Deuteronomy 27–29

The Law Inscribed on Stones

27Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. ²And it shall be, on the day ^awhen you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that ^byou shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. ³You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^c‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. ⁴Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that ^don Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. ⁵And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; ^eyou shall not use an iron tool on them. ⁶You shall build with ¹whole stones the altar of the Lord your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and ^frejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸And you shall ^gwrite very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”

⁹Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: ^hThis day you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰Therefore you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal

¹¹And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, ¹²“These shall stand ⁱon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; ¹³and ^jthese shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴“And ^kthe Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: ^15l‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, ²an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’

^m“And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁶ⁿ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^17o‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^18p‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^19q‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^20r‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^21s‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^22t‘Cursed is 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!’

^23u‘Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^24v‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^25w‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

^26x‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ”

Blessings on Obedience

28“Now it shall come to pass, ^aif you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God ^bwill set you high above all nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you and ^covertake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

^3d“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be ^ein the country.

⁴“Blessed shall be ^fthe ¹fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

⁵“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

^6g“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷“The Lord ^hwill cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

⁸“The Lord will ⁱcommand the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you ^jset your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

^9k“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. ¹⁰Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are ^lcalled by the name of the Lord, and they shall be ^mafraid of you. ¹¹And ⁿthe Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord ²swore to your fathers to give you. ¹²The Lord will open to you His good ³treasure, the heavens, ^oto give the rain to your land in its season, and ^pto bless all the work of your hand. ^qYou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the Lord will make ^ryou the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you ⁴heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. ^14sSo you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Curses on Disobedience

¹⁵“But it shall come to pass, ^tif you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

¹⁷“Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸“Cursed shall be the ⁵fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

¹⁹“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰“The Lord will send on you ^ucursing, ^vconfusion, and ^wrebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. ²¹The Lord will make the ⁶plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. ^22xThe Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with ^yscorching, ⁷and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. ²³And ^zyour heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. ²⁴The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

^25a“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 shall become ⁸troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. ^26bYour carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. ²⁷The Lord will strike you with ^cthe boils of Egypt, with ^dtumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. ²⁸The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and ^econfusion of heart. ²⁹And you shall ^fgrope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

^30g“You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; ^hyou shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; ⁱyou shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. ³¹Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. ³²Your sons and your daughters shall be given to ^janother people, and your eyes shall look and ^kfail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be ⁹no strength in your ^lhand. ³³A nation whom you have not known shall eat ^mthe fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. ³⁴So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. ³⁵The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

³⁶“The Lord will ⁿbring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and ^othere you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. ³⁷And you shall become ^pan ¹astonishment, a proverb, ^qand a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.

^38r“You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for ^sthe locust shall ²consume it. ³⁹You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the ^twine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. ⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. ⁴¹You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for ^uthey shall go into captivity. ⁴²Locusts shall ³consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

⁴³“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you ⁴did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. ⁴⁶And they shall be upon ^vyou for a sign and a wonder, and on…