Deuteronomy 33 · Parashat Vezot Haberakhah

VEZOT HABBERAKHA And this is the blessing, with which Moshe the man of God blessed the children of Yisra᾽el before his death.

And he said, The Lord came from Sinay, and rose up from Se῾ir to them; he shone forth from mount Paran, and he came from holy multitudes: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Truly he loves the peoples; all his holy ones are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

Moshe commanded us a Tora, the inheritance of the congregation of Ya῾aqov.

And he was king in Yeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Yisra᾽el were gathered together.

Let Re᾽uven live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

And this is the blessing of Yehuda: and he said, Hear, Lord, the voice of Yehuda, and bring him to his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou a help to him from his enemies.

And of Levi he said, Let thy Tummim and thy Urim be with thy pious one, whom thou didst prove at Massa, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meriva;

who said of his father and of his mother, I have not seen him; nor did he acknowledge his brothers, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

They shall teach Ya῾aqov thy judgments, and Yisra᾽el thy Tora: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thy altar.

Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins those who rise against him, and those who hate him, that they rise not again.

And of Binyamin he said, The beloved of the Lord; he shall dwell in safety by him; he shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

And of Yosef he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches beneath,

and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the primordial hills,

and for the precious things of the earth and its fulness, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Yosef, and upon the top of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.

The firstling of his herd, grandeur is his, and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox: with them he shall push the peoples altogether to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Efrayim, and they are the thousands of Menashshe.

And of Zevulun he said, Rejoice, Zevulun, in thy going out; and, Yissakhar, in thy tents.

They shall call the peoples to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

And of Gad he said, Blessed is he that enlarges Gad: he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm with the crown of the head.

And he provided the first part for himself, because there the portion of a lawgiver was reserved; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Yisra᾽el.

And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp, that leaps from Bashan.

And of Naftali he said, O Naftali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south.

And of Asher he said, Be Asher blessed above sons; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

There is none like to the God of Yeshurun, who rides upon the heaven to thy help, and in his excellency on the clouds.

The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Yisra᾽el then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Ya῾aqov shall dwell upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

Happy art thou, O Yisra᾽el: who is like to thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and one that is the sword of thy excellency! and thy enemies shall submit themselves to thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.