Deuteronomy 26-27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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.(A) 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.(B) 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us,(C) 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.(D) 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;(E) 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.(F) 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.(G)
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,(H) 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:(I) 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.(J) 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.(K) 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;(L) 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.”(M)
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.(N) 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.(O) 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.(P) 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.(Q) 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.(R) 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!’(S)
16 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors father or mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(T)
17 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who moves a neighbor’s boundary marker.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(U)
18 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind person on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(V)
19 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who deprives an alien, an orphan, or a widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(W)
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!’(X)
21 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(Y)
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!’(Z)
23 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(AA)
24 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down a neighbor in secret.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(AB)
25 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(AC)
26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’(AD)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.