Deuteronomy 27 - 28
Curses on Mount Ebal
27Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the entire commandment which I am commanding you today. 2“aSo it will be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime 3and write on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, aa land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, 1promised you. 4“So it will be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up aon Mount Ebal, these stones, 1as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. 5“Moreover, you shall build there an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones; you ashall not 1wield an iron tool on them. 6“You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of 1uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God; 7and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there and abe glad before Yahweh your God. 8“And you shall write on the 1stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”
9Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for Yahweh your God. 10“You shall therefore listen to the voice of Yahweh your God and do His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today.”
11Moses also commanded the people on that day, saying, 12“When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on aMount Gerizim to bless the people: bSimeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13“For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14“The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
15‘Cursed is the man who makes aa graven image or a molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And ball the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
16‘aCursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17‘aCursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18‘aCursed is he who leads a blind person astray on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19‘aCursed is he who perverts the justice due a sojourner, 1orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20‘aCursed is he who lies with his father’s wife because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21‘aCursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22‘aCursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23‘aCursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24‘aCursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25‘aCursed is he who takes a bribe to strike down 1innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26‘aCursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Blessings for Keeping the Commandments
28“aNow it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God bwill set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2“And all these blessings will come upon you and aovertake you if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:
4“Blessed shall be the 1offspring of your 2body and the 3produce of your ground and the 4offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
5“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6“Blessed shall you be awhen you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7“Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be 1defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. 8“Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in aall that you send forth your hand to do, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 9“aYahweh will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in His ways. 10“So all the peoples of the earth will see that 1,ayou are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you. 11“aAnd Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the 1offspring of your 2body and in the 3offspring of your beast and in the 4produce of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. 12“Yahweh will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and ayou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13“aAnd Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do, 14and ado not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, to walk after other gods to serve them.
Curses for Not Keeping the Commandments
15“aBut it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
17“aCursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18“aCursed shall be the 1offspring of your 2body and the 3produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
19“aCursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20“aYahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and brebuke, in all 1that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until cyou perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. 21“aYahweh will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. 22“aYahweh will strike you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with 1the sword and bwith scorching wind and with mildew, and they will pursue you until cyou perish. 23“And 1the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24“aYahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25“aYahweh shall cause you to be 1defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will bbecome an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26“aAnd your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
27“aYahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with btumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28“Yahweh will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29and you will 1,agrope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed all your days, with none to save you. 30“aYou shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; byou shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not 1use its fruit. 31“Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you and will not be returned to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. 32“aYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them all the day long; but there will be nothing 1you can do. 33“aA people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed all your days. 34“And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what your eyes see. 35“aYahweh will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36“aYahweh will lead you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, bwood and stone. 37“aYou shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the people where Yahweh drives you.
38“aYou shall bring out much seed to the field, but you will gather in little, for bthe locust will consume it. 39“aYou shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them. 40“aYou shall have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41“aYou shall become the father of sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42“aThe cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground. 43“aThe sojourner who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 44“aHe shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; bhe shall be the head, and you will be the tail.
45“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you auntil you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46“And they shall become aa sign and a wonder on you and your seed forever.
47“aBecause you did not serve Yahweh your God with gladness and a merry heart—because of the abundance of all things, 48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh will send against you, ain hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He bwill put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49“aYahweh will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, bas the eagle swoops down, a nation whose tongue you shall not understand, 50a nation of fierce countenance who will ahave no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 51“Moreover, it shall eat the 1offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also will not allow grain, new wine, or oil, and the increase of your herd or the young of your flock to remain for you until they have caused you to perish. 52“aAnd it shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your gates throughout your land which Yahweh your God has given you. 53“aThen you shall eat the 1offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will 2oppress you. 54“The man who is 1refined and very delicate among you 2shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife 3he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else remaining, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will 1oppress you in all your gates. 56“aThe 1refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and 2refinement, 3shall be hostile toward the husband 4she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her 1legs and toward her children whom she bears; for ashe will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will 2oppress you in your gates.
58“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, to 1,afear this glorious and fearsome bname, Yahweh your God, 59then Yahweh will bring wondrous plagues on you and plagues on those who are your seed, even great and enduring plagues, and miserable and enduring sicknesses. 60“aAnd He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61“Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring on you auntil you are destroyed. 62“Then you shall remain few in number, awhereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63“And it will be that as Yahweh adelighted over you to prosper you and multiply you, so Yahweh will bdelight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be ctorn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 64“Moreover, Yahweh will ascatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall bserve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. 65“aMoreover, among those nations you shall find no relief, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there bYahweh will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66“So your life shall 1hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day and shall not have any faith in your life. 67“aIn the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and because of the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68“And Yahweh will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”