Build an Altar on Mount Ebal
1 Moses 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 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 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. 6 Look for stones that can be used without being cut. Then offer sacrifices to please the Lord, burning them completely on the altar. 7 Next, offer sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing, and serve the meat at a sacred meal where you will celebrate in honor of the Lord.
8 Don'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
9 Moses stood together with the priests and said, “Israel, be quiet and listen to me! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 So you must obey his laws and teachings that I am giving you.”
11 That same day, Moses gave them the following instructions:
12-13 After you cross the Jordan River, you will go to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, 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 The people of the Levi tribe will speak each curse in a loud voice, then the rest of the people 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!”
1 Then Moses with the Elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keepe all the comandements, which I command you this day. 2 And when ye shall passe ouer Iorden vnto the lande which the Lord thy God giueth thee, thou shalt set thee vp great stones, and playster them with plaister, 3 And shalt write vpon them all the words of this Lawe, when thou shalt come ouer, that thou mayest go into the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee: a land that floweth with milke and hony, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. 4 Therefore when ye shall passe ouer Iorden, ye shall set vp these stones, which I command you this daye in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister. 5 And there shalt thou build vnto the Lord thy God an altar, euen an altar of stones: thou shalt lift none yron instrument vpon them. 6 Thou shalt make the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones, and offer burnt offerings thereon vnto the Lord thy God. 7 And thou shalt offer peace offrings, and shalt eate there and reioyce before the Lord thy God: 8 And thou shalt write vpon the stones al the words of this Law, well and plainely. 9 And Moses and the Priestes of the Leuites spake vnto all Israel, saying, Take heede and heare, O Israel: this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. 10 Thou shalt hearken therefore vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God, and do his commandements and his ordinances, which I commande thee this day. 11 And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 12 These shall stand vpon mount Gerizzim, to blesse the people when ye shall passe ouer Iorden: Simeon, and Leui, and Iudah, and Issachar, and Ioseph, and Beniamin. 13 And these shall stand vpon mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Leuites shall answere and say vnto all the men of Israel with a loude voyce, 15 Cursed be the man that shall make any carued or molten image, which is an abomination vnto the Lord, the worke of the hands of the craftesman, and putteth it in a secrete place: And all the people shall answere, and say: So be it. 16 Cursed be he that curseth his father and his mother: And all the people shall say: So be it. 17 Cursed be he that remoueth his neighbors marke: And all the people shall say: So be it. 18 Cursed be he that maketh ye blinde go out of the way: And all the people shall say: So be it. 19 Cursed be he that hindreth the right of the stranger, the fatherles, and the widow: And all the people shall say: So be it. 20 Cursed be hee that lyeth with his fathers wife: for he hath vncouered his fathers skirt: And all the people shall say: So be it. 21 Cursed be he that lieth with any beast: And all the people shall say: So be it. 22 Cursed be he that lyeth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother: And all the people shall say: So be it. 23 Cursed be he that lyeth with his mother in law: And all the people shall say: So be it. 24 Cursed be hee that smiteth his neyghbour secretly: And all the people shall say: So be it. 25 Cursed be he that taketh a reward to put to death innocent blood: And all the people shall say: So be it. 26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the wordes of this Law, to do them: And all the people shall say: So be it.