Meet Lindsey Argabright

Moses' Final Blessing on Israel

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

“The LORD came from Sinai
    and dawned from Seir upon us; ^{1 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them}
    he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,
    with flaming fire ^{2 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} at his right hand.
3  Yes, he loved his people, ^{3 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples}
    all his holy ones were in his ^{4 33:3 Hebrew your} hand;
so they followed ^{5 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} in your steps,
    receiving direction from you,
4  when Moses commanded us a law,
    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5  Thus the LORD ^{6 33:5 Hebrew Thus he} became king in Jeshurun,
    when the heads of the people were gathered,
    all the tribes of Israel together.

6  Let Reuben live, and not die,
    but let his men be few.”

7 And this he said of Judah:

“Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,
    and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend ^{7 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended} for him,
    and be a help against his adversaries.”

8 And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi ^{8 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi} your Thummim,
    and your Urim to your godly one,
whom you tested at Massah,
    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9  who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I regard them not’;
he disowned his brothers
    and ignored his children.
For they observed your word
    and kept your covenant.
10  They shall teach Jacob your rules
    and Israel your law;
they shall put 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 who hate him, that they rise not again.”

12 Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.
The High God ^{9 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He} surrounds him all day long,
    and dwells between his shoulders.”

13 And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed by the LORD be his land,
    with the choicest gifts of heaven above, ^{10 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew}
    and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14  with the choicest 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 best gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
17  A firstborn bull ^{11 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull} —he has majesty,
    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
    all of them, to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”