Pgs. 634-650
ch. 26-29

SECTION L.

THABO.

XXVI. And when you have entered into the land which the Lord thy God giveth you for an inheritance, and you possess and dwell in it; you shall take of the earliest first fruits which are ripe at the beginning, of all the produce of the ground which thou ingatherest from the land which the Lord your God hath given you, and put them into a basket, and go unto the place which the Lord your God will choose that His Shekinah may dwell there. And you shall put crowns upon the baskets, hampers, and paper cases, and bring them to the priest appointed to be the chief priest in those days, and shall say to him: We acknowledge this day before the Lord thy God that we have come into the land which the Lord sware unto our fathers to give us. [JERUSALEM. And thou shalt come to the priest who will be appointed the chief priest in those days, and say to him: We give glory and thanks this day before the Lord thy God, that we have come into the land which the Word of the Lord did covenant unto our fathers to give us.] And the priest shall receive the basket of early fruits from thy hand, and take, bring, uplift, and lower it, and afterward lay it down before the altar of the Lord your God. And you shall respond, and say before the Lord your God:

Our father Jakob went down into Aram Naharia at the beginning, and (Laban) sought to destroy him; but the Word of the Lord saved him out of his hands. And afterwards went he down into Mizraim and sojourned there, a few people; but there did he become a great people, and mighty and many. But the Mizraee evil‑treated and afflicted us, and laid heavy bondage upon us. But we prayed before the Lord our God, and the Lord hearkened to our prayers, our affliction and our travail; and our oppression was manifest before Him. And the Lord brought us out of Mizraim with a mighty hand and uplifted arm, and with great visions, signs, and wonders, and brought us into this place, and gave us this land, a land of fruits rich as milk and sweet as honey. Now, therefore, behold, I have brought the early firstlings of the fruit of the land which thou hast given me, 0 Lord.

And thou shalt lay them before the Lord thy God, and worship, and rejoice in all the good which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou and the men of thy house, and enjoy and eat, you, the Levites and the sojourners who are among you.

When you make an end of tything all the tenths of your produce in the third year, which is the year of release, you shall give the first tenth to the Levites, the second tenth, which is the tythe of the poor, to the stranger, the orphan, and widow, that they may eat in your cities, and be satisfied. [JERUSALEM. When you finish tything all the tenths of your produce in the third year, which is the year of the tythe for the poor, you shall give the first tenth to the Levites, and the poor's tenth to the stranger, the orphan, and widow, that they may eat in your cities, and be satisfied.] But the third tenth you shall bring up, and eat before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt say:

Behold, we have set apart the consecrations from the house, and have also given the first tenth to the Levites, the second tenth to the strangers, the fatherless, and the widow, according to the commandment which Thou hast commanded me. I have not transgressed one of Thy commandments, nor have I forgotten. I have not eaten of it in the days of my mourning, nor separated from it for the unclean, neither have I given of it a covering for the soul of the dead: [1] we have hearkened to the voice of the Word of the Lord; I have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me. [JERUSALEM. We have not eaten thereof in (our) mourning, nor separated therefrom for the unclean, nor given of it for the defiled soul; for we have obeyed the voice of the Word of the Lord our God; we have done according to all that Thou hast commanded us.] Look down from heaven, from the habitation of the glory of Thy holiness, and bless Thy people Israel, and the land which Thou hast given to us, as Thou didst swear unto our fathers, a land of fruits rich as milk and sweet as honey. [JERUSALEM. Look down, we beseech Thee, from the heavens, the habitation of Thy glory and Thy holiness, and bless Thy people Israel, and the land which Thou hast given us, as Thou didst swear unto our fathers (to give us a land) producing good fruits, pure as milk, sweet and delicious as honey.]

This day doth the Lord our God command you to perform these statutes and judgments, which you shall observe and do with all your heart and with all your soul. The Lord have you confessed with one confession in the world this day; for so it is written, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; that He may be thy God, and that thou mayest walk in the ways that are right before Him, and keep His statutes, commandments, and judgments, and be obedient unto His Word. And the Word of the Lord doth acknowledge (or honour) you with one acknowledgment in the world this day; as it is written, Who is as Thy people Israel, a peculiar people upon the earth, to be to Him a people beloved, as He hath said unto you, and that you may obey all His commandments? [JERUSALEM. You have chosen the Word of the Lord to be King over you this day, that He may be your God. But the Word of the Lord becometh the King over you for His Name's sake, as over a people beloved as a treasure, as He hath spoken to you, that you may obey all His commandments.] And He will set you on high, and exalt you above all the peoples He hath made in greatness, and with a name of glory and splendour, that you may be a holy people before the Lord your God, as He hath spoken.

