V'Zot HaBerachah Scripture Lesson 49
Deuteronomy 33:1 - 34:12

Deuteronomy 33 (Torah Portion V'Zot HaBerachah)

1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God gave the Israelites before he died.

2 He said:

The Lord came from Sinai:
    from Seir he shone like the dawn on us,
    from Paran Mountain he beamed down.
Thousands of holy ones were with him;
    his warriors were next to him, ready.
3 Yes, those who love the nations—
    all his holy ones—were at your command;
        they followed your footsteps;
        they got moving when you said so.
4 Moses gave the Instruction to us—
    it’s the prized possession of Jacob’s assembly.
5 A king came to rule in Jeshurun,
    when the people’s leaders gathered together,
    when Israel’s tribes were one.
6 “I pray that Reuben lives, doesn’t die,
    though his numbers are so few.”
7 Moses said this to Judah:
    “Lord, listen to Judah’s voice!
    Bring him back to his own people,
        strengthen his hands;
        be his help against every enemy.”
8 Then he told Levi:
“Give your Thummim to Levi,
    your Urim to your faithful one—
    the one you tested at Massah,
    the one you challenged by Meribah’s waters;
9     the one who said of his own mother and father:
        ‘I don’t consider them as such’;
        of their siblings: ‘I don’t recognize them’;
        of their own children, ‘I don’t know them’—
    but who obeyed your words
        and who guarded your covenant!
10 They teach your case laws to Jacob,
    your Instruction to Israel.
They hold sweet incense to your nose;
    put the entirely burned offering on your altar.
11 I pray that the Lord blesses Levi’s strength,
    favors his hard work,
    and crushes the insides of his enemies
    so that those who hate him can’t fight anymore.”
12 He said to Benjamin:
“The Lord’s dearest one
    rests safely on him.
The Lord always shields him;
    he rests on God’s chest.”
13 Then he told Joseph:
“I pray that his land is blessed by God:
        with heaven’s gifts from above,
        with the deep waters stretching out underneath;
14         with the gifts produced by the sun,
        with the gifts generated by the moon;
15         with the best fruit from ancient mountains,
        with the gifts of eternal hills;
16         with the gifts of the earth and all that fills it,
    and the favor of the one who lives on Sinai.
I pray that all these rest on Joseph’s head,
    on the crown of that prince among brothers.
17 A firstborn bull—that’s how majestic he is!
    A wild ox’s horns—those are his horns!
        With them he gores all peoples
        completely, to the far ends of the earth!
His horns are Ephraim’s tens of thousands.
    His horns are Manasseh’s thousands.”
18 Then he told Zebulun:
“Zebulun: celebrate when you are out and about;
    Issachar: celebrate when you are at home in your tents!
19 They call all sorts of people to the mountain,
    where they offer right sacrifices.
It’s true: They’re nourished on the sea’s abundance;
    they are nourished on buried treasures in the sand.”
20 Then he told Gad:
“May Gad’s broad lands be blessed!
    He lives like a lion:
    he rips an arm, even a head!
21 He chose the best part for himself
    because there, where the commander’s portion was,
        the leaders of the people gathered together.
Gad executed the Lord’s justice
    and the Lord’s judgments for Israel.”
22 Then he told Dan:
“Dan is a lion cub.
    He jumps up from Bashan.”
23 Then he told Naphtali:
“Naphtali—you are full of favor,
    overflowing with the Lord’s blessing—
        go possess the west and the south!”
24 Finally, he told Asher:
“Asher is the most blessed of sons.
    I pray that he’s his brothers’ favorite—
    one who dips his foot in fine oil.
25 I pray that your dead bolts are iron and copper,
    and that your strength lasts all your days.”
26 Jeshurun! No one compares to God!
    He rides through heaven to help you,
        rides majestically through the clouds.
27 The most ancient God is a place of safety;
    the eternal arms are a support.
He drove out the enemy before you.
    He commanded: “Destroy them!”
28 So Israel now lives in safety—
    Jacob’s residence is secure—
        in a land full of grain and wine,
            where the heavens drip dew.
29 Happy are you, Israel! Who is like you?
    You are a people saved by the Lord!
He’s the shield that helps you,
    your majestic sword!
Your enemies will come crawling on their knees to you,
    but you will stomp on their backs!

Deuteronomy 34 (Torah Portion V'Zot HaBerachah)

1 Then Moses hiked up from the Moabite plains to Mount Nebo, the peak of the Pisgah slope, which faces Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land: the Gilead region as far as Dan’s territory; 2 all the parts belonging to Naphtali along with the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as the entirety of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 also the arid southern plain, and the plain—including the Jericho Valley, Palm City—as far as Zoar.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses: “This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I promised: ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have shown it to you with your own eyes; however, you will not cross over into it.”

5 Then Moses, the Lord’s servant, died—right there in the land of Moab, according to the Lord’s command. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moabite country across from Beth-peor. Even now, no one knows where Moses’ grave is.

7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn’t impaired, and his vigor hadn’t diminished a bit.

8 Back down in the Moabite plains, the Israelites mourned Moses’ death for thirty days. At that point, the time for weeping and for mourning Moses was over.

9 Joshua, Nun’s son, was filled with wisdom because Moses had placed his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did exactly what the Lord commanded Moses.

10 No prophet like Moses has yet emerged in Israel; Moses knew the Lord face-to-face! 11 That’s not even to mention all those signs and wonders that the Lord sent Moses to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his entire land— 12 as well as all the extraordinary power that Moses displayed before Israel’s own eyes!