Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Parallel translations
- WEB Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
- KJV Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- NKJV “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- NASB “Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
- NLT “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses calls heaven and earth to listen as he begins to speak. It matters because it summons the most enduring witnesses to hear God's words.
Overview
The Song opens by invoking the heavens and earth, echoing the covenant-witness theme from chapter 31. This majestic call signals the solemnity and universal importance of what follows. The appeal to all creation to hear anticipates the cosmic scope of God's redemptive purposes, finally realized in the reconciliation of all things in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 1:2Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
- Jer 22:29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
- Ps 49:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,
- Ps 50:4He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:
- Deut 31:28Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
- Jer 6:19Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
- Deut 30:19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
- Jer 2:12Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 32:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.