Moses Blesses the Tribes of Israel
1 Moses was a prophet, and before he died, he blessed the tribes of Israel by saying:
2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai.
From Edom, he gave light
to his people,
and his glory was shining
from Mount Paran.
Thousands of his warriors
were with him, and fire
was at his right hand.
3 The Lord loves the tribes
of Israel,
and he protects his people.
They listen to his words
and worship at his feet.
* 4 I called a meeting
of the tribes of Israel
and gave you God's Law.
5 Then you and your leaders
made the Lord your king.
6 Tribe of Reuben, you will live,
even though your tribe
will always be small.
7 The Lord will listen to you,
tribe of Judah, as you beg
to come safely home.
You fought your enemies alone;
now the Lord will help you.
8 At Massah and Meribah Spring,
the Lord tested you,
tribe of Levi.
You were faithful,
and so the priesthood belongs
to the Levi tribe.
9 Protecting Israel's agreement
with the Lord
was more important to you
than the life of your father
or mother,
or brothers or sisters,
or your own children.
10 You teach God's laws to Israel,
and at the place of worship
you offer sacrifices
and burn incense.
11 I pray that the Lord will bless
everything you do,
and make you strong enough
to crush your enemies.
12 The Lord Most High loves you,
tribe of Benjamin.
He will live among your hills
and protect you.
13 Descendants of Joseph,
the Lord will bless you
with precious water
from deep wells
and with dew from the sky.
14 Month by month, your fruit
will ripen in the sunshine.
15 You will have a rich harvest
from the slopes
of the ancient hills.
16 The Lord who appeared
in the burning bush
wants to give you the best
the land can produce,
and it will be a princely crown
on Joseph's head.
17 The armies of Ephraim
and Manasseh
are majestic and fierce
like a bull or a wild ox.
They will run their spears
through faraway nations.
18 Be happy, Zebulun,
as your boats set sail;
be happy, Issachar,
in your tents.
19 The sea will make you wealthy,
and from the sandy beach
you will get treasure.
So invite the other tribes
to celebrate with you
and offer sacrifices to God.
20 Tribe of Gad,
the Lord will bless you
with more land.
So shout his praises!
Your tribe is like a lion
ripping up its victim.
21 Your leaders met together
and chose the best land
for your tribe,
but you obeyed the Lord
and helped the other tribes.
22 Tribe of Dan,
you are like a lion cub,
startled by a snake.
23 The Lord is pleased with you,
people of Naphtali.
He will bless you
and give you the land
to the west and the south.
24 The Lord's greatest blessing
is for you, tribe of Asher.
You will be the favorite
of all the other tribes.
You will be rich with olive oil
25 and have strong town gates
with bronze and iron bolts.
Your people will be powerful
for as long as they live.
26 Israel, no other god
is like ours—
the clouds are his chariot
as he rides across the skies
to come and help us.
27 The eternal God
is our hiding place;
he carries us in his arms.
When God tells you
to destroy your enemies,
he will make them run.
28 Israel, you will live in safety;
your enemies will be gone.
The dew will fall from the sky,
and you will have plenty
of grain and wine.
29 The Lord has rescued you
and given you more blessings
than any other nation.
He protects you like a shield
and is your majestic sword.
Your enemies will bow in fear,
and you will trample
on their backs.
Moses Blesses the Tribes of Israel
1 These are the blessings that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the people of Israel before he died.
2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai;
he rose like the sun over Edom
and shone on his people from Mount Paran.
Ten thousand angels were with him,
a flaming fire at his right hand.
3 The Lord loves his people
and protects those who belong to him.
So we bow at his feet
and obey his commands.
4 We obey the Law that Moses gave us,
our nation's most treasured possession.
5 The Lord became king of his people Israel
when their tribes and leaders were gathered together.
6 Moses said about the tribe of Reuben:
“May Reuben never die out,
Although their people are few.”
7 About the tribe of Judah he said:
“Lord, listen to their cry for help;
Unite them again with the other tribes.
Fight for them, Lord,
And help them against their enemies.”
8 About the tribe of Levi he said:
“You, Lord, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim
Through your faithful servants, the Levites;
You put them to the test at Massah
And proved them true at the waters of Meribah.
9 They showed greater loyalty to you
Than to parents, brothers, or children.
They obeyed your commands
And were faithful to your covenant.
10 They will teach your people to obey your Law;
They will offer sacrifices on your altar.
11 Lord, help their tribe to grow strong;
Be pleased with what they do.
Crush all their enemies;
Let them never rise again.”
12 About the tribe of Benjamin he said:
“This is the tribe the Lord loves and protects;
He guards them all the day long,
And he dwells in their midst.”
13 About the tribe of Joseph he said:
“May the Lord bless their land with rain
And with water from under the earth.
14 May their land be blessed with sun-ripened fruit,
Rich with the best fruits of each season.
15 May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit.
16 May their land be filled with all that is good,
Blessed by the goodness of the Lord,
Who spoke from the burning bush.
May these blessings come to the tribe of Joseph,
Because he was the leader among his brothers.
17 Joseph has the strength of a bull,
The horns of a wild ox.
His horns are Manasseh's thousands
And Ephraim's ten thousands.
With them he gores the nations
And pushes them to the ends of the earth.”
18 About the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar he said:
“May Zebulun be prosperous in their trade on the sea,
And may Issachar's wealth increase at home.
19 They invite foreigners to their mountain
And offer the right sacrifices there.
They get their wealth from the sea
And from the sand along the shore.”
20 About the tribe of Gad he said:
“Praise God, who made their territory large.
Gad waits like a lion
To tear off an arm or a scalp.
21 They took the best of the land for themselves;
A leader's share was assigned to them.
They obeyed the Lord's commands and laws
When the leaders of Israel were gathered together.”
22 About the tribe of Dan he said:
“Dan is a young lion;
He leaps out from Bashan.”
23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said:
“Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor;
Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee.”
24 About the tribe of Asher he said:
“Asher is blessed more than the other tribes.
May he be the favorite of his brothers,
And may his land be rich with olive trees.
25 May his towns be protected with iron gates,
And may he always live secure.”
26 People of Israel, no god is like your God,
riding in splendor across the sky,
riding through the clouds to come to your aid.
27 God has always been your defense;
his eternal arms are your support.
He drove out your enemies as you advanced,
and told you to destroy them all.
28 So Jacob's descendants live in peace,
secure in a land full of grain and wine,
where dew from the sky waters the ground.
29 Israel, how happy you are!
There is no one like you,
a nation saved by the Lord.
The Lord himself is your shield and your sword,
to defend you and give you victory.
Your enemies will come begging for mercy,
and you will trample them down.
