Offering First Fruits

26 “Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives 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 harvest from the land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the ^[a]place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His Name (Presence). ³ You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare this day to the Lord ^[b]my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ ⁴ Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ And you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘My father [Jacob] was a wandering Aramean, and he [along with his family] went down to Egypt and ^[c]lived there [as strangers], few in number; but while 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 for help, and He heard our voice and saw our suffering and our labor and our [cruel] oppression; ⁸ and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror [suffered by the Egyptians] and with signs and with wonders; ⁹ and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land ^[d]flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ And now, look, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall place it before the Lord your God, and shall worship before the Lord your God; ¹¹ and you and the Levite and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.

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

¹⁶ “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and judgments (precepts). Therefore, you shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being). ¹⁷ Today you have [openly] declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk [that is, live each and every day] in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments (precepts), and listen to His voice. ¹⁸ Today the Lord has declared that you are His people, His treasured possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments; ¹⁹ and that He will set you high above all the nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor: and that you shall be a holy people [set apart and consecrated] to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”

The Altar at Mount Ebal

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep (remember, obey) all the commandments which I am commanding you today. ² So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to [enter] the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with plaster (lime, whitewash). ³ You shall write on the stones all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may go into the land which the Lord your God gives you, a land [of plenty] ^[g]flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers has promised you. ⁴ Now when you cross the Jordan you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, just as I am commanding you today and coat them with plaster. ⁵ There you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them. ⁶ You shall build the altar of the Lord your God with whole [uncut] stones, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God; ⁷ and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and shall rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸ And you shall write very clearly on the stones all the words of this law.”

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. ¹⁰ So you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and do His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you today.”

The Curses of Mount Ebal

¹¹ Moses also commanded the people that day, saying, ¹² “These [tribes] shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, ^[h]Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ These [tribes] shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse [for disobedience]: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ The Levites shall answer with a loud voice to all the men of Israel:

¹⁵ ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved or cast image (idol), a repulsive thing to the Lord, the work of the hands of the artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors (treats with contempt) his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷ ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

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

¹⁹ ‘Cursed is he who distorts (perverts) the justice due to a stranger, an orphan, and a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ ‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his father’s [former] wife, because he has ^[i]violated what belongs to his father.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹ ‘Cursed is he who is intimate with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²² ‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his [half] sister, whether his father’s or his mother’s daughter.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³ ‘Cursed is he who is intimate with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

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

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

²⁶ ‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them [keeping them, taking them to heart as the rule of his life].’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’