Deuteronomy 27
27
Build an Altar on Mount Ebal
1Moses stood together with the leaders and told the people of Israel:
Obey all the laws and teachings that I am giving you today. 2-4#Js 8.30-32. Soon you will enter the land that the Lord your God is giving to you. He is the God your ancestors worshiped, and he has promised that this land is rich with milk and honey.
After you cross the Jordan River, go to Mount Ebal. Set up large slabs of stone, then cover them with white plaster and write on them a copy of these laws.
5 #
Ex 20.25. At this same place, build an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God. But don't use stones that have been cut with iron tools. 6Look for stones that can be used without being cut. Then offer sacrifices to please the Lord,#27.6 sacrifices to please the Lord: See the note at 12.5-19. burning them completely on the altar. 7Next, offer sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing,#27.7 sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “peace offerings” or “offerings of well-being.” A main purpose was to ask for the Lord's blessing, and so in the CEV they are sometimes called “sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.” and serve the meat at a sacred meal where you will celebrate in honor of the Lord.
8Don't forget to write out a copy of these laws on the stone slabs that you are going to set up. Make sure that the writing is easy to read.
Curses on Those Who Disobey
9Moses stood together with the priests#27.9 priests: See the note at 17.8-12. and said, “Israel, be quiet and listen to me! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.#27.9 Today you have become the people of the Lord your God: As a result of the agreement that the Lord had made with them, recorded in 26.16-19. 10So you must obey his laws and teachings that I am giving you.”
11That same day, Moses gave them the following instructions:
12-13 #
Dt 11.29; Js 8.33-35. After you cross the Jordan River, you will go to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.#27.12,13 Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal: These mountains were separated by a valley. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, Manasseh,#27.12,13 Ephraim, Manasseh: The Hebrew text has “Joseph”; the descendants of Joseph formed the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. and Benjamin will go up on Mount Gerizim, where they will bless the people of Israel. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali will go up on Mount Ebal where they will agree to the curses.
14-26 #
Ex 20.4; 34.17; Lv 19.3,4; 26.1; Dt 4.15-18; 5.8;
Ex 20.12; Dt 5.16;
Dt 19.14;
Lv 19.14;
Ex 22.21; 23.9; Lv 19.33,34; Dt 24.17,18;
Lv 18.8; 20.11; Dt 22.30;
Ex 22.19; Lv 18.23; 20.15,16;
Lv 18.9; 20.17;
Lv 18.17; 20.14;
Ga 3.10. The people of the Levi tribe will speak each curse in a loud voice, then the rest of the people#27.14-26 the rest of the people: Or “all the people who are standing on Mount Ebal.” will agree to that curse by saying, “Amen!” Here are the curses:
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who makes an idol or worships idols, even secretly. The Lord is disgusted with idols.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on all who do not show respect for their father and mother.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who moves the rocks that mark property lines.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who tells blind people to go the wrong way.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice, whether these poor are foreigners, widows, or orphans.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his father's wife; that man has shown no respect for his father's marriage.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who has sex with an animal.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his sister or his half sister or his mother-in-law.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who commits murder, even when there are no witnesses to the crime.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent victim.
We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who refuses to obey his laws.
And so, to each of these curses, the people will answer, “Amen!”
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Deuteronomy 27: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 27
27
1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel instructed the people, saying: "Keep each commandment that I instruct to you this day.
2 And when you have crossed over the Jordan, into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, you shall erect immense stones, and you shall coat them with plaster,
3 so that you may be able to write upon them all the words of this law, when you have crossed the Jordan so as to enter into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as he swore to your fathers.
4 Therefore, when you have crossed over the Jordan, erect the stones, just as I instruct you to do this day, on Mount Ebal. And you shall coat them with plaster,
5 and you shall build, in that place, an altar to the Lord your God out of stones which have not been touched by iron,
6 out of stones which have not been hewn or polished. And you shall offer holocausts on it to the Lord your God.
7 And you shall immolate peace victims. And you shall eat and feast in that place, in the sight of the Lord your God.
8 And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this law, plainly and clearly."
9 And Moses and the priests of Levitical stock said to all of Israel: "Attend and listen, O Israel! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.
10 You shall listen to his voice, and you shall do the commandments and justices, which I am entrusting to you."
11 And Moses instructed the people in that day, saying:
12 "These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim, as a blessing to the people, when you will have crossed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
13 And in the opposite region, there shall stand upon Mount Ebal, as a curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 And the Levites shall pronounce and declare to all the men of Israel, with an exalted voice:
15 Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten idol, an abomination to the Lord, a work of the hands of its maker, and who puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall respond by saying: Amen.
16 Cursed be he who does not honor his father and mother. And all the people shall say: Amen.
17 Cursed be he who removes his neighbor's landmarks. And all the people shall say: Amen.
18 Cursed be he who causes the blind to go astray on a journey. And all the people shall say: Amen.
19 Cursed be he who subverts the judgment of the new arrival, the orphan, or the widow. And all the people shall say: Amen.
20 Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, and so exposes the covering of his bed. And all the people shall say: Amen.
21 Cursed be he who lies with any beast. And all the people shall say: Amen.
22 Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen.
23 Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen.
24 Cursed be he who secretly strikes down his neighbor. And all the people shall say: Amen.
25 Cursed be he who accepts gifts in order to strike down the life of innocent blood. And all the people shall say: Amen.
26 Cursed be he who does not remain in the words of this law, and does not carry them out in deed. And all the people shall say: Amen."
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