The Curses at Mount Ebal

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today. ^2 (A)So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving 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 is giving you, ^(B)a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^[a]promised you. ⁴ So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones ^(C)on Mount Ebal, ^[b]as 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 ^(D)shall not wield an iron tool on them. ⁶ You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of ^[c]uncut 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 ^(E)rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall write on the ^[d]stones all the words of this Law very clearly.”

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. ¹⁰ So you shall ^[e]obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today.”

¹¹ Moses also commanded the people on that day, saying, ¹² “When you cross the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on ^(F)Mount Gerizim to bless the people: ^(G)Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ For the curse, these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ The Levites shall then respond and say to all the people of Israel with a loud voice,

¹⁵ ‘Cursed is the person who makes ^(H)a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And ^(I)all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶ ‘^(J)Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷ ‘^(K)Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸ ‘^(L)Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹ ‘^(M)Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an ^[f]orphan, or a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ ‘^(N)Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has ^[g]uncovered his father’s garment.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹ ‘^(O)Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²² ‘^(P)Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³ ‘^(Q)Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ ‘^(R)Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁵ ‘^(S)Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁶ ‘^(T)Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

The Blessings at Mount Gerizim

28 “^(U)Now it shall be, if you diligently ^[h]obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the Lord your God ^(V)will put you high above all the nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings will come to you and ^(W)reach you if you ^[i]obey the Lord your God:

³ “Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be ^(X)in the ^[j]country.

⁴ “Blessed will be the ^[k]children of your womb, the ^[l]produce of your ground, and the ^[m]offspring of your animals: the newborn of your herd and the young of your flock.

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

⁶ “Blessed will you be ^(Y)when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

⁷ “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be ^[n]defeated by you; they will go out against you one way and will flee at your presence seven ways. ⁸ The Lord will command the blessing for you in your ^[o]barns and in ^(Z)everything that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ^9 (AA)The 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 ^[p](AB)you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. ^11 (AC)And the Lord will give you more than enough prosperity, in the ^[q]children of your womb, in the ^[r]offspring of your livestock, and in the ^[s]produce 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 every work of your hand; and ^(AD)you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. ^13 (AE)And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only be above, and not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you today, to ^[t]follow them carefully, ¹⁴ and ^(AF)do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them.

Consequences of Disobedience

¹⁵ “^(AG)But it shall come about, if you do not ^[u]obey the Lord your God, to be careful to ^[v]follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶ “^(AH)Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the ^[w]country.

¹⁷ “^(AI)Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸ “^(AJ)Cursed will be the ^[x]children of your womb, the ^[y]produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.

¹⁹ “^(AK)Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

²⁰ “^(AL)The Lord will send against you curses, panic, and ^(AM)rebuke, in ^[z]everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until ^(AN)you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me. ^21 (AO)The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it. ^22 (AP)The Lord will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with ^[aa]the sword, ^(AQ)with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until ^(AR)you perish. ^23 [ab]The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. ^24 (AS)The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

²⁵ “^(AT)The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will ^(AU)be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ^26 (AV)Your dead bodies will ^[ac]serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

²⁷ “^(AW)The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with ^(AX)tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed. ²⁸ The Lord will strike you with insanity, blindness, and with confusion of ^[ad]mind; ²⁹ and you will be ^(AY)groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be ^[ae]oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you. ^30 (AZ)You will ^[af]betroth a woman, but another man will ^[ag]violate her; ^(BA)you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey will be snatched away from you, and will not ^[ah]be restored to you; your ^[ai]sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. ^32 (BB)Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing ^[aj]you can do. ^33 (BC)A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your ground and every product of your labor, and you will never be anything but oppressed and mistreated continually. ³⁴ You will also be driven insane by the sight of ^[ak]what you see. ^35 (BD)The Lord will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. ^36 (BE)The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, made of ^(BF)wood and stone. ³⁷ And ^(BG)you will become an object of horror, a song of mockery, and an object of taunting among all the peoples where the Lord drives you.

³⁸ “^(BH)You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because ^(BI)the locust will devour it. ^39 (BJ)You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it. ^40 (BK)You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely. ^41 (BL)You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity. ^42 (BM)The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground. ^43 (BN)The stranger who is among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower. ^44 (BO)He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; ^(BP)he will be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ “So all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you ^(BQ)until you are destroyed, because you would not ^[al]obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. ⁴⁶ And they will become ^(BR)a sign and a wonder ^[am]against you and your ^[an]descendants forever.

