25 “Suppose two persons have a dispute and enter into litigation, and the judges decide between them, declaring one to be in the right and the other to be in the wrong.^{(A) 2} If the one in the wrong deserves to be flogged, the judge shall make that person lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes proportionate to the offense. ³ Forty lashes may be given but not more; if more lashes than these are given, your neighbor will be degraded in your sight.^(B)

⁴ “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.^(C)

Levirate Marriage

⁵ “When brothers reside together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her,^{(D) 6} and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.^{(E) 7} But if the man has no desire to marry his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to the elders at the gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’^{(F) 8} Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, ‘I have no desire to marry her,’^{(G) 9} then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’^{(H) 10} Throughout Israel his family shall be known as ‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.’

Various Commands

¹¹ “If men get into a fight with one another and the wife of one intervenes to rescue her husband from the grip of his opponent by reaching out and seizing his genitals, ¹² you shall cut off her hand; show no pity.

¹³ “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, large and small.^{(I) 14} You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, large and small. ¹⁵ You shall have only a full and honest weight; you shall have only a full and honest measure, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are abhorrent to the Lord your God.^(J)

¹⁷ “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt,^{(K) 18} how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and struck down all who lagged behind you; he did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies on every hand, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget.^(L)

First Fruits and Tithes

26 “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess and you possess it and settle in it, ² you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.^{(M) 3} You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ ⁴ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, ⁵ you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.^{(N) 6} When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us,^{(O) 7} we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.^{(P) 8} The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;^{(Q) 9} and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(R) 10} So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. ¹¹ Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.^(S)

¹² “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns,^{(T) 13} then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from the house, and I have given it to the Levites, the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows, in accordance with your entire commandment that you commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor forgotten any of your commandments:^{(U) 14} I have not eaten of it while in mourning; I have not removed any of it while I was unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God, doing just as you commanded me.^{(V) 15} Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Concluding Exhortation

¹⁶ “This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances, so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul.^{(W) 17} Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him. ¹⁸ Today the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as he promised you, and to keep all his commandments;^{(X) 19} for him to set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”^(Y)

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.^{(Z) 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.^{(AA) 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.^{(AB) 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.^{(AC) 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.^{(AD) 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!’^(AE)

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

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

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

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

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!’^(AJ)

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

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!’^(AL)

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

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

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

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

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away,^[a] for it is written,

²⁸ “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”^{(B) 29} Peter said to him, “Even though all fall away,^[b] I will not.”^{(C) 30} Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”^{(D) 31} But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³² They went to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. ³⁴ And he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.”^{(E) 35} And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.^{(F) 36} He said, “Abba,^[c] Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”^{(G) 37} He came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? ³⁸ Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;^[d] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”^{(H) 39} And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. ⁴⁰ And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to say to him. ⁴¹ He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.^{(I) 42} Get up, let us be going. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

⁴³ Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.^{(J) 46} Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a rebel? ⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.”^{(K) 50} All of them deserted him and fled.^(L)

⁵¹ A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, ⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.

Jesus before the Council

⁵³ They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled.