Deuteronomy 32:43
Deuteronomy 32:4343Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him; He will cleanse His land and His people.
The NWT follows the shorter Masoretic reading of this verse. JWs do not typically draw attention to it because the longer Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls readings — which include the command for angels to worship — are cited by and applied to Jesus. When is discussed, "obeisance" is substituted for "worship."
quotes (from the LXX and Dead Sea Scrolls text 4QDeutq) and applies it to the Son: God commands all angels to worship him. The context is decisive — has just declared "I am he; there is no God besides me." The one being worshipped in verse 43 is Jehovah. A monotheistic Jewish author would never apply a Jehovah-worship text to a creature — unless he identified the Son with Jehovah. This is part of Hebrews 1's sustained argument: (Jehovah's eternality) is applied to Jesus in 1:10–12, and ("Your throne, O God") is applied to him in 1:8–9. The pattern is unmistakable: the Son receives the titles, worship, and attributes that belong to Jehovah alone.