XXVII. And Mosheh and the elders of Israel instructed the people, saying: Observe all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day that you pass over the Jordana into the land which the Lord your God giveth you, that you shall erect for you great stones, and plaster them with lime; and thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when you go over to enter the land which the Lord your God giveth you, a land whose fruits are rich as milk and producing honey, as the Lord God of your fathers hath said to you. When you pass over Jordana, you shall erect the stones that I command you on the mountain of Ebal, and plaster them with lime; and you shall build there an altar before the Lord your God, an altar of stone, not lifting up iron upon it. With perfect stones ye shall build an altar to the Lord your God, and offer sacrifices upon it before the Lord your God. And you shall immolate the consecrated victims, and eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God. And upon the stones you shall write all the words of this law with writing deeply (engraven) and distinct, which shall be read in one language, but shall be interpreted in seventy languages. [JERUSALEM. And you shall write upon the stones all the glorious words of this law in writing deep and plain, to be well read, and to be interpreted in seventy tongues.]

And Mosheh and the priests, the sons of Levi, spake with all the people, saying: Listen, O Israel, and hear: This day are you chosen to be a people before the Lord your God. Hearken, therefore, to the Word of the Lord your God, and perform His commandments which I command you to‑day. And Mosheh instructed the people that day, saying: These tribes shall stand to bless the people on the mountain of Gerezim when you have passed the Jordan,‑Shemeon, Levi, Jehudah, Issakar, Joseph, and Benjamin; and these tribes shall stand (to pronounce) the curses on the mountain of Ebal,‑Reu­ben, Gad, Asher, Zebulon, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites proclaimed and said to every man of Israel with a high voice: Six tribes shall stand on Mount Gerezim, and six on Mount Ebal; and the ark, the priests, and Levites in the midst. In blessing they shall turn their faces towards Mount Gerezim, and say:

Blessed shall be the man who maketh not an image or form, or any similitude which is an abomination before the Lord, the work of the craftsman's hand, and who placeth not such in concealment. In cursing, they shall turn their faces toward Mount Ebal, and say: Accursed be the man who maketh an image, figure, or any similitude which is an abomination before the Lord, the work of the craftsman's hand, or who placeth such in concealment. And all of them shall respond together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who contemneth the honour of his father or his mother. And all of them shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who shall transfer the boundary of his neighbour. And all of them shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who causeth the pilgrim, who is like the blind, to wander from the way. And all of them shall answer together, and say, Amen. [JERUSALEM. Six tribes of them shall stand on Mount Gerezim, and six tribes on Mount Ebal. And the ark, with the priests and Levites in the midst. And all Israel, here and there, turning their faces towards Mount Gerezim, shall open their mouth in benediction: Blessed be the man who hath not made an image, or a figure, or any similitude which the Lord hateth, and which is an abomination before Him, (being) the work of man's band, and who bath not hidden such. But in pronouncing the curses let them turn their faces toward Mount Ebal, and say: Accursed be the man who shall make an image, or figure, or any similitude which the Lord hateth and which is an abomination to Him, the work of man's hands; or the man who hath concealed such. And all the people shall answer them, and say, Amen. Accursed be the man who changeth the bound mark. Accursed be the man who maketh the wayfarer, who is like the blind, to wander from the way. And all the people shall answer, and say, Amen.] Accursed be he who perverteth the judgment of the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who lieth with his father's wife, because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is be who lieth with a beast. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who shall lie with his mother‑in‑law. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. [JERUSALEM. Accursed is he who lieth with his mother‑in‑law. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen.] Accursed is he who attacketh his neighbour with slander in secret. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen. Accursed is he who receiveth hire to kill and to shed innocent blood. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen.

The twelve tribes, each and every, shall pronounce the blessings altogether, and the curses altogether. In blessing, they shall turn their faces (in pronouncing) word by word towards Mount Gerezim, and shall say: Blessed is the man who confirmeth the words of this law to perform them. In cursing, they shall turn their faces towards Mount Ebal, and say: Accursed is the man who confirmeth not the words of this law to perform them. And all shall answer together, and say, Amen.