⁴⁷ “^(BS)Since you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things, ⁴⁸ you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, ^(BT)in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He ^(BU)will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ “^(BV)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, ^(BW)as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a nation ^[ao]with a defiant attitude, who will ^(BX)have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. ⁵¹ Furthermore, it will eat the ^[ap]offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed; a nation that will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the newborn of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have eliminated you. ^52 (BY)And it will besiege you in all your ^[aq]towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your ^[ar]towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you. ^53 (BZ)Then you will eat the ^[as]offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will ^[at]oppress you. ⁵⁴ The man who is ^[au]refined and very delicate among you ^[av]will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife ^[aw]he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left, ⁵⁵ so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will ^[ax]oppress you in all your ^[ay]towns. ^56 (CA)The ^[az]refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, ^[ba]will be hostile toward the husband ^[bb]she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, ⁵⁷ and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her ^[bc]legs, and toward her children to whom she gives birth, because ^(CB)she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the hardship with which your enemy will ^[bd]oppress you in your ^[be]towns.

⁵⁸ “If you are not careful to ^[bf]follow all the words of this Law that are written in this book, to ^[bg](CC)fear this honored and awesome ^(CD)name, ^[bh]the Lord your God, ⁵⁹ then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and ^[bi]your descendants, ^[bj]severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. ^60 (CE)And He will bring back on you every disease of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ Also every sickness and every plague, which are not written in the book of this Law, the Lord will bring on you ^(CF)until you are destroyed. ⁶² Then you will be left few in ^[bk]number, ^(CG)whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not ^[bl]obey the Lord your God. ⁶³ And it will come about that, just as the Lord ^(CH)rejoiced over you to be good to you, and make you numerous, so will the Lord ^(CI)rejoice over you to wipe you out and destroy you; and you will be ^(CJ)torn away from the land which you are entering to possess. ⁶⁴ Furthermore, the Lord will ^(CK)scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to ^[bm]the other; and there you will ^(CL)serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known. ^65 (CM)Among those nations you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there ^(CN)the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. ⁶⁶ So your lives will be ^[bn]hanging in doubt before you; and you will be terrified night and day, and have no assurance of your life. ^67 (CO)In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And at evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see. ⁶⁸ And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Mankind.

For the music director. A Psalm of David. A Song.

The Widow’s Gift

21 ^(A)Now He looked up and saw the wealthy putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² And He saw a poor widow putting ^[a]in ^(B)two ^[b]lepta coins. ³ And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; ⁴ for they all ^[c]contributed to the ^[d]offering from their ^[e]surplus; but she, from her poverty, put in all ^[f]that she had ^(C)to live on.”

^5 (D)And while some were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and ^[g]vowed gifts, He said, ⁶ “As for these things which you are observing, the days will come when ^(E)there will not be left one stone upon ^[h]another, which will not be torn down.”

⁷ They asked Him questions, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the ^[i]sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(F)I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ ^(G)Do not go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and revolts, do not be alarmed; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”

Things to Come

¹⁰ Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, ¹¹ and there will be ^[j]massive earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrible sights and great ^[k]signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all these things, ^(H)they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, ^[l]bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name. ^13 (I)It will lead to ^[m]an opportunity for your testimony. ^14 (J)So ^[n]make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; ¹⁵ for ^(K)I will provide you ^[o]eloquence and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to oppose or refute. ¹⁶ But you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death, ¹⁷ and you will be hated by all people because of My name. ¹⁸ And yet ^(L)not a hair of your head will perish. ^19 (M)By your endurance you will gain your ^[p]lives.

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem ^(N)surrounded by armies, then ^[q]recognize that her desolation is near. ²¹ Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside ^[r]the city must leave, and ^(O)those who are in the country must not enter ^[s]the city; ²² because these are ^(P)days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled. ²³ Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for ^(Q)there will be great distress upon the ^[t]land, and wrath to this people; ²⁴ and they will fall by ^(R)the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and ^(S)Jerusalem will be ^(T)trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until ^(U)the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Return of Christ

²⁵ “There will be ^[u]signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon the ^[v]world; for the powers of ^[w]the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And ^(V)then they will see ^(W)the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because ^(X)your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ And He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees: ³⁰ as soon as they put forth leaves, you see for yourselves and ^(Y)know that summer is now near. ³¹ So you too, when you see these things happening, ^[x]recognize that ^(Z)the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. ^33 (AA)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴ “But ^(AB)be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that ^[y]this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But ^(AC)stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to ^(AD)stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ Now ^[z]during the day He was ^(AE)teaching in the temple, but ^[aa](AF)at evening He would go out and spend the night on ^(AG)the ^[ab]mountain that is called ^[ac]Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people would get up ^(AH)very early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.