New King James Version (NKJV)

Three Cities of Refuge

1 “When theLordyour Godhas cut off the nations whose land theLordyour God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,

2 you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which theLordyour God is giving you to possess.

3 You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which theLordyour God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

4 “Andthisisthe case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past—

5 as whenamangoes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live;

6 lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though hewasnot deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past.

7 Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’

8 “Now if theLordyour Godenlarges your territory, as He swore toyour fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,

9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love theLordyour God and to walk always in His ways,then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,

10 lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which theLordyour God is giving youasan inheritance, andthusguilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “Butif anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13 Your eye shall not pity him,but you shall put awaytheguiltofinnocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Property Boundaries

14 “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that theLordyour God is giving you to possess.

The Law Concerning Witnesses

15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

16 If a false witnessrises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,

17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before theLord,before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.

18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed,ifthe witnessisa false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,

19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; soyou shall put away the evil from among you.

20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you.

21 Your eye shall not pity:lifeshallbefor life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Principles Governing Warfare

1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and seehorses and chariotsandpeople more numerous than you, do not beafraid of them; for theLordyour Godiswith you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people.

3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them;

4 for theLordyour GodisHe who goes with you,to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What manistherewho has built a new house and has notdedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.

6 Also what manistherewho has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

7 And what manistherewho is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’

8 “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say,‘What manistherewhoisfearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’

9 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

10 “When you go near a city to fight against it,then proclaim an offer of peace to it.

11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the peoplewhoarefound in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you.

12 Now ifthecitywill not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.

13 And when theLordyour God delivers it into your hands,you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.

14 But the women, the little ones,the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; andyou shall eat the enemies’ plunder which theLordyour God gives you.

15 Thus you shall do to all the citieswhicharevery far from you, whicharenot of the cities of these nations.

16 “Butof the cities of these peoples which theLordyour God gives youasan inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive,

17 but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as theLordyour God has commanded you,

18 lestthey teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and yousin against theLordyour God.

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the fieldisman’sfood.

20 Only the trees which you knowarenot trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

The Law Concerning Unsolved Murder

1 “Ifanyoneis found slain, lying in the field in the land which theLordyour God is giving you to possess,andit is not known who killed him,

2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measurethedistancefrom the slain man to the surrounding cities.

3 And it shall bethatthe elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been workedandwhich has not pulled with ayoke.

4 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, fortheLordyour God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of theLord;by their word every controversy and every assault shall besettled.

6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slainmanshall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

7 Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seenit.

8 Provide atonement, OLord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed,and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood.

9 Soyou shall put away theguiltofinnocent blood from among you when you dowhatisright in the sight of theLord.

Female Captives

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and theLordyour God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for yourwife,

12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shallshave her head and trim her nails.

13 She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, andmourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

14 And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you havehumbled her.

Firstborn Inheritance Rights

15 “If a man has two wives, one lovedand the other unloved, and they have borne him children,boththe loved and the unloved, andifthe firstborn son is of her who is unloved,

16 then it shall be,on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons,thathe must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, thetruefirstborn.

17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wifeasthe firstbornby giving him a double portion of all that he has, for heisthe beginning of his strength;the right of the firstbornishis.

The Rebellious Son

18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, andwho,when they have chastened him, will not heed them,

19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city.

20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones;so you shall put away the evil from among you,and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Miscellaneous Laws

22 “If a man has committed a sindeserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so thatyou do not defile the land which theLordyour God is giving youasan inheritance; forhe who is hangedisaccursed of God.

1 “Youshall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother.

2 And if your brotherisnot near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him.

3 You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself.

4 “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him liftthemup again.

5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do soarean abomination to theLordyour God.

6 “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs,you shall not take the mother with the young;

7 you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself,that it may be well with you andthatyou may prolongyourdays.

8 “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

11 “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts,suchaswool and linen mixed together.

12 “You shall maketassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you coveryourself.

Laws of Sexual Morality

13 “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, anddetests her,

14 and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found shewasnot a virgin,’

15 then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring outtheevidenceofthe young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.

16 And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her.

17 Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughterwasnot a virgin,” and yet thesearetheevidencesofmy daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

18 Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him;

19 and they shall fine him one hundredshekelsof silver and givethemto the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.

