Stones of the Instruction

27 Then Moses and Israel’s elders commanded the people:

Keep all of the commandment that I am giving you right now. ² The same day you cross the Jordan River to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up large stones and cover them with plaster. ³ Once you have crossed over, write on the stones all the words of this Instruction because you will have entered^[a] the land the Lord your God is giving to you—a land full of milk and honey—exactly as the Lord, your ancestors’ God, promised you. ⁴ Once you have crossed over the Jordan River, set up these stones that I’m telling you about right now on Mount Ebal. Cover them with plaster ⁵ and build an altar there for the Lord your God—an altar of stones that haven’t been cut with iron tools. ⁶ (You must build the Lord your God’s altar with uncut stones.) Then offer up on that altar entirely burned sacrifices to the Lord your God. ⁷ Offer up well-being sacrifices and eat them there, celebrating in the Lord your God’s presence. ⁸ Make sure to write all the words of this Instruction on the stones plainly and clearly. ⁹ Then Moses and the levitical priests said to all Israel: Quiet down and listen, Israel! This very moment you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ So obey the Lord your God’s voice. Do his commandments and his regulations that I’m giving you right now.

Ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal

¹¹ That same day Moses commanded the people: ¹² Once you have crossed over the Jordan River, the following tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ And these are the tribes that will stand on Mount Ebal for the cursing: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴ The Levites will address every individual Israelite with a loud voice:

¹⁵ “Cursed is anyone who makes an idol or an image—things detestable to the Lord, made by artisans—and sets it up secretly.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”^[b]

¹⁶ “Cursed is anyone who belittles their father or mother.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

¹⁷ “Cursed is anyone who tampers with their neighbor’s property lines.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

¹⁸ “Cursed is anyone who misleads a blind person on a road.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

¹⁹ “Cursed is anyone who obstructs the legal rights of immigrants, orphans, or widows.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²⁰ “Cursed is anyone who has sex with his father’s wife, because that exposes his father’s private matters.”^[c]

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²¹ “Cursed is anyone who has sex with any kind of animal.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²² “Cursed is anyone who has sex with his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²³ “Cursed is anyone who has sex with his mother-in-law.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²⁴ “Cursed is anyone who kills his neighbor in secret.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²⁵ “Cursed is anyone who accepts money to kill an innocent person.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

²⁶ “Cursed is anyone who doesn’t support the words of this Instruction by carrying them out.”

All the people will reply: “We agree!”

Future blessing

28 Now if you really obey the Lord your God’s voice, by carefully keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, then the Lord your God will set you high above all nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you and find you if you obey the Lord your God’s voice: ³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. ⁴ Your own fertility, your soil’s produce, and your livestock’s offspring—the young of both cattle and flocks—will be blessed. ⁵ Your basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed. ⁶ You will be blessed when you are out and about and blessed when you come back. ⁷ The Lord will defeat any enemies who attack you. They will come against you from one direction but will run for their lives away from you in seven different directions. ⁸ The Lord will command the blessing to be with you—in your barns and on all the work you do—and he will bless you on the land the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ The Lord will establish you as his own, a holy nation, just as he swore to you, if you keep the Lord your God’s commandments and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ All the earth’s peoples will see that you are called by the Lord’s name, and they will be in awe of you. ¹¹ The Lord will make good things abound for you—whether the fertility of your womb, your livestock’s offspring, or your fertile soil’s produce—on the very land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to you. ¹² The Lord will open up for you his own well-stocked storehouse, the heavens, providing your land with rain at just the right time and blessing all your work. You will lend to many nations, but you won’t have any need to borrow. ¹³ The Lord will make you the head of things, not the tail; you will be at the top of things, not the bottom, as long as you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that I’m commanding you right now, by carefully doing them. ¹⁴ Don’t deviate even a bit from any of these words that I’m commanding you right now by following other gods and serving them.

Future curses

¹⁵ But if you don’t obey the Lord your God’s voice by carefully doing all his commandments and his regulations that I am commanding you right now, all these curses will come upon you and find you. ¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. ¹⁷ Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. ¹⁸ Your own fertility, your soil’s produce, your cattle’s young, and your flock’s offspring will be cursed. ¹⁹ You will be cursed when you are out and about and cursed when you come back.