Deuteronomy 33

1NOW this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God blessed the children of Israel, before his death; and he said:

2The Lord came from Sina
And shined upon us out of Seir;
He hasted from mount Paran,
With myriads from Kades;
His angels with Him on his right.

3He compassionated His people;
All the sanctified are under thy sway,
But these are immediately under thee.

4From His words Moses received the law
Which he gave in charge to us,
An inheritance for the assemblies of Jacob.

5Let Him therefore be chief among the beloved.
When the chiefs of peoples assemble with the tribes of Israel.

6Let Reuben live and not die,
And let him be many in number.

7Now this was the blessing of Juda:
Hear, O Lord, the voice of Juda!
And until thou comest to his people;
Let his hands contend for them,
And he thou his help from enemies.

8And of Levi he said:
Assign ye to Levi His manifestations,
And His truth to this holy man
Whom they tried at Temptation,
Whom they reviled at the water of Contradiction.

9With regard to him who saith to his father and to his mother,
I have not beheld thee,
And hath not acknowledged his brethren,
And hath renounced his own children,
He it is who hath observed Thine Oracles
And diligently kept Thy covenant.

10Let them [the Levites] explain Thy rules of rectitude for Jacob, And Thy law for Israel;
Let them lay incense continually,
When Thou art angry, on thine altar.

11Bless, O Lord, his endeavours,
And accept the works of his hands.
Pierce the loins of enemies,
Who have risen up against him:
And let them who hate him never rise up.

12And of Benjamin he said:
Beloved! He shall dwell securely under the Lord.
God overshadoweth him continually,
And hath taken up his rest between his shoulders.

13And of Joseph he said,
His land is a special blessing of the Lord
On account of heavenly seasons and dew,
And on account of abysses of fountains from beneath,

14And on account of the productions, in due season
Of the sun’s revolutions and the changes of the moon,

15As his land of plenty is beautified
With summits of ancient mountains
And with summits of everlasting hills;

16So may the things acceptable
To him who appeared in the bush
Come upon the head of Joseph;
He indeed is glorified
In being the chief over brothers.

17His beauty is that of a firstling bull,
His horns are the horns of an unicorn,
With these he will push the nations at once,
Even from the limits of the land.
These are the myriads of Ephraim;
And these the thousands of Manasses.

18And of Zabulon he said:
Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thine outgoings;
And let Issachar rejoice in his abodes.

19They shall utterly root out nations.
And there you shall invoke,
And there offer the sacrifice of righteousness.
For the riches of the sea shall feed thee,
And a commerce with the dwellers on the sea coast.

20And of Gad he said:
Blessed is he who enlargeth Gad. Like a lion he lay down to rest,
Having broken an arm and a chief.

21He took a view of his portion
Because land was there divided.
When chiefs assembled with the leaders of tribes,
The Lord executed Justice
And determined his cause with Israel.

22And of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s whelp;
He will make excursions beyond Basan.

23And of Nephthaleim he said:
Nephthaleim hath abundance of good things;
May he be filled with blessings from the Lord!
He shall possess the west and the south.

24And of Aser he said:
Aser is blessed with children,
He will be acceptable to his brethren.
He shall bathe his foot in oil,

25His shoe shall be iron and brass;
As thy days so shall be thy strength.

26There is none like the God of the beloved.
He who rideth on the heaven is thy helper,
And he is mighty to give support.

27The governance of God will protect thee
When under the power of everlasting arms,
He will drive out the enemy before thee,
Saying, Be devoted to destruction!

28And Israel shall dwell securely alone
In the land of Jacob, fed with corn and wine:
And the heaven shall drop with dew for thee.

29Blessed art thou, O Israel!
Who is like thee, O people saved by the Lord!
Thy helper will protect thee,
His sword shall be thy boast,
Thine enemies shall submit to thee,
And thou shalt ride upon their neck.