this, they would comprehend their [Israel's] end [i.e., their defeat (as the L-rd's doing and not as theirs). For they would say]

How can one pursue a thousand, and two make ten thousand flee? Unless their Almighty [lit. rock] has dealt them away, and Adonoy has delivered them?

How should one man chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

How could one [of us] pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, if their Rock had not sold them, and the L rd (had not) delivered them [into our hands]!

For their mighty one is not like our Almighty, yet our enemies sit in judgement.

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

[They should understand this, knowing from past experience] that not as our Rock is their rock, ["their rock" having been entirely powerless against ours], and [now] our foes judge [us! It must be, then, that our Rock has sold us.]

For their grapevine is of the grapevine of Sedom and from the fields of Amorah; their grapes are grapes of bitter herbs. clusters galling to them.

For their vine is of the vine of Sedom, and of the fields of ῾Amora: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

["I said I would disclaim them, etc." (26)], for of the wine of Sodom is their wine, and of the fields of Amorah [i.e., their deeds are those of Sodom and Amorah.] Their grapes are grapes of gall. Bitter clusters are their desert [for their "bitter" deeds].

Like caustic serpents’ venom is their wine, and [like] the gall of adders, cruel.

their wine is the fierceness of crocodiles, and the cruel venom of asps.

The [bitter] venom of snakes is their wine [of retribution] and the cruel gall of asps [is their cup. A cruel foe will come and exact punishment of them].

Is this not sequestered with Me, sealed in My treasuries.

Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

[They think I have forgotten their deeds, but] is it ["the fruit of their wine and the produce of their fields" (see 32)] not laid up with Me and sealed in My stores!

Vengeance is with Me, and I shall administer retribution at the time that they shall stumble for the day of their calamity is close by, and destiny speeds towards them.

To me belongs vengeance, and recompense, when their foot slides: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

With Me is [readied] vengeance, and it shall pay them [in accordance with their deeds] at the time their foot gives way [i.e., when they exhaust the merit of their fathers, which is their support]. For readied is the day of their calamity, and what is destined [for them] shall quickly befall them. [(Thus far, Moses' words of chastisement, the song to serve as witness, when retribution comes upon them, that he had forewarned them. There follow his words of consolation, relating to what will befall them after their punishment has been exacted (see 30:1-2)]

When Adonoy administers justice against His people and He will reconsider about His servants; when He sees the power surging, and none are structured or fortified.

For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

When the L rd has judged His people [with the aforementioned afflictions], and He repents Himself of His servants, [turning to be merciful to them], seeing that the hand [of the foe] is becoming progressively stronger, and that they (Israel) are bereft of [saving] restraint or strengthening,

He shall say, ‘‘Where is their god the rock on which they relied for shelter?

And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

Then He will say [about them]: Where are their gods? The rock in whom they sought shelter,

They ate the fat of their sacrifices, they drank the wine of their libation? Let them arise and help you, let them serve as your shield.

those that did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.

who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them arise and aid you! Let him [the "rock"] be covert for you!

Now observe! For it is I! I am the One! and no god matches Me; I put to death and make live, I smite and I heal and no one can rescue from My grasp.

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

See, now, [from the retribution that I brought upon you and from which none could save you, and from the salvation that I shall bring you, from which none can deter Me], that it is I [for "lowering," and] I [for "lifting"], and there is no god against Me [to deter Me]. I put to death and I bring to life, I smite and I heal, and there is no saving [those who sin against Me] from My hand.

For I shall lift My hand heavenward, and I shall say, ‘I live forever.’

For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

For [in My wrath] I shall raise My hand [in oath] to heaven [i.e., to Myself], and I shall say: As I live forever,

If I whet My saber to a gleam, and hold judgement in My grasp. I shall wreak vengeance on My foes and My spiters will I pay.

If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward those who hate me.

I shall whet the flash of My sword and My hand shall take hold of justice, [abandoning mercy for My foes — "for I was wroth (against Israel) but little, and they (Israel's foes) 'assisted' in evil" (Zechariah 1:15)]; I shall return vengeance to My adversaries, and I shall repay those who hate Me.

I shall make My arrows drunk with blood and My saber shall consume flesh; for the blood of the slaughtered and the captives, for the original savagery of the enemy.’’