20 “But if the thing is true,andevidencesofvirginity are not found for the young woman,

21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death withstones, because she hasdone a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house.So you shall put away the evil from among you.

22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

23 “If a young womanwhoisa virgin isbetrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,

24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because hehumbled his neighbor’s wife;so you shall put away the evil from among you.

25 “But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.

26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman;thereisin the young woman no sindeservingof death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even soisthis matter.

27 For he found her in the countryside,andthe betrothed young woman cried out, buttherewasno one to save her.

28 “If a man finds a young womanwhoisa virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out,

29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s fatherfiftyshekelsof silver, and she shall be his wifebecause he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.

30 “A man shall not take his father’s wife, noruncover his father’s bed.

Those Excluded from the Congregation

1 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shallnot enter the assembly of theLord.

2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of theLord; even to the tenth generation none of hisdescendantsshall enter the assembly of theLord.

3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of theLord; even to the tenth generation none of hisdescendantsshall enter the assembly of theLordforever,

4 because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, andbecause they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

5 Nevertheless theLordyour God would not listen to Balaam, but theLordyour God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because theLordyour Godloves you.

6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite,for heisyour brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, becauseyou were an alien in his land.

8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of theLord.

Cleanliness of the Campsite

9 “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing.

10 If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp.

11 But it shall be, when evening comes, thathe shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out;

13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.

14 For theLordyour Godwalks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

15 “You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you.

16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him;you shall not oppress him.

17 “There shall be noritualharlot of the daughters of Israel, or aperverted one of the sons of Israel.

18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of theLordyour God for any vowed offering, for both of thesearean abomination to theLordyour God.

19 “You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on moneyorfoodoranything that is lent out at interest.

20 To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest,that theLordyour God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

21 “When you make a vow to theLordyour God, you shall not delay to pay it; for theLordyour God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.

22 But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you.

23 That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to theLordyour God what you have promised with your mouth.

24 “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not putanyin your container.

25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain,you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

Law Concerning Divorce

1 “When aman takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her acertificate of divorce, putsitin her hand, and sends her out of his house,

2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’swife,

3 ifthe latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, putsitin her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife,

4 thenher former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for thatisan abomination before theLord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which theLordyour God is giving youasan inheritance.

Miscellaneous Laws

5 “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, andbring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

6 “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takesone’sliving in pledge.

7 “If a man isfound kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die;and you shall put away the evil from among you.

8 “Take heed inan outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them,soyou shall be careful to do.

9 Remember what theLordyour God didto Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

10 “When youlend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.

11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you.

12 And if the manispoor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight.

13 You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment andbless you; andit shall be righteousness to you before theLordyour God.

14 “You shall notoppress a hired servantwhoispoor and needy,whetherone of your brethren or one of the aliens whoisin your land within your gates.

15 Each dayyou shall givehimhis wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for heispoor and has set his heart on it;lest he cry out against you to theLord, and it be sin to you.

16 “Fathers shall not be put to death fortheirchildren, nor shall children be put to death fortheirfathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless,nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.

18 Butyou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and theLordyour God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

19 “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that theLordyour God maybless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not gleanitafterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

1 “If there is adispute between men, and they come to court, thatthejudgesmay judge them, and theyjustify the righteous and condemn the wicked,

2 then it shall be, if the wicked mandeserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie downand be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows.

3 Forty blows he may give himandno more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brotherbe humiliated in your sight.

4 “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads outthegrain.

Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother

5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not bemarriedto a stranger outsidethefamily;her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

6 And it shall bethatthe firstborn son which she bearswill succeed to the name of his dead brother, thathis name may not be blotted out of Israel.

7 But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to thegate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’

8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. Butifhe stands firm and says,‘I do not want to take her,’

9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders,remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will notbuild up his brother’s house.’

10 And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

Miscellaneous Laws

11 “Iftwomen fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals,

12 then you shall cut off her hand;your eye shall not pityher.

13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light.

14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small.

15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure,that your days may be lengthened in the land which theLordyour God is giving you.

16 Forall who do such things, all who behave unrighteously,arean abomination to theLordyour God.

Destroy the Amalekites

17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt,

18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when youweretired and weary; and hedid not fear God.

