“⌊And then⌋a when you come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and you settle in it, 2 then you shall take from the firstfruit of all the fruit of the ground that you harvest from your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name to dwell there. 3 And you shall go to the priest who is in office in those days, and you shall say, ‘I declare ⌊today⌋b to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our ancestorsc to give to us.’ 4 Then the priest takes the basket from your hand and places it ⌊before⌋d the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 And ⌊you shall declare⌋e and you shall say ⌊before⌋f your God, ‘My ancestorg was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien ⌊few in number⌋,h and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us badly, and they oppressed us and imposed on us hard labor. 7 And we cried to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors,i and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. 8 And Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and with wonders. 9 And he brought us to this place and gave to us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And now, look, I am bringingj the firstfruit of the fruit of the ground that you gave to me, Yahweh,’ and you shall place it ⌊before⌋k Yahweh your God, and you shall bow down ⌊before⌋l Yahweh your God. 11 And you shall celebrate with all of the bounty that Yahweh your God gave to you and to your family, you and the Levite and the alien who is in your midst.

12 “When you are finished ⌊giving a tithe⌋,m all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. 13 And you shall say ⌊before⌋n Yahweh your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from theo house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten during my time of mourning, and I have not removed anything from it while being unclean, and I have not offered ⌊any of it⌋p to someone who has died. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done all that you commanded me to do. 15 Look down from the dwelling place of your holiness, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land that you have given to us, as you swore to our ancestors,q a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16 “This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to do these rules and regulations, ⌊and you must observe them diligently⌋r with all your heart and with all your soul.s 17 Yahweh you have declared ⌊today⌋t to be for you as your God, and to gou in his ways and to observe his rules and his commandments and his regulations and to listen to his voice. 18 And Yahweh has declared you ⌊today⌋v to be for him as a people, a treasured possession, as he ⌊promised⌋w to you, and that you are to observe all his commandments, 19 ⌊and that he then will set you⌋x high above all the nations that he has made for his praise and ⌊for fame⌋y and for honor and ⌊for you to be a holy people⌋z to Yahweh your God, as he ⌊promised⌋.”a

Ceremonies

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, ⌊saying⌋,a “Keep all of the commandment that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋.b 2 And then on the day that you cross the Jordan to the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, then you shall set up ⌊for yourselves⌋c large stones, and you shall paintd them with lime, 3 and you shall write on them all the words of this law at your crossing, so that you may come into the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,e ⌊promised⌋f to you. 4 And ⌊when you cross the Jordan⌋,g you shall set up these stones that I am commanding you about ⌊today⌋h on Mount Ebal, and you shall painti them with lime. 5 And you shall build an altar there for Yahweh your God, an altar of stone, butj ⌊you shall not use an iron tool to shape the stones⌋.k 6 You must build the altar of your God with unhewn stones, and you shall sacrifice on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God. 7 And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat them there, and you shall rejoice ⌊before⌋l Yahweh your God. 8 You shall write on the stone all of the words of this law very clearly.”

9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying,m “Be silent and hear, Israel, for this day you have become ⌊a people⌋n for Yahweh your God. 10 And listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and observe his commandments and his rules that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋.”o

Blessings and Curses

11 And Moses charged the people on that day, ⌊saying⌋,p 12 “These tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people ⌊when you cross⌋q the Jordan: Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin. 13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for delivering the curse: Reuben, Gad and Asher and Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. 14 And ⌊the Levites shall declare⌋,r and they shall say to each man of Israel with a loud voice, 15 ‘Cursed be the man that makes a divine image or a cast image, which is a detestable thing for Yahweh, the work of the hand of a skilled craftsman, and then sets it in a hiding place.’s And ⌊all the people shall respond⌋,t ‘Amen.’

16 ‘Cursed be the one who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all of the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

17 ‘Cursed be the one who moves the boundary marker of his neighbor.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

18 ‘Cursed be the one who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

19 ‘Cursed be the one who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

20 ‘Cursed be the one who lies with the wife of his father, because ⌊he has dishonored his father’s bed⌋.’u And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

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

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

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

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

25 ‘Cursed be the one who takes a bribe ⌊to murder an innocent person⌋.’v And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

26 ‘Cursed be the one ⌊who does not keep⌋w the words of this law, to observe them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”

28 “And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, ⌊to diligently observe⌋a all his commandments that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋,b then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and ⌊they shall have an effect on you⌋c if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

3 “You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.

4 “Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, ⌊the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock⌋.d

5 “Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

6 “Blessed will you be ⌊when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out⌋.e

7 “Yahweh will cause your enemies ⌊who rise up against you to be defeated before you⌋;f on one roadg they shall come out against you, but on seven roadsh they shall flee ⌊before you⌋.i 8 Yahweh will command ⌊concerning you⌋j the blessing to be in your barns and ⌊in all your endeavors⌋;k and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. 9 Yahweh will establish you for ⌊himself⌋l as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways. 10 And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that ⌊by the name of Yahweh you are called⌋,m and ⌊they shall fear you⌋.n 11 And ⌊Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous⌋,o in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestorsp to give to you. 12 Yahweh shall open for you his ⌊rich⌋q storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain forr your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them. 13 And Yahweh shall make yous as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋t ⌊and diligently observe them⌋.u 14 And you shall not turn aside from ⌊any of⌋v the words that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋w to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.