Deuteronomy 26:1-28:15

Offering First Fruits

26 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it, ² that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. ³ And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord ^[a]my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ ⁴ Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ And you shall respond and say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a ^[b]wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and ^[c]resided there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. ⁶ And the Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and imposed hard labor on us. ⁷ Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our wretched condition, our trouble, and our oppression; ⁸ and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders; ⁹ and He has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ And now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, Lord have given me.’ Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God; ¹¹ and you, the Levite, and the stranger who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.

¹² “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the ^[d]orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your ^[e]towns and be satisfied. ¹³ And you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the ^[f]orphan, and the widow, in accordance with all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not violated or forgotten any of Your commandments. ¹⁴ I have not eaten of it while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have acted in accordance with everything that You have commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from Your holy dwelling place, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey just as You swore to our fathers.’

¹⁶ “This day the Lord your God commands you to perform these statutes and ordinances. Therefore you shall be careful to perform them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and ^[g]that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. ¹⁸ And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and ^[h]that you are to keep all His commandments; ¹⁹ and ^[i]that He will put you high above all the nations which He has made, for glory, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”

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 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, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^[j]promised you. ⁴ So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, ^[k]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 shall not wield an iron tool on them. ⁶ You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of ^[l]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 rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall write on the ^[m]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 ^[n]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 Mount Gerizim to bless the people: 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 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 all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’

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

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

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

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

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

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

²² ‘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 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

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

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

²⁶ ‘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 “Now it shall be, if you diligently ^[q]obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you ^[r]obey the Lord your God:

³ “Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the ^[s]country.

⁴ “Blessed will be the ^[t]children of your womb, the ^[u]produce of your ground, and the ^[v]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 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 ^[w]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 ^[x]barns and in everything that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ 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 ^[y]you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ And the Lord will give you more than enough prosperity, in the ^[z]children of your womb, in the ^[aa]offspring of your livestock, and in the ^[ab]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 you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. ¹³ 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 ^[ac]follow them carefully, ¹⁴ and 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 “But it shall come about, if you do not ^[ad]obey the Lord your God, to be careful to ^[ae]follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: