Deuteronomy 27:1-28:19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Inscribed Stones and Altar on Mount Ebal

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged all the people as follows: “Keep the entire commandment that I am commanding you today. ² On the day that you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and cover them with plaster.^{(A) 3} You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over, to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.^{(B) 4} So when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones about which I am commanding you today on Mount Ebal, and you shall cover them with plaster. ⁵ And you shall build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones on which you have not used an iron tool.^{(C) 6} You must build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn^[a] stones. Then offer up burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God; ⁷ make sacrifices of well-being, and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very clearly.”

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel! This very day you have become the people of the Lord your God.^{(D) 10} Therefore obey the Lord your God, observing his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today.”

Twelve Curses

¹¹ The same day Moses charged the people as follows: ¹² “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.^{(E) 13} And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ Then the Levites shall declare in a loud voice to all the Israelites,

¹⁵ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who makes an idol or casts an image, anything abhorrent to the Lord, the work of an artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall respond, saying, ‘Amen!’^(F)

¹⁶ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors father or mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(G)

¹⁷ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who moves a neighbor’s boundary marker.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(H)

¹⁸ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind person on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(I)

¹⁹ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who deprives an alien, an orphan, or a widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(J)

²⁰ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has violated his father’s rights.’^[b] All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(K)

²¹ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(L)

²² “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(M)

²³ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(N)

²⁴ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down a neighbor in secret.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(O)

²⁵ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(P)

²⁶ “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’^(Q)

Blessings for Obedience

28 “If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth;^{(R) 2} all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:

³ “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.^(S)

⁴ “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.^(T)

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

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

⁷ “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.^{(U) 8} The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.^{(V) 10} All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.^{(W) 11} The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you.^{(X) 12} The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.^{(Y) 13} The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be only at the top and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today by diligently observing them, ¹⁴ and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.^(Z)

Warnings against Disobedience

¹⁵ “But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees that I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:^(AA)

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

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

¹⁸ “Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

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