I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; with the blood of the slain and of the captives; with the head of the wild bands of the enemy.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood [of the nations], and My sword shall eat [their] flesh, [this, in retribution] for the blood of [Israel's] slain and [their] captivity, [in retribution] for [the sins of] the beginning of the breaches of the foe. [(When the Holy One Blessed be He exacts punishment of the nations, He visits upon them their sins and those of their forefathers, from the very beginning of the breach that they made in Israel.)]

Let the nations extol His people for He shall avenge the blood of His servants and wreak vengeance on His enemies and reconcile His land, His people.

Rejoice, O nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries and will forgive his land, and his people.

[At that time] the nations will praise His people [for cleaving to Him in all of their vicissitudes and not forsaking Him, knowing His goodness and His glory]. For, the [shedding of the] blood of His servants shall He avenge, and vengeance shall He return to His adversaries [for their despoiling of Israel], and He will conciliate His land [and] His people [for the suffering they endured and for what the foe did to them. (When His people are consoled, His land is consoled.)]

Moshe came and he spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people; he and Hoshe’a, the son of Nun.

And Moshe came and spoke all the words of this poem in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.

And Moses came and he spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun. [Moses invested Joshua with the authority to expound in his (Moses') lifetime in order to raise his stature in the eyes of Israel (but Joshua, nonetheless, persisted in his humility, this, the signification of the reversion to "Hoshea" here, after he had already been granted the eminence of Yehoshua")].

When Moshe finished speaking all these words to all of Yisroel,

And Moshe made an end of speaking all these words to all Yisra᾽el:

And Moses finished speaking all of these things to all of Israel.

He said to them, ‘‘Focus your thoughts on all the statements that I am bringing to witness against you today; which you are to command to your sons to guard and to fulfill all the statements of this Torah.

and he said to them, Set your hearts to all the words which I testify among you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this Tora.

And he said to them: Put your hearts to all of these things which I place as testimony in you this day, which you shall command your children to keep and to do — all the words of this Torah.

For it is not a futile thing for you, for it is your life; and by this matter will you live long on the land that you are crossing the Yardein there to inherit.’’

For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this word you shall prolong your days in the land, into which you go over the Yarden to possess it.

For it is not an empty thing for you [Not in vain do you toil in it; great reward inheres in it]; for it is your life, and by this thing you shall prolong days on the land whither you cross over the Jordan to inherit it.

Adonoy spoke to Moshe at the very height of that day, saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moshe that same day, saying,

And the L-rd spoke to Moses on this very day [(in the middle of the day, so that no one could later say that had he known of it, he would have prevented Moses' departure)] saying:

‘‘Go up to this Mount Ho’avorim, Mount Nevo, which is in the land of Moav, that faces Yereicho; and see the land of Canaan that I am giving to Bnei Yisroel as inheritance.

Go up into this mount ῾Avarim, to mount Nevo, which is in the land of Mo᾽av, that is facing Yereĥo; and behold the land of Kena῾an, which I give to the children of Yisra᾽el for a possession:

Go up to this Mount Avarim, Mount Nevo, which is in the land of Moav, facing Jericho, and see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel as a holding.

And die on the mountain upon which you are going up and be gathered unto your people, just as your brother Aharon died in Hor Hohor and was gathered unto his people.

and die in the mount into which thou goest up, and be gathered to thy people; as Aharon thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered to his people:

And die on the mountain which you are ascending, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died [(i.e., with the same kind of death that you witnessed, and which you longed for)], in Hor Hahar, and he was gathered to his people.

Because you were unfaithful to Me amid Bnei Yisroel at the waters of argument at Kodeish in the Tzin wilderness; because of [the fact] that you did not sanctify Me amid Bnei Yisroel.

because you transgressed against me among the children of Yisra᾽el at the waters of Merivat-qadesh, in the wilderness of Żin; because you sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Yisra᾽el.

("And die") because of your having trespassed against Me [i.e., because of your having led to a trespass against Me] in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Merivath Kadesh in the desert of Tzin, because of your not having sanctified Me [i.e., because of your having led to My not being sanctified] in the midst of the children of Israel [see Numbers 20:12].

For from afar will you see the land but you will not come there to the land that I am giving to Bnei Yisroel.’’

Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go there into the land which I give to the children of Yisra᾽el.

For from afar shall you see the land, [for I know that it is beloved by you], but there you shall not come [(If you do not see it now, you will not see it at all — wherefore I tell you: "Go up … and see, etc."] — to the land that I give to the children of Israel.