Day 147 of 365

¹It shall be, when you have come in to the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein,

²that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.

³You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, "I profess this day to the Lord your God, that I am come to the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us."

⁴The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.

⁵You shall answer and say before the Lord your God, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.

⁶The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage:

⁷and we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression;

⁸and the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders;

⁹and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁰Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Lord, have given me." You shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.

¹¹You shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you.

¹²When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled.

¹³You shall say before the Lord your God, "I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

¹⁴I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me.

¹⁵Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."

¹⁶This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.

¹⁷You have declared the Lord this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice:

¹⁸and the Lord has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;

¹⁹and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he has spoken.

¹Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day.

²It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster:

³and you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over; that you may go in to the land which the Lord your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

⁴It shall be, when you have passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.

⁵There you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron on them.

⁶You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to the Lord your God:

⁷and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.

⁸You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly."

⁹Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, "Keep silence, and listen, Israel: this day you have become the people of the Lord your God.

¹⁰You shall therefore obey the voice of the Lord your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day."

¹¹Moses commanded the people the same day, saying,

¹²"These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin.

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

¹⁴The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

¹⁵'Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' All the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

¹⁶'Cursed is he who sets light by his father or his mother.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁷'Cursed is he who removes his neighbor's landmark.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁸'Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁹'Cursed is he who wrests the justice due the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁰'Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²¹'Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²²'Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²³'Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁴'Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁵'Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁶'Cursed is he who doesn't confirm the words of this law to do them.' All the people shall say, 'Amen.'"

¹It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:

²and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

³You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

⁴You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

⁵Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

⁶You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

⁷The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

⁸The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

⁹The Lord will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways.

¹⁰All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you.

¹¹The Lord will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

¹²The Lord will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

¹³The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do,

¹⁴and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁵But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.

¹⁶You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

¹⁷Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed.

¹⁸The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed.

¹⁹You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

²⁰The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

²¹The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

²²The Lord will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.

²³Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.

²⁴The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.

²⁷The Lord will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

²⁸The Lord will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

²⁹and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.

³⁰You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.

³¹Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.

³²Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.

³³The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you do not know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;

³⁴so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

³⁵The Lord will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

³⁶The Lord will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.

³⁷You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the Lord shall lead you away.

³⁸You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

³⁹You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them.

⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

⁴¹You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.

⁴²All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.

⁴³The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.

⁴⁴He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:

⁴⁶and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;

⁵⁰a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

⁵¹and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

⁵²They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you.

⁵³You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

⁵⁴The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

⁵⁵so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.

⁵⁶The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

⁵⁷and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

⁵⁸If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord your God;

⁵⁹then the Lord will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

⁶⁰He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you.

⁶¹Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

⁶²You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

⁶³It shall happen that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.

⁶⁴The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

⁶⁵Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;

⁶⁶and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.

⁶⁷In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

⁶⁸The Lord will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.

¹Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him.

²The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.

³He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.

⁴He counts the number of the stars. He calls them all by their names.

⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite.

⁶The Lord upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground.

⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving. Sing praises on the harp to our God,

⁸who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.

⁹He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰He doesn't delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his loving kindness.

¹²Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion!

¹³For he has strengthened the bars of your gates. He has blessed your children within you.

¹⁴He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of the wheat.

¹⁵He sends out his commandment to the earth. His word runs very swiftly.

¹⁶He gives snow like wool, and scatters frost like ashes.

¹⁷He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can stand before his cold?

¹⁸He sends out his word, and melts them. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.

²⁰He has not done this for just any nation. They do not know his ordinances. Praise Yah!

¹When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

²put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

⁵Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

⁶Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:

⁷for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:

¹⁶yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

²⁰Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!

²⁶My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁸Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

³²In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

³⁴Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

³⁵"They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I do not feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."