These words were spoken at Sinai, and repeated in the tabernacle of ordinance, and (again) the third time on the plains of Moab, in twelve sentences (words), as the word of every tribe; and each several commandment (was thus) ratified by thirty and six adjurations.

XXVIII. And it shall be, if you will diligently hearken to the Word of the Lord your God, to observe and perform all the commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high, and exalt you above all the nations of the earth; and all these blessings shall come upon you, and abide with you, for that you will have hearkened to the Lord your God.

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb, the fruits of your ground, the oxen of your herd, and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be the basket of your first fruits, and the first cakes of your flour. Blessed shall you be in your coming in to your houses of instruction, and blessed shall you be when you go out to your affairs. [JERUSALEM. Blessed shall you be in the baskets of your first fruits, and in your wheaten cakes. Blessed shall you be when you go in to your houses of instruction, and blessed when you go out of them.] The Word of the Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to hurt you, to be broken before you. By one way they will come out to fight against you, but seven ways they shall be dispersed, I fleeing before you. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your treasuries, and on all that you put your hands unto, and will bless you in the land which the Lord your God giveth you. The Word of the Lord will establish you to be a holy people before Him, as He hath said unto you, when you keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in the ways that are right before Him. And all the nations of the earth will see that the Name is written by (His own) appointment on the tephillin that are upon thee, and will be afraid of thee. And the Word of the Lord will make thee to abound in good, in the offspring of thy womb, and the increase of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord hath promised to thy fathers.-- Four keys are in the hand of the Lord of all the world, which He hath not delivered into the hands of any secondary power:[2] the key of life, and of the tombs, and of food, and of rain; and thus did Mosheh the prophet speak:-- The Lord will open to you His good treasure which is with Him in the heavens, and will give you the rain of your land in its season; the early in Marchesvan, and the latter in Nisan; and will bless you in all the works of your hands; and you will lend to many peoples, but shall have no need to borrow. And the Word of the Lord will appoint you to be kings and not subjects,[3] and to be ennobled and not abased, when you have hearkened to the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day to keep and perform. Decline not from any of these words that I teach you to‑day either to the right or the left, in walking after the idols of the Gentiles to serve them.

When Mosheh the prophet began to pronounce the words of threatening the earth trembled, the heavens were moved, the sun and moon were darkened, the stars withdrew their beams, the fathers of the world cried from their sepulchres, while all creatures were silent, the very trees waved not their branches. The fathers of the world answered and said, Woe to our children should they sin, and bring these maledictions upon them; for how will they bear them? lest destruction be executed on them, and no merit of ours protect, and there be no man to stand and intercede on their behalf! Then fell the Bath‑kol from the high heavens, and said, Fear not, ye fathers of the world; if the merit of all generations should fail, yours shall not; and the covenant which I have confirmed with you shall not be annulled, but will (still) overshadow them.

Mosheh the prophet answered and said, Whomsoever I threaten I threaten conditionally, saying, If you hearken not to the Word of the Lord your God in neither observing nor doing all my commandments and statutes which I command you this day, then shall all these maledictions come upon and cleave unto you.

Accursed shall you be in the city and in the field. Accursed shall be the basket of your first fruits, and the first cakes of your flour. Accursed the children of your wombs, the fruits of your ground, the oxen of your herds, and the sheep of your flocks. Accursed shall you be in your going into the houses of your theatres, and the places of your public shows, to make void the words of the law; and accursed shall you be in your coming out to your worldly affairs. The Word of the Lord will send forth curses among you to curse your wealth, and confusion to confound your prosperity, and vexation with all that you put your hands to do, until He hath undone you, and you perish soon on account of the wickedness of your doings when you have forsaken My worship. The Word of the Lord will make the pestilence to cleave to you, to consume you from off the land which you are going to inherit. The Word of the Lord will smite you with abscess and inflammation, and fire in the bones that will burn up the marrow, and with fearful imaginations in the thoughts of the heart; and with the naked sword, and with blasting, and the jaundice of Macedonia, which shall follow you to your beds, until you are destroyed.

