📖 Deuteronomy — Chapter 32 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall Rdrop 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:
Deuteronomy 32:3 RBecause I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is Rthe Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Deuteronomy 32:5 RTThey have corrupted themselves, Ttheir spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
Deuteronomy 32:6 Do ye thus Rrequite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
Deuteronomy 32:7 RRemember the days of old, consider the years of Tmany generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the RMost 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.
Deuteronomy 32:9 For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the RTlot of his inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:10 He Rfound him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he Tled him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
Deuteronomy 32:12 So Rthe LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him Rride 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;
Deuteronomy 32:14 RButter 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.
Deuteronomy 32:15 But RJeshurun 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.
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with Rabominations provoked they him to anger.
Deuteronomy 32:17 They Rsacrificed unto devils, Tnot to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Deuteronomy 32:18 Of Rthe Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Deuteronomy 32:19 RAnd when the LORD saw it, he Tabhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, RI 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.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have Rmoved 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.
Deuteronomy 32:22 RFor a fire is kindled in mine anger, and Tshall burn unto the lowest hell, and Tshall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 32:23 I will Rheap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
Deuteronomy 32:24 They shall be Rburnt with hunger, and devoured with burning Theat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
Deuteronomy 32:25 The Rsword without, and terror Twithin, shall Tdestroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
Deuteronomy 32:26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
Deuteronomy 32:27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, Rlest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, TOur hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.
Deuteronomy 32:28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
Deuteronomy 32:29 RO that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
Deuteronomy 32:30 How should Rone chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
Deuteronomy 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is RTof the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is Rthe poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
Deuteronomy 32:34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
Deuteronomy 32:35 RTo 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.
Deuteronomy 32:36 RFor the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their Tpower is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
Deuteronomy 32:37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
Deuteronomy 32:38 Which did Reat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be Tyour protection.
Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that RI, 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.
Deuteronomy 32:40 RFor I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
Deuteronomy 32:41 If I Rwhet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Deuteronomy 32:42 I will Rmake 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.
Deuteronomy 32:43 TRejoice, RO 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.
Deuteronomy 32:44 And Moses came and Rspake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and THoshea the son of Nun.
Deuteronomy 32:45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
Deuteronomy 32:46 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.
Deuteronomy 32:47 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.
Deuteronomy 32:48 RAnd the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
Deuteronomy 32:49 Get thee up into this Rmountain 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:
Deuteronomy 32:50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and Rbe gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
Deuteronomy 32:51 Because Rye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of TMeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Deuteronomy 32:1–18 — The Rock and Israel's forgetfulness
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The song praises the LORD's just and faithful character, recalls his care, and contrasts it with Israel's ingratitude. Jeshurun's abundance becomes a setting for forsaking the giver.
Key Truth: God's faithful care exposes the seriousness of forgetting him.
Check What You Remember
1. What title is used for God with the words 'his work is perfect'? (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:4 (KJV).
2. What bird illustrates the LORD's care for Israel? (Deuteronomy 32:11)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:11 (KJV).
3. What name is used for Israel as waxing fat and kicking? (Deuteronomy 32:15)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:15 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Deuteronomy 32:19–35 — Judgment and the false gods' failure
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The song describes God's response to provocation and the inability of other gods to explain or secure Israel's life. Vengeance is declared to belong to the LORD.
Key Truth: The song locates judgment in God's authority.
Check What You Remember
1. What does the LORD say he will hide from Israel? (Deuteronomy 32:20)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:20 (KJV).
2. What animal's poison describes the nations' wine? (Deuteronomy 32:33)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:33 (KJV).
3. To whom does vengeance belong in this passage? (Deuteronomy 32:35)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:35 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Deuteronomy 32:36–52 — God's sovereignty and Moses' final instruction
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The song declares that no other god can rival the LORD's power over life and death. Moses urges Israel to take the words to heart and is then told to view the land from Nebo.
Key Truth: God's instruction is to be taken to heart and taught to the next generation.
Check What You Remember
1. Who says 'I kill, and I make alive'? (Deuteronomy 32:39)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:39 (KJV).
2. To whom should Israel command these words for careful obedience? (Deuteronomy 32:46)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:46 (KJV).
3. On what mountain was Moses told to view the land? (Deuteronomy 32:49)
Find it in Deuteronomy 32:49 (KJV).
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does the opening description of the Rock contrast with the people?
2. What does the eagle comparison illustrate in its immediate setting?
3. What change follows Jeshurun’s abundance?
4. How does the LORD’s statement challenge reliance on other gods?
5. Why must the people set their hearts on the words and command their children?
Notes
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