Ha'azinu (Give Ear!)
(Sefer Devarim) Deuteronomy 32:1 - 32:52

32:1-“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2- My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender
herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3- Because I will publish the name of YHVH: ascribe ye greatness unto our Elohim.
4- He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: an Elohim of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He.
8- When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set
the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Yisrael.
9- For YHVH's portion is His people; Yaakov is the lot of His inheritance.
12- So YHVH alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
15- But Yeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou are waxen fat, thou are grown thick, thou are covered with
fatness; then he forsook Elohim which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
17- They sacrificed unto devils, not to Elohim; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up,
whom your fathers feared not.
18- Of the Rock that begot thee thou are unmindful, and has forgotten Elohim that formed thee.
20- And He said, I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very perverse
generation, children in whom is no faith.
21- They have moved Me to jealousy with a non-god; they have angered me to with their vanities: and I will
move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will anger them with a foolish nation.
23- I will heap evils upon them; I will spend Mine arrows upon them.
26- I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27- Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and YHVH has not done all this.
28- For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29- O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
36- For YHVH shall judge His people, and repent Himself for his servants, when He sees that their power is
gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37- And He shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
39- See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:
neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand.
40- For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41- If I whet my glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine
enemies, and will reward them that hate Me.
43- Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people: for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render
vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, and to His people.”

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth for YHVH has spoken, I have nourished and brought up
children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib:
but Yisrael does not know, my people do not consider."
(Isaiah 1:2-3)

“Ye have wearied YHVH with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say,
Everyone that does evil is good in the sight of YHVH, and he delights in them; or, Where is the Elohim
of judgment?"
(Malachi 2:17)

“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and
YHVH has not done it?"
(Amos 3:6)

“Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto YHVH; and they testified against them: but
they would not give ear."
(2 Chronicles 24:19)

“Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because
they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my Torah, but rejected it."
(Jeremiah 6:19)

“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none
did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in
which I delighted not."
(Isaiah 66:4)

“And they shall know that I am YHVH, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil
unto them."
(Ezekiel 6:10)

Ha’azinu - Summary:
1. Hearing a Refrain of Retribution for a Record of Rebellion:
The verdict is in and it's not pretty. Related in song, parasha Ha'azinu requests all of us today as it did in that generation to listen up and consider those things that have brought us to this present hour. Replete with indictments against the chosen people, Moshe sings a dirge which should remove any false notion that we have already arrived. So clear is the forecast and so well-documented is the accuracy of this prophetic canticle that its calamitous chorus would be resonated among Yisrael’s authentic oracles as a reminder to repent and as a sign of Elohim's unchanging nature. Sadly, a theme of Yaakov's waywardness and HaShem's chastisement continues to this day, as in Jeremiah 8:20, the prophet joins in the minor tenor of lament, vocalizing:
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
When the humble tune in to this heavy hymn of honest reporting, one cannot help but to hear of the breach of harmony that exists between Heaven and this headstrong human race. While the reprimand is directed to the people of covenant, there are ample verses which serve notice to the adversaries of Yisrael,
and croon of their coming castigation. With baton in hand, Isaiah 5:20-21 directs the tempo to both parties:
“Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and
prudent in their own sight!”
With warning to recognize our wretched cadence and return to the rhythm of our Redeemer's wistful arrangement, Yishayahu continues to warble the lyrics of syncopated meter, composing a series of questions, measuring our attention span and recognition for the Holy One's original score. In Isaiah 40:21, he asks:
“Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye
not understood from the foundations of the earth?”
As if to get our pulse on whether we perceive the purpose for HaShem's symphony of Salvation, he sings on in further interrogation, echoing from on High, the vital notes for which we all live, Isaiah 45:21-22 piping:
“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who has declared this from
ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, YHVH? And there is no Elohim else
beside Me; a just Elohim and Savior; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth: for I am Elohim, and there is none else.”
With this hope of Deliverance, Isaiah 53:1 calls us to consider the true sound of Salvation...belief, as is sung:
“Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of YHVH revealed?”
As the anthem approaches the fine, Isaiah 66:8 resounds the tune of mercy triumphing over judgment, viz.:
“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in
one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Tzion travailed, she bore her children.”
 

2. Time to Uncover Our Ears and Get with the Almighty's Program:
True we have a blemished past. The Song of Moshe tells us so. However, its purpose is not to drive us to despair but to direct us to diffidence in our status quo. Because we’ve had trouble hearing and hearkening to the Voice of reason, it’s time to incline our ears to a more perfect way. The Almighty is not looking for our regimented religious disciplines to complement our empty adoration of fleeting folly. He will not forever endure our 15 minutes of devotionals to offset our scheduled indulgence of hours of entertainment. The true will of the Supreme is that we come to understand: why we are here on a planet, festering in iniquity, and what we must do to move from this state of rapid decay (for most, less than one hundred years) to ready ourselves for an encounter with the Sovereign of Eternity. In Isaiah 55:2, Elohim appeals to our appetites:
“Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfies not?
hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”
It is not in acquiring wealth, nor is it in gloating in the world’s glitter of sporting victories, vicariously won in the stadium stands or through our big screen televisions; it is neither found in boasting in our familiar repetitious religious rituals that serve to confirm our goal, nor is it in possessing the sophistication to attain the highest throngs of popularity polls. The answer to this awkward coda of Elohim’s prolonged silence is to begin listening to His song and cherish the wind of His Spirit which blows through the seers’ vocal chords.