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May 3my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and 4like showers upon the herb.
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For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe 5greatness to our God!
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6"The Rock, 7his work is perfect, for 8all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and 9without iniquity, just and upright is he.
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They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children 10because they are blemished; they are 11a crooked and twisted generation.
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Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he 12your father, who 13created you, who 14made you and established you?
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15Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; 16ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
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When the Most High 17gave to the nations their inheritance, when he 18divided mankind, he fixed the bordersa of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.b
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But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
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"He found him 19in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he 20encircled him, he cared for him, he 21kept him as the apple of his eye.
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22Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,
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25He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with 26honey out of the rock, and 27oil out of 28the flinty rock.
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Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fatc of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finestd of the wheat-- and you drank foaming wine made from 29the blood of the grape.
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"But 30Jeshurun grew fat, and 31kicked; 32you grew fat, stout, and sleek; 33then he forsook God 34who made him and scoffed at 35the Rock of his salvation.
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36They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger.
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37They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to 38new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.
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And he said, 43'I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
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44They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger 45with their idols. So 46I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with 47a foolish nation.
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For 48a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to 49the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
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"'And I will heap disasters upon them; 50I will spend my arrows on them;
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they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send 51the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of 52things that crawl in the dust.
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53Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
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had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, 56"Our hand is triumphant, it was not the LORD who did all this."'
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"For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is 57no understanding in them.
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How could 60one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock 61had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?
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For their vine 64comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of 65poison; their clusters are bitter;
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their wine is the poison of 66serpents and the cruel venom of asps.
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"'Is not this laid up in store with me, 67sealed up in my treasuries?
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68Vengeance is mine, and recompense,f 69for the time when their foot shall slip; for 70the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.'
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For 71the LORD will vindicateg his people 72and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, 73bond or free.
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who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection!
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"'See now that 76I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; 77I kill and I make alive; 78I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
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For 79I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever,
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if I 80sharpen my flashing swordh and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.
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I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and 81my sword shall devour flesh-- with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the 82long-haired heads of the enemy.'
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83"Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods,i for he 84avenges the blood of his childrenj and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate himk and cleansesl his people's land."m
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Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and 85Joshuan the son of Nun.
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And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,
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he said to them, 86"Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, 87that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.
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For it is no empty word for you, 88but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."
Moses' Death Foretold
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That very day the LORD spoke to Moses,
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"Go up 89this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession.
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And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as 90Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
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91because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel.
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For 92you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)