Deuteronomy 27:1–28:68
27 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commandsw that I give you today. 2 When you have crossed the Jordanx into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stonesy 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. 4 And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal,b as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. 5 Build there an altarc to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron toold on them. 6 Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 7 Sacrifice fellowship offeringse there, eating them and rejoicingf in the presence of the Lord your God.g 8 And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stonesh you have set up.”i
9 Then Moses and the Leviticalj 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.”
11 On the same day Moses commanded the people:
12 When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Geriziml to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,m Joseph and Benjamin.n 13 And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebalo to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.
14 The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:
15 “Cursed is anyone who makes an idolp—a thing detestableq 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 killsb 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
28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully followg all his commandsh 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 youj and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
3 You will be blessedk in the city and blessed in the country.l
4 The 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
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.n
7 The Lord will grant that the enemieso 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
8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will blessq you in the land he is giving you.
9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people,r as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commandss of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the namet of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestocku and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.v
12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehousew of his bounty,x to send rainy on your land in season and to blessz 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 followb 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.
15 However, if you do not obeye 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
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.h
17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.i
18 The 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
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.k
20 The Lord will send on you curses,l confusion and rebukem in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruinn because of the evilo 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 blights and mildew, which will plaguet 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 rainw of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25 The Lord will cause you to be defeatedx 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 horrorz to all the kingdoms on earth.a 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birdsb 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 Egyptd and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will gropee 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 rescuef you.
30 You 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. 32 Your 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. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppressionk 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
36 The Lord will drive you and the kingp 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 bywordt and an object of ridiculeu among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.v
38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,w because locustsx will devoury it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the winez or gather the grapes, because worms will eata 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 locustse will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
43 The 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
45 All 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. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.k 47 Because you did not servel the Lord your God joyfully and gladlym in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore 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 yokeo on your neckp until he has destroyed you.
49 The Lord will bring a nation against youq from far away, from the ends of the earth,r like an eagles swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,t 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the oldu or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new winev or olive oil,w nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.x 52 They …