Deuteronomy 32
Geneva Study Bible
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Give ear, O ye {a} heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

(a) As witness of this people's ingratitude.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
My {b} doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

(b) He desires that he may speak to God's glory and that the people, as the green grass, may receive the dew of his doctrine.

Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
He is the {c} Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

(c) Or mighty God; noting that only God is mighty, faithful and constant in his promise.

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not {d} made thee, and established thee?

(d) Not according to the common creation, but he has made you a new creature by his Spirit.

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the {e} people according to the number of the children of Israel.

(e) When God by his providence divided the world, he lent for a time that portion to the Canaanites, which would later be an inheritance for all his people Israel.

For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, {f} fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

(f) To teach them to fly.

So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
He made him ride on the high places of the {g} earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck {h} honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

(g) Meaning, of the land of Canaan, which was high in respect to Egypt.

(h) That is, abundance of all things even in the very rocks.

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
{i} But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

(i) He shows what is the principal end of our vocation.

They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
They provoked him to jealousy with {k} strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

(k) By changing his service for their superstitions.

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to {l} new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

(l) Scripture calls new, whatever man invents, be the error ever so old.

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his {m} sons, and of his daughters.

(m) He calls them God's children, not to honour them, but to show them from what dignity they are fallen.

And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a {n} people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

(n) Which I have not favoured, nor given my law to them.

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
The sword {o} without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

(o) They shall be slain both in the field and at home.

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should {p} behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.

{p} Rejoicing to see the godly afflicted, and attributing to themselves that which is wrought by God's hand.

For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would {q} consider their latter end!

(q) They would consider the happiness that was prepared for them, if they had obeyed God.

How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
Their {r} wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

(r) The fruit of the wicked are as poison, detestable to God, and dangerous for man.

Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none {s} shut up, or left.

(s) When neither strong nor weak in a manner remain.

And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
For I {t} lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

(t) That is, I swear, read Ge 14:22.

If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the {u} blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

(u) Where the blood of God's people is shed for their sins or trial of their faith, he promises to avenge it.

And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
For it is not a {x} vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

(x) For I will perform my promise to you, Isa 55:10.

And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye {y} sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

(y) You were not earnest and constant to maintain my honour.

Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
The Geneva Bible Translation Notes [1599]

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