And the heavens above you shall be as brass which sweateth,[4] but that will not yield you any dew or rain; and the ground under you be as iron which sweateth not. nor maketh green the trees, nor yieldeth spiceries, fruits, nor herbs. After the rain which cometh down on the earth, the Lord will send a wind that shall drive dust and ashes upon the herbage of your fields; and calamity will fall upon you from the heavens, until you are consumed.

The Word of the Lord will cause you to be broken before your enemies: by one way you will go out to battle, but by seven ways shall you flee confounded before them, to become an execration in all the kingdoms of the earth. And your carcases will be cast out to be meat for all the fowls of the sky, and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will scare them away from your corpses. [JERUSALEM. And no one shall drive them away.] And the Word of the Lord will smite you with the ulcers with which the Mizraee were smitten, and with haemorrhoids that blind the sight, and with blotches, and with erysipelas,[5] from which you will not be able to be healed. [JERUSALEM. The Word of the Lord will smite you with the ulcer of Mizraim, and with haemorrhoids, and with the blotch, and with scurvy, which cannot be healed.] The Word of the Lord will smite you with fearfulness which bewildereth the brain, and with blindness and stupor of heart. And you will seek good counsel for enlargement from your adversities, but there will be none among you to show the truth, so that you will grope in darkness like the blind who have none passing by the road to see how to direct them in the way; nor shall you prosper in your ways, but be oppressed and afflicted all the days, without any to deliver.

Thou wilt betroth a wife, but another man will have her; thou wilt build a house, but not dwell in it; thou wilt plant a vineyard, but not make it common. Your oxen will be killed, you looking on, but without eating of them; your asses will be taken away from before you, but they will not be returned; your sheep will be delivered over to your enemies, and there will for you be no deliverance; your sons and daughters will be given up to another people, and your eyes see it, and grow dim because of them from day to day; and in your hand will be no good work by which you may prevail in prayer before the Lord your Father who is in heaven, that He may save you. [JERUSALEM. Your sons and daughters shall be delivered unto another people, while your eyes behold and fail on account of them all the day; nor will you have the good works to give satisfaction unto God, that He might redeem you.] The fruitage of your ground, and of all your labour, will a people whom thou hast not known devour, and thou shalt be oppressed and trodden down all the days. And you will be maddened by the venge­ance, and shaken by the sight of your eyes that you will see. The Word of the Lord will smite you with a sore ulcer in the knees, because you bent (them) in the matter of the transgression; and in the legs, by which you ran into it; for if you be not converted to the law you cannot be saved, but will be beaten by it from the sole of your feet unto the crown of your bead.

The Lord will make you and your king whom you may set over you to go away among a people that neither you nor your fathers have known; and you will carry tribute to peoples who worship idols of wood and stone. And if the thought of your heart be to worship their idols, you shall be for astonishment, for proverbs and tales, among the sons of the Gentiles where the Lord will have scattered you.

You will carry much seed into the field, but gather in little, for the locust shall eat it. [JERUSALEM. You will carry out, but collect little, for the locust will devour it.] You will plant vineyards and till them, but will not drink the wine nor press out the vintage, because the worm will have consumed it. You will have olive trees in all your borders, but will not be anointed with oil, for your olive trees will fail. [JERUSALEM. But with oil you will not be anointed, for the bloom of your olive trees shall be destroyed.] You will beget sons and daughters, but they will yield you no advantage, for they shall go into captivity. All the trees and fruits of your land the locusts will destroy. [JERUSALEM. Robbers shall take possession of the trees and the fruits of your land.] The uncircumcised who dwelleth among you will rise above you with ascension upon ascension, but you will go downwards by descent after descent. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the master, and you the servant.

