Deuteronomy 27–30

The Altar on Mount Ebal

27Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. ²And on the day ^syou cross over the Jordan to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. ^3tAnd you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^ua land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ⁴And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, ^von Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. ⁵And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. ^wYou shall wield no iron tool on them; ⁶you shall build an altar to the Lord your God of uncut¹ stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, ⁷and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and ^xshall eat there, and you ^xshall rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸And ^yyou shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

Curses from Mount Ebal

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: ^zthis day you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰You shall therefore obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”

¹¹That day Moses charged the people, saying, ¹²“When you have crossed over the Jordan, ^athese shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴And ^bthe Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:

^15c“ ‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ ^dAnd all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

^16e“ ‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^17f“ ‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^18g“ ‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^19h“ ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ⁱ“ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has ^juncovered his father’s nakedness.’² And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^21k“ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^22l“ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^23m“ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ⁿ“ ‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^25o“ ‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

^26p“ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Blessings for Obedience

28“And ^qif you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you ^rhigh above all the nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you and ^sovertake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. ³Blessed shall you be in the city, and ^tblessed shall you be in the field. ⁴Blessed shall be ^uthe fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ⁵Blessed shall be your basket and your ^vkneading bowl. ⁶Blessed shall you be ^wwhen you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷“The Lord ^xwill cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. ⁸The Lord ^ywill command the blessing on you in your barns and ^zin all that you undertake. ^aAnd he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ^9bThe Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰And ^call the peoples of the earth shall see that you are ^dcalled by the name of the Lord, and they shall be ^eafraid of you. ¹¹And ^fthe Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in ^uthe fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹²The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, ^gto give the rain to your land in its season and ^hto bless all the work of your hands. And ⁱyou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the Lord will make you ^jthe head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, ^14kand if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵“But ^lif you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and ^movertake you. ¹⁶Cursed shall you be ⁿin the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. ¹⁷Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. ¹⁹Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰“The Lord ^owill send on you curses, confusion, and ^pfrustration in all that you undertake to do, ^quntil you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. ²¹The Lord will make ^rthe pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ^22sThe Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought¹ and with ^tblight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. ²³And ^uthe heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. ²⁴The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

^25v“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you ^wshall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶And ^xyour dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and ^ythere shall be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷The Lord will strike you ^zwith the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and ^ascabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. ²⁸The Lord will strike you with ^bmadness and blindness and confusion of mind, ²⁹and you shall ^cgrope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways.² And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. ^30dYou shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. ^eYou shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. ^fYou shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. ³¹Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. ^32gYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, ^hbut you shall be helpless. ³³A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, ³⁴so that you are driven mad ⁱby the sights that your eyes see. ³⁵The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs ^jwith grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

³⁶“The Lord will ^kbring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you ^lnor your fathers have known. And ^mthere you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷And you shall become ⁿa horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. ^38oYou shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for ^pthe locust shall consume it. ^39qYou shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. ⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you ^rshall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. ⁴¹You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for ^sthey shall go into captivity. ^42pThe cricket³ shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. ^43tThe sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. ^44uHe shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. ^tHe shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

^45v“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. ⁴⁶They shall be ^wa sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. ^47xBecause you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, ⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord…