Moses lifted his voice before all Israel and said, "Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth." His words would fall like gentle rain—life-giving truth descending from heaven.
He declared the greatness of God: "The Lord is the Rock—His works are perfect, His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong." Yet Israel, His chosen people, had corrupted themselves, becoming a twisted and unfaithful generation.
Moses cried, "Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish people? Is He not your Father who made you and formed you?" He urged them to remember their history—how God divided the nations and chose Jacob as His inheritance. In the wilderness, God found them and cared for them as the apple of His eye, guarding them like an eagle hovering over its young. The Lord alone led them; no foreign god was with Him.
He made them flourish—feeding them with honey from the rock, oil from the flinty stone, milk and curds from the herds, and the finest wheat and wine. But Jeshurun (Israel) grew proud and fat, forgetting the God who saved them. They turned to idols, sacrificing to false gods and demons they had never known.
The Lord saw it and grew angry. "I will hide My face from them," He said. "They made Me jealous with what is not God, so I will make them jealous by those who are not a people. I will send disaster, famine, beasts, and the sword upon them until they understand their folly."
God said He would have wiped them out completely, but He restrained His hand lest their enemies boast that they had triumphed by their own power. "They are a nation without sense," He said, "for their Rock is not like our Rock—even their enemies know it."
He warned that their wickedness was stored up like poison wine, ready to be poured in judgment. "Vengeance is Mine," says the Lord. "In due time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near." Yet He would also have compassion when His people's strength was gone.
He would ask, "Where are the gods you trusted in? Let them rise up and help you!" Then He would declare, "See now that I am He—there is no god besides Me. I put to death and bring to life; I wound and I heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand."
When He lifts His hand in oath, His sword gleams in judgment, avenging His servants and repaying His enemies. "Rejoice, O nations, with His people," the song concludes, "for the Lord will avenge His servants and make atonement for His land and people."
When Moses finished reciting the song, he said, "Take to heart all these words, and command your children to obey them, for they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
That same day, the Lord told Moses, "Go up Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to Israel. There you will die, just as Aaron did, because you did not uphold My holiness at the waters of Meribah. You will see the land only from a distance."