Chapter 33

¹This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. ²He said,

Yahweh came from Sinai,

Rose from Seir to them;

He shined forth from Mount Paran,

He came from the ten thousands of holy ones:

At his right hand was a fiery law for them.

³Yes, he loves the people;

All his saints are in your hand:

They sat down at your feet;

Everyone shall receive of your words.

⁴Moses commanded us a law,

An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵He was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

All the tribes of Israel together.

⁶Let Reuben live, and not die;

Nor let his men be few.

⁷This is the blessing of Judah: and he said,

Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah,

Bring him in to his people.

With his hands he contended for himself;

You shall be a help against his adversaries.

⁸Of Levi he said,

Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one,

Whom you did prove at Massah,

With whom you did strive at the waters of Meribah;

⁹Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him;

Neither did he acknowledge his brothers,

Nor knew he his own children:

For they have observed your word,

Keep your covenant.

¹⁰They shall teach Jacob your ordinances,

Israel your law:

They shall put incense before you,

Whole burnt offering on your altar.

¹¹Bless, Yahweh, his substance,

Accept the work of his hands:

Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him,

Of those who hate him, that they not rise again.

¹²Of Benjamin he said,

The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him;

He covers him all the day long,

He dwells between his shoulders.

¹³Of Joseph he said,

Blessed of Yahweh be his land,

For the precious things of the heavens, for the dew,

For the deep that couches beneath,

¹⁴For the precious things of the fruits of the sun,

For the precious things of the growth of the moons,

¹⁵For the chief things of the ancient mountains,

For the precious things of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶For the precious things of the earth and the fullness of it,

The good will of him who lived in the bush.

Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph,

On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

¹⁷The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his;

His horns are the horns of the wild ox:

With them he shall push the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth:

They are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

They are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸Of Zebulun he said,

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;

Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They shall call the peoples to the mountain;

There shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness:

For they shall suck the abundance of the seas,

The hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰Of Gad he said,

Blessed be he who enlarges Gad:

He dwells as a lioness,

Tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head.

²¹He provided the first part for himself,

For there was the lawgiver’s portion reserved;

He came with the heads of the people;

He executed the righteousness of Yahweh,

His ordinances with Israel.

²²Of Dan he said,

Dan is a lion’s cub,

That leaps forth from Bashan.

²³Of Naphtali he said,

Naphtali, satisfied with favor,

Full with the blessing of Yahweh,

Possess you the west and the south.

²⁴Of Asher he said,

Blessed be Asher with children;

Let him be acceptable to his brothers,

Let him dip his foot in oil.

²⁵Your bars shall be iron and brass;

As your days, so shall your strength be.

²⁶There is none like God, Jeshurun,

Who rides on the heavens for your help,

In his excellency on the skies.

²⁷The eternal God is your dwelling place,

Underneath are the everlasting arms.

He thrust out the enemy from before you,

Said, Destroy.

²⁸Israel dwells in safety,

The fountain of Jacob alone,

In a land of grain and new wine;

Yes, his heavens drop down dew.

²⁹Happy are you, Israel:

Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh,

The shield of your help,

The sword of your excellency!

Your enemies shall submit themselves to you;

You shall tread on their high places.