Add parallel Print Page Options

Covenant Renewal

30 Then Joshua built an altar for the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool.[a] On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed tokens of peace.[b] 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.[c] 33 All the people,[d] rulers,[e] leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there.[f] Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.[g] 34 Then[h] Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given[i] before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.[j]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 8:31 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones on which no one had wielded iron.” The expression “whole stones” refers to stones in their natural condition, i.e., not carved or shaped artificially with tools (“wielded iron”).
  2. Joshua 8:31 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  3. Joshua 8:32 tn Heb “and he wrote there on the stones a duplicate of the law of Moses which he wrote before the sons of Israel.”
  4. Joshua 8:33 tn Heb “All Israel.”
  5. Joshua 8:33 tn Or “elders.”
  6. Joshua 8:33 tn Heb “like the resident foreigner, like the citizen.” The language is idiomatic, meaning that both groups were treated the same, at least in this instance.
  7. Joshua 8:33 tn Heb “as Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded to bless the people, Israel, formerly.”sn Moses’ earlier instructions are found in Deut 11:29.
  8. Joshua 8:34 tn Or “afterward.”
  9. Joshua 8:35 tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.”
  10. Joshua 8:35 tn Heb “walked in their midst.”

Israel Renews the Covenant

30 Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for Yahweh the God of Israel, 31 as Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded the Israelites,[a] as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses: “an altar of unhewn[b] stones on which no one has wielded[c] an iron implement.”[d] And they offered burnt offerings on it and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 And there Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he[e] had written, in the presence of the Israelites.[f] 33 Then all Israel, foreigner as well as native,[g] with the elders, officials, and judges stood on either side[h] of the ark before the priests and the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahweh’s servant had commanded before to bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings[i] and the curses,[j] according to all that was written in the scroll of the law. 35 There was not a word from all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before the assembly of all Israel, and the women, the little children, and the traveling foreigners[k] among them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 8:31 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Joshua 8:31 Or “whole”
  3. Joshua 8:31 Literally “waved over them”
  4. Joshua 8:31 See Exod 20:25
  5. Joshua 8:32 That is, Moses
  6. Joshua 8:32 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  7. Joshua 8:33 Literally “as the alien as the native”
  8. Joshua 8:33 Literally “from this and from this”
  9. Joshua 8:34 Hebrew “blessing”
  10. Joshua 8:34 Hebrew “curse”
  11. Joshua 8:35 Hebrew “foreigner”