“And this is the blessing”
Deut 33:1-34:12
And this is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, bestowed upon the children of Israel before his death. He said: Hashem came from Sinai — having shone forth to them from Seir, having appeared from Mount Paran, and then approached with some of the holy myriads — from His right hand he presented the fiery Torah to them. Indeed, You loved the tribes greatly, all its holy ones were in Your hands; for they planted themselves at Your feet, bearing [the yoke] of Your utterances: “The Torah that Moses commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Jacob.” He became King over Jeshurun when the numbers of the nation gathered — the tribes of Israel in unity.
Deuteronomy 33:6 – 29
Rueben
May Reuben live and not die, and may his population be included in the count.
Judah
And this to Judah, and he said: Hearken, O Hashem to Judah’s voice, and return him to his people; may is hands fight his grievance and may You be a Helper against his enemies.
Levi
Of Levi he said: Your Tumim and Your Urim befit Your devout one, whom You tested at Massah, and whom You challenged at the waters of Meribah. The one who said of his father and mother, “I have not favored him”; his brothers he did not give recognition and his children he did not know; for they [the Levites] have observed Your word and Your covenant they preserved. They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your Torah to Israel; they shall place incense before Your presence, and burnt offerings on Your Altar. Bless, O Hashem, his resources, and favor the work of his hands; smash the loins of his foes and his enemies, that they may not rise.
Benjamin
Of Benjamin he said: May Hashem’s beloved dwell securely by Him; he hovers over him all day long; and rests between his shoulders.
Joseph
Of Joseph he said: Blessed by Hashem is his land — with the heavenly bounty of dew, and with the deep waters crouching below; with the bounty of the sun’s crops, and with the bounty of the moon’s yield; with the quick-ripening crops of the early mountains, and with the bounty of eternal hills; with the bounty of the land and its fullness, and by the favor of Him Who rested upon the thornbush; may this blessing rest upon Joseph’s head, and upon the crown of him who was separated from his brothers. Sovereignty is his ox-like one — majesty is his, and his glory will be like the horns of a re’eim; with them shall he gore nations together, to the ends of the Land; they are the myriads of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh.
Zebulun and Issachar
Of Zebulun he said; Rejoice, O Zebulun, in your excursions, and Issachar in your tents. The tribes will assemble at the mount, there they will slaughter offerings of righteousness, for by the riches of the sea they will be nourished, and by the treasures concealed in the sand.
Dan
Of Dan he said: Dan is a lion cub, leaping forth from the Bashan.
Naphtali
Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali, satiated with favor, and filled with Hashem’s blessing; go possess the sea and its south shore.
Asher
Of Asher he said: the most blessed of children is Asher; he shall be pleasing to his brothers, and dip his feet in oil.
May your borders be sealed like iron and copper, and like the days of your prime, so may your old age be. There is none like God, O Jeshurun; He rides across heaven t help you, and in His majesty through the upper heights. That is the abode of God immemorial, and below are the world’s mighty ones; he drove the enemy away from before you, and he said, “Destroy!” Thus Israel shall dwell secure, solitary, in the likeness of Jacob, in a land of grain and wine; even his heavens shall drip with dew. Fortunate are you, O Israel: Who is like you! O people delivered by Hashem, the Shield of your help, Who is the Sword of your grandeur; your foes will try to deceive you, but you will trample their haughty ones.
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Moses ascended from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of the cliff that faces Jericho, and Hashem showed him the entire Land: the Gilead as far as Dan; all of Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; the entire land of Judah as far as the western sea; the Negev and the Plain — the valley of Jericho, city of date palms — as far as Zoar. And Hashem said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over to there.” So Moses, servant of Hashem, died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of Hashem. He buried him in the depression, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, and no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye had not dimmed, and his vigor had not diminished. The Children of Israel bewailed Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of tearful mourning for Moses ended. Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him, so the children of Israel obeyed him and did as Hashem had commanded Moses. Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom Hashem had known face to face, as evidenced by all the signs and wonders that Hashem sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his courtiers and all his land, and by all the strong hand and awesome power that Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel.