Firstfruits and Tithes

26 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruitsr of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Names 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wanderingt Aramean,u and he went down into Egypt with a few peoplev and lived there and became a great nation,w powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer,x subjecting us to harsh labor.y 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voicez and sawa our misery,b toil and oppression.c 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egyptd with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,e with great terror and with signs and wonders.f 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;g 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.h” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levitesi and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoicej in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

12 When you have finished setting aside a tenthk of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe,l you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 Then say to the Lord your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.m 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean,n nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me. 15 Look down from heaven,o your holy dwelling place, and blessp your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Follow the Lord’s Commands

16 The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.q 17 You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him.r 18 And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possessions as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. 19 He has declared that he will set you in praise,t fame and honor high above all the nationsu he has made and that you will be a people holyv to the Lord your God, as he promised.

The Altar on Mount Ebal

27 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commandsw that I give you today. 2 When you have crossed the Jordanx into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stonesy and coat them with plaster.z 3 Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey,a just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal,b as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. 5 Build there an altarc to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron toold on them. 6 Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 7 Sacrifice fellowship offeringse there, eating them and rejoicingf in the presence of the Lord your God.g 8 And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stonesh you have set up.”i

Curses From Mount Ebal

9 Then Moses and the Leviticalj priests said to all Israel, “Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God.k 10 Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today.”

11 On the same day Moses commanded the people:

12 When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Geriziml to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,m Joseph and Benjamin.n 13 And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebalo to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

14 The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:

15 “Cursed is anyone who makes an idolp—a thing detestableq to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.”

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”r

16 “Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.”s

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

17 “Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.”t

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

18 “Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.”u

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

19 “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner,v the fatherless or the widow.”w

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

20 “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed.”x

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

21 “Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal.”y

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

22 “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.”z

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

23 “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law.”a

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

24 “Cursed is anyone who killsb their neighbor secretly.”c

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

25 “Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.”d

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

26 “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”e

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”f

Blessings for Obedience

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully followg all his commandsh I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.i 2 All these blessings will come on youj and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

3 You will be blessedk in the city and blessed in the country.l

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.m

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.n

7 The Lord will grant that the enemieso who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.p

8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will blessq you in the land he is giving you.

9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people,r as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commandss of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the namet of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestocku and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.v

12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehousew of his bounty,x to send rainy on your land in season and to blessz all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.a 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully followb them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.c 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left,d following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obeye the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,f all these curses will come on you and overtake you:g

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.h

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.i

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.j

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.k

20 The Lord will send on you curses,l confusion and rebukem in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruinn because of the evilo you have done in forsaking him.a 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.p 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,q with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,r with blights and mildew, which will plaguet you until you perish.u 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.v 24 The Lord will turn the rainw of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeatedx before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,y and you will become a thing of horrorz to all the kingdoms on earth.a 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birdsb and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.c 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egyptd and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of …