Study Desk

loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

"The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.

But the Lord 's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.

"He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

"But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

"The Lord saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.

"Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land."

And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death.

He said, "The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.

Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you,

"Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few."

And this he said of Judah: "Hear, O Lord , the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries."

who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not'; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children. For they observed your word and kept your covenant.

Bless, O Lord , his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again."

Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders."

And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the Lord be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath,

with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.