And all of these curses will come upon you, and will follow and cleave to you until you have perished, because you would not hearken to the Word of the Lord your God, to observe His commandments and statutes which He had commanded you. And they will be upon you for signs and portents, and upon your children for ever; for that you would not serve before the Lord your God cheerfully, with rightness of heart for the abundance of all good. But you will serve your enemies whom the Word of the Lord will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and the want of every good; and they will put an iron yoke upon your necks until it hath worn you away. The Word of the Lord will cause a people to fly upon you from afar, from the ends of the earth, swift as an eagle flieth; a people whose language thou wilt not understand; a people hard in visage, who will not respect the old nor have pity on the young. [JERUSALEM. A people hard in visage, who will not respect the aged nor have mercy on the children.] And they will consume the increase of your cattle and the fruit of your ground till you are wasted away; for they will leave you neither corn, oil, wine, herds, nor flocks, until the time that they have destroyed you. And they will shut you up in your cities until they have demolished your high walls whereby you trusted to be saved in all your land; for they shall besiege you in all your cities, in the whole land which the Lord your God gave you. And the children of your wombs shall be consumed; for you will eat them in the famine, even the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God did give you, by reason of the anguish and oppression wherewith your enemies shall oppress you. The man who is gentle and refined among you will look with evil eyes upon his brother, and the wife who reposeth on his bosom, and upon the rest of his children who remain. He will not give to one of them of the flesh of his children which he eateth, because nothing remaineth to him in the anguish and straitness with which I will straiten you in all your cities. She who is delicate and luxurious among you, who hath not ventured to put the sole of her foot upon the ground from tenderness and delicacy, will look with evil eyes upon the husband of her bosom, upon her son and her daughter, and the offspring she hath borne; for she will eat them in secret, through the want of all things, by reason of the anguish and oppression with which your enemies shall oppress you in your cities. [JERUSALEM. The man who is gentle and most tender among you will look with evil eyes upon his brother, and on the wife of his youth, and on the rest of his children who remain. She who is tender and delicate among you, who hath not attempted to walk with her feet upon the ground from delicacy and tenderness, will look with evil eyes on the husband of her youth, and on her son and her daughter.]

If you observe not to perform all the commands of this law written in this book, to reverence this glorious and fearful Name, The Lord your God, the Word of the Lord will hide the Holy Spirit from you, when the plagues come upon you and your children, great and continuous plagues which will not leave you, and grievous and continual evils that will grow old upon your bodies; and will turn upon you all the woes which were sent upon the Mizraee before which thou wast afraid, and they shall cleave to you; and evils also that are not written in the book of this law will the Word of the Lord stir up against you until you are consumed. And you who were as the stars of heaven for multitude will be left a few people, because you hearkened not to the Word of the Lord your God. And as the Word of the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so will He rejoice (in sending) against you strange nations to destroy and make you desolate, and you shall be uprooted from the land which you are going to possess. And the Lord will disperse you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and you shall be tributaries to the worshippers of idols of wood and stone which neither thou nor thy fathers have known. And if your mind be divided to worship their idols, He will send (that) between you and those nations that you shall have no repose or rest for the sole of your feet, and will give you there a fearful heart which darkens the eyes and wears out the soul. And your life will be in suspense; you will be in dread day and night, and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, O that it were evening! for afflictions will make the hours of the day longer before you; and at evening you will say, O that it were morning! for afflictions will make the hours of the night longer before you, because of the terror of your heart; for you will be in stupor by a vision of your eyes, which you will see for punishment, and be terrified.

And the Word of the Lord will bring you captive to Mizraim in ships through the Sea of Suph, by the way you passed over, of which I said to you, No more shall you see it. [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord will cause you to return into Mizraim in galleys,[6] by the way of which I said to you, Ye shall see it no more.] And there will you be sold to your enemies, at the beginning for a dear price, as artificers, and afterward at a cheap price, as servants and handmaids, until you be worthless and (be consigned) to unpriced labour, and there be none who will take you.[7]

XXIX. These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Mosheh to ratify with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides that covenant which He ratified with them at Horeb.

And Mosheh called to all Israel, and said to them: You have seen all the plagues which the Word of the Lord wrought in the land of Mizraim on Pharoh and all his servants, and all the inhabitants of that land; those great temptations, signs, and wonders which you saw with your eyes. And the Word of the Lord hath given you a heart not to forget, but to understand; eyes, not to blink, but to see; ears, not to be stopped, but to listen with: yet you have forgotten the law with your heart, and have blinked with your eyes, and have stopped your ears, unto the time of this day. And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your garments have not become old upon your bodies, nor your shoes worn away from your feet. You have not eaten leavened bread, nor drunk wine new or old; and My law hath been diligently delivered in your schools, that you might be occupied therein, and you might know that I am the Lord your God. And you came to this place; and Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Mathnan came out to meet us in battle array, and we smote them, and subdued their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Menasheh. Keep, therefore, the words of this covenant and perform it, that you may have prosperity in all that you do. [JERUSALEM. And you shall keep the words of this covenant and perform them, that you may prosper in all that you do.]