Deuteronomy 27–29

The Altar on Mount Ebal

27Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commands^w that I give you today. ²When you have crossed the Jordan^x into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones^y 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. ⁴And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal,^b as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. ⁵Build there an altar^c to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool^d on them. ⁶Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷Sacrifice fellowship offerings^e there, eating them and rejoicing^f in the presence of the Lord your God.^{g 8}And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones^h you have set up.”ⁱ

Curses From Mount Ebal

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical^j 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.”

¹¹On the same day Moses commanded the people:

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

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

¹⁵“Cursed is anyone who makes an idol^p—a thing detestable^q 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 kills^b 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

28If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow^g all his commands^h 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 you^j and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

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

⁴The 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

⁵Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

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

⁷The Lord will grant that the enemies^o 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

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

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

¹²The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse^w of his bounty,^x to send rain^y on your land in season and to bless^z 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 follow^b 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

¹⁵However, if you do not obey^e 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

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

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

¹⁸The 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

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

²⁰The Lord will send on you curses,^l confusion and rebuke^m in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruinⁿ because of the evil^o 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 blight^s and mildew, which will plague^t 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 rain^w of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated^x 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 horror^z to all the kingdoms on earth.^{a 26}Your carcasses will be food for all the birds^b 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 Egypt^d and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹At midday you will grope^e about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue^f you.

³⁰You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.^g You will build a house, but you will not live in it.^h You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.^{i 31}Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³²Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,^j and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression^k all your days.^{l 34}The sights you see will drive you mad.^{m 35}The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boilsⁿ that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.^o

³⁶The Lord will drive you and the king^p you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.^q There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.^{r 37}You will become a thing of horror,^s a byword^t and an object of ridicule^u among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.^v

³⁸You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,^w because locusts^x will devour^y it. ³⁹You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine^z or gather the grapes, because worms will eat^a them.^{b 40}You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.^{c 41}You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.^{d 42}Swarms of locusts^e will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.^{f 44}They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.^g They will be the head, but you will be the tail.^h

⁴⁵All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake youⁱ until you are destroyed,^j because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.^{k 47}Because you did not serve^l the Lord your God joyfully and gladly^m in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸therefore in hunger and thirst,ⁿ in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke^o on your neck^p until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation against you^q from far away, from the ends of the earth,^r like an eagle^s swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,^{t 50}a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old^u or pity for the young. ⁵¹They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine^v or olive oil,^w nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.^{x 52}They…