Chapter 27

And now Moses, with the elders of Israel, gave the people this charge: Hold fast all the commandments I have been enjoining on you this day.

When you cross the Jordan and reach the land which the Lord means to give you, raise up great stones, and smooth them over with plaster;

on these, now that Jordan is passed, and the land I promised, all milk and honey, is yours, the whole tenour of this law must be written down.

These plastered slabs, of which I am now speaking, must be set up on mount Hebal, on the further bank of Jordan;

and there an altar must be built to the Lord your God, out of stones which no iron has ever touched,

stones still rough and unpolished. On this, offer the Lord burnt-sacrifice,

and slay victims for a welcome-offering; eat and make good cheer in the Lord’s presence;

and then write on the slabs, clearly and distinctly, the whole tenour of this law.

Then Moses, with the priests of Levi’s race, said to the whole of Israel: Give heed, Israel, and listen; this day the Lord thy God has made thee his people.

Obey his word, and live by all the commandments and decrees I am giving thee.

And at the same time Moses gave the people this message:

Jordan once crossed, six tribes must stand on mount Garizim for the blessing of the people, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin,

and six tribes must stand opposite, on mount Ebal, for the cursing, Ruben, Gad, Aser, Zabulon, Dan and Nephthali.

And now the Levites shall cry this proclamation aloud to the whole of Israel,

Cursed be the man who makes graven or molten image, a thing detestable to the Lord, however skilled its workmanship, however secret its hiding-place. And here all the people shall answer, Amen.

Cursed be the man who refuses to honour father or mother, Amen.

Cursed be the man who moves his neighbour’s land-mark, Amen.

Cursed be the man who guides the blind amiss, Amen.

Cursed be the man who denies justice to alien, orphan and widow, Amen.

Cursed be the man who mates with his father’s wife, and comes between his own father’s sheets, Amen.

Cursed be the man who mates with any beast, Amen.

Cursed be the man who mates with his sister, born of the same father or the same mother, Amen.

Cursed be the man who mates with his wife’s mother, Amen.

Cursed be the man who wounds his neighbour secretly, Amen.

Cursed be the man who accepts a bribe, to swear away an innocent life, Amen.

Cursed be the man who does not hold fast to every word of this law, and live by it; and all will say, Amen.