Deuteronomy 26:1–29:9
1 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it,
2 that you shall take some of athe first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and bgo to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.
3 “You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord 1my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
4 “Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
5 “You shall answer and say before the Lord your God, ‘aMy father was a 1wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and 2sojourned there, bfew in number; but there he became a cgreat, mighty and populous nation.
6 ‘And the aEgyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us.
7 ‘Then awe cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;
8 aand the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;
9 and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, aa land flowing with milk and honey.
10 ‘Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground awhich You, O Lord have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God;
11 and you and athe Levite and the alien who is among you shall brejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.
12 “aWhen you have finished 1paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the 2orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your 3towns and be satisfied.
13 “You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the 1orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; aI have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
14 ‘I have not eaten of it 1while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me.
15 ‘aLook down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, ba land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.’
16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them awith all your heart and with all your soul.
17 “aYou have today declared the Lord to be your God, and 1that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.
18 “The Lord has today declared you to be aHis people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and 1that you should keep all His commandments;
19 and 1that He will aset you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be ba consecrated people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.”
1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today.
2 “aSo it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime
3 and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, aa land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, 1promised you.
4 “So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up aon Mount Ebal, these stones, 1as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.
5 “Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you ashall not 1wield an iron tool on them.
6 “You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of 1uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God;
7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and arejoice before the Lord your God.
8 “You shall write on the 1stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God.
10 “You shall therefore 1obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”
11 Moses also charged the people on that day, saying,
12 “When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on aMount Gerizim to bless the people: bSimeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
13 “For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 “The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes 1aan idol or a molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And ball the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
16 ‘aCursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘aCursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘aCursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘aCursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, 1orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘aCursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘aCursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘aCursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘aCursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘aCursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘aCursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘aCursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
1 “aNow it shall be, if you diligently 1obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God bwill set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2 “All these blessings will come upon you and aovertake you if you 1obey the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be ain the 1country.
4 “Blessed shall be the 1offspring of your 2body and the 1produce of your ground and the 1offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be awhen you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be 1defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.
8 “The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in aall that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
9 “aThe Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.
10 “So all the peoples of the earth will see that 1ayou are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.
11 “aThe Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the 1offspring of your 2body and in the 1offspring of your beast and in the 1produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12 “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and ayou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 “aThe Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to 1observe them carefully,
14 and ado not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 “aBut it shall come about, if you do not 1obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “aCursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the 1country.
17 “aCursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “aCursed shall be the 1offspring of your 2body and the 1produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
19 “aCursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 “aThe Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and brebuke, in all 1you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until cyou perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.
21 “aThe Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.
22 “aThe Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with 1the sword and bwith blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until cyou perish.
23 “1The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.
24 “aThe Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25 “aThe Lord shall cause