Deuteronomy 27:9-26

Curses from Mount Ebal

9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, "Keep silence and hear, O Israel: ¹this day you have become the people of the LORD your God.

10 You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today."

11 That day Moses charged the people, saying,

12 "When you have crossed over the Jordan, ²these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

13 And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14 And ³the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:

15 ⁴"'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.'⁵And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

16 ⁶"'Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

17 ⁷"'Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

18 ⁸"'Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

19 ⁹"'Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

20 ¹⁰"'Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife, because he has ¹¹uncovered his father's nakedness.'^[a] And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

21 ¹²"'Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

22 ¹³"'Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

23 ¹⁴"'Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

24 ¹⁵"'Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

25 ¹⁶"'Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

26 ¹⁷"'Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Deuteronomy 27:9-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 27

In this chapter the people of Israel are ordered to write the law on plastered stones, and set them on Mount Ebal, De 27:1-4; where they are bid to erect an altar, and offer sacrifices on it, De 27:5-8; and are charged by Moses and the priests to obey the Lord, and keep his commandments, De 27:9,10; and a direction is given to each tribes which should stand and bless, and which curse, and where, De 27:11-13; and the curses which the Levites should pronounce with a loud voice, and the people should say Amen to, are recited, De 27:14-25; and the whole is concluded with a curse on all who in general do not perform the whole law, De 27:26.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 26:18
• 2. Deuteronomy 11:29; Joshua 8:33; [Judges 9:7]
• 3. [Deuteronomy 33:10; Daniel 9:11]
• 4. See Exodus 20:4; Exodus 34:17
• 5. [Numbers 5:22; Nehemiah 5:13; Psalms 106:48; Jeremiah 11:5; Jeremiah 28:6; 1 Corinthians 14:16]
• 6. Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 19:3; See Deuteronomy 21:18-21
• 7. See Deuteronomy 19:14
• 8. Leviticus 19:14
• 9. See Exodus 22:21, 22
• 10. See Leviticus 18:8
• 11. See Deuteronomy 22:30
• 12. See Leviticus 18:23
• 13. Leviticus 18:9; Leviticus 20:17; [Ezekiel 22:11]
• 14. Leviticus 18:17; Leviticus 20:14
• 15. Deuteronomy 19:11; Exodus 21:12, 14
• 16. Deuteronomy 16:19; Exodus 23:7, 8; Ezekiel 22:12
• 17. Deuteronomy 28:15; Jeremiah 11:3; Cited Galatians 3:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew uncovered his father's skirt