The Wilderness Years

for it is not a vain thing for you, for it is your life, and by this thing ye prolong days on the ground whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it.'

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in this self-same day, saying,

`Go up unto this mount Abarim, mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which is on the front of Jericho, and see the land of Canaan which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession;

and die in the mount whither thou art going up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother hath died in the mount Hor, and is gathered unto his people:

`Because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribath-Kadesh, the wilderness of Zin--because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the sons of Israel;

but over-against thou seest the land, and thither thou dost not go in, unto the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel.'

And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death,

and he saith: --`Jehovah from Sinai hath come, And hath risen from Seir for them; He hath shone from mount Paran, And hath come with myriads of holy ones; At His right hand are springs for them.

Also He is loving the peoples; All His holy ones are in thy hand, And they--they sat down at thy foot, Each He lifteth up at thy words.

A law hath Moses commanded us, A possession of the assembly of Jacob.

And he is in Jeshurun king, In the heads of the people gathering together, The tribes of Israel!

Let Reuben live, and not die, And let his men be a number.

And this is for Judah; and he saith: --Hear, O Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And unto his people do Thou bring him in; His hand hath striven for him, And an help from his adversaries art Thou.

And of Levi he said: --Thy Thummim and thy Urim are for thy pious one, Whom Thou hast tried in Massah, Thou dost strive with Him at the waters of Meribah;

Who is saying of his father and his mother, I have not seen him; And his brethren he hath not discerned, And his sons he hath not known; For they have observed Thy saying, And Thy covenant they keep.

They teach Thy judgments to Jacob, And Thy law to Israel; They put perfume in Thy nose, And whole burnt-offering on Thine altar.

Bless, O Jehovah, his strength, And the work of his hands Thou acceptest, Smite the loins of his withstanders, And of those hating him--that they rise not!

Of Benjamin he said: --The beloved of Jehovah doth tabernacle confidently by him, Covering him over all the day; Yea, between his shoulders He doth tabernacle.

And of Joseph he said: --Blessed of Jehovah is his land, By precious things of the heavens, By dew, and by the deep crouching beneath,

And by precious things--fruits of the sun, And by precious things--cast forth by the moons,

And by chief things--of the ancient mountains, And by precious things--of the age-during heights,

And by precious things--of earth and its fulness, And the good pleasure Of Him who is dwelling in the bush, --Let it come for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of him Who is separate from his brethren.

His honour is a firstling of his ox, And his horns are horns of a reem; By them peoples he doth push together To the ends of earth; And they are the myriads of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh.

And of Zebulun he said: --Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy going out, And, O Issachar, in thy tents;

Peoples to the mountain they call, There they sacrifice righteous sacrifices; For the abundance of the seas they suck, And hidden things hidden in the sand.