³³ All Israel, alien as well as native-born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded earlier, that they should bless the people of Israel.^(A)

²⁹ “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that you are entering to occupy, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.^(A)

¹² Assemble the people—men, women, and children, as well as the aliens residing in your towns—so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all the words of this law^(A)

The Law to Be Read Every Seventh Year

⁹ Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.^(A)

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.^{(A) 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,

The Tribes Renew the Covenant

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.^(A)

Joshua Renews the Covenant

^30 [a]Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel,^{(A) 31} just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “an altar of unhewn^[b] stones, on which no iron tool has been used,” and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed offerings of well-being.^{(B) 32} And there, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua^[c] wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses that he had written.^(C)

¹⁸ When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan and the soles of the priests’ feet touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.^(A)

³ and commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it,^(A)

²⁵ Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,^(A)