UNROLL
At dawn two mountains face each other across a narrow green valley: on the left a higher, bare and rocky slope, on the right a softer slope with terraces and olive trees, a small walled town of low stone houses in the pass between.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 27

The day they cross, they are to write the law on stones and hear it from two mountains.

26 verses≈ 4 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
  2. 5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenant
  3. 12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighbor
  4. 27–30Blessing and curseChoose lifeChapter 27
  5. 31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

The Altar on Mount Ebal

Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all the commandments I am giving you today.

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On a high, stony slope in morning light, a few men in plain wool tunics coat great upright stones with thick white plaster, smoothing it with flat wooden boards, the valley far below.

And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.

0:30

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Morning in green hill country: goats grazing a terraced slope among oaks, wild bees around a cleft in a sunlit rock, a spring of clear water below.
Moses

And you shall write distinctly upon these stones all the words of this law.”

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be silent, O Israel, and listen!

This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.”

Deuteronomy 27:9–10

Reflect

This day you have become

Moses did not say, ‘Obey, and one day you will become God’s people.’ He said, “This day you have become the people of the LORD your God,” and only then, “You shall therefore obey.” They had not yet kept a single law in the land. In Christ it is the same: we belong to God by His grace first, and obey because we are His. Where are you trying to earn what God has already given? Write it down, and then pray: Lord, I am Yours; teach me to listen and obey.

Curses Pronounced from Ebal

On that day Moses commanded the people:

“When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

Then the Levites shall proclaim in a loud voice to every Israelite:

The curses

Twelve curses, twelve amens

  1. Worship

    An idol set up in secret

    ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  2. Family

    Dishonoring father or mother

    ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  3. Neighbor

    Moving a boundary stone

    ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  4. The weak

    Leading the blind astray

    ‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  5. Denying justice to the weak

    ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  6. Purity

    Lying with a father’s wife

    ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  7. Lying with an animal

    ‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  8. Lying with a sister

    ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  9. Lying with a mother-in-law

    ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  10. Life

    Striking a neighbor in secret

    ‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  11. A bribe to kill the innocent

    ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

  12. The whole law

    Not doing this law

    ‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’

    And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Early morning where two terraced fields meet: a rough, lichen-patched upright stone stands at the corner, plowed earth on one side and young barley on the other, a dry-stone wall running away from it.
On a stony village path in morning light, a young man takes the arm of a white-bearded blind man with a wooden staff and guides him around a loose rock.

‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’

Deuteronomy 27:26

Question

Quick question

Twelve times the Levites called out a curse across the valley, and twelve times the whole people answered.

What were all the people to say after each curse?

You’ve experienced

Deuteronomy 27

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A verse to carry with you

This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.

Deuteronomy 27:9–10

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