19 Therefore it shall be,when theLordyour God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which theLordyour God is giving you to possessasan inheritance,thatyou willblot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

1 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which theLordyour God is giving youasan inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,

2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that theLordyour God is giving you, and putitin a basket andgo to the place where theLordyour God chooses to make His name abide.

3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to theLordyour God that I have come to the country which theLordswore to our fathers to give us.’

4 “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of theLordyour God.

5 And you shall answer and say before theLordyour God: ‘My fatherwasa Syrian,about to perish, andhe went down to Egypt and dwelt there,few in number; and there he became a nation,great, mighty, and populous.

6 But theEgyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.

7 Then we cried out to theLordGod of our fathers, and theLordheard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.

8 SotheLordbrought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm,with great terror and with signs and wonders.

9 He has brought us to this place and has given us this land,“a land flowing with milk and honey”;

10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, OLord, have given me.’

“Then you shall set it before theLordyour God, and worship before theLordyour God.

11 Soyou shall rejoice in every goodthingwhich theLordyour God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger whoisamong you.

12 “When you have finished laying aside all thetithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have givenitto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,

13 then you shall say before theLordyour God: ‘I have removed the holytithefrommyhouse, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments,nor have I forgottenthem.

14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removedanyof it for an uncleanuse,nor givenanyof it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of theLordmy God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.

15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers,“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

A Special People of God

16 “This day theLordyour God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

17 Today you haveproclaimed theLordto be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you willobey His voice.

18 Also todaytheLordhas proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, thatyoushould keep all His commandments,

19 and that He will set youhigh above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may bea holy people to theLordyour God, just as He has spoken.”

The Law Inscribed on Stones

1 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today.

2 And it shall be, on the daywhen you cross over the Jordan to the land which theLordyour God is giving you, thatyou shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime.

3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which theLordyour God is giving you,‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as theLordGod of your fathers promised you.

4 Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan,thaton Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime.

5 And there you shall build an altar to theLordyour God, an altar of stones;you shall not use an irontoolon them.

6 You shall build with whole stones the altar of theLordyour God, and offer burnt offerings on it to theLordyour God.

7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, andrejoice before theLordyour God.

8 And you shallwrite very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.”

9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel:This day you have become the people of theLordyour God.

10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of theLordyour God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal

11 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying,

12 “These shall standon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin;

13 andthese shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14 “Andthe Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel:

15 ‘Cursedisthe one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to theLord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setsitup in secret.’

# “And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’

16 ‘Cursedisthe one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

17 ‘Cursedisthe one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

18 ‘Cursedisthe one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

19 ‘Cursedisthe one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

20 ‘Cursedisthe one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

21 ‘Cursedisthe one who lies with any kind of animal.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

22 ‘Cursedisthe one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

23 ‘Cursedisthe one who lies with his mother-in-law.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

24 ‘Cursedisthe one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

25 ‘Cursedisthe one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

26 ‘Cursedisthe one who does not confirmallthe words of this law by observing them.’

“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Blessings on Obedience

1 “Now it shall come to pass,if you diligently obey the voice of theLordyour God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that theLordyour Godwill set you high above all nations of the earth.

2 And all these blessings shall come upon you andovertake you, because you obey the voice of theLordyour God:

3 “Blessedshallyoubein the city, and blessedshallyoubein the country.

4 “Blessedshallbethe fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

5 “Blessedshallbeyour basket and your kneading bowl.

6 “Blessedshallyoubewhen you come in, and blessedshallyoubewhen you go out.

7 “TheLordwill cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 “TheLordwillcommand the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which youset your hand, and He will bless you in the land which theLordyour God is giving you.

9 “TheLordwill establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of theLordyour God and walk in His ways.

10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you arecalled by the name of theLord, and they shall beafraid of you.

11 AndtheLordwill grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which theLordswore to your fathers to give you.

12 TheLordwill open to you His good treasure, the heavens,to give the rain to your land in its season, andto bless all the work of your hand.You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

13 And theLordwill makeyou the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of theLordyour God, which I command you today, and are careful to observethem.

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

Curses on Disobedience

15 “But it shall come to pass,if you do not obey the voice of theLordyour God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 “Cursedshallyoubein the city, and cursedshallyoubein the country.

17 “Cursedshallbeyour basket and your kneading bowl.

18 “Cursedshallbethe fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

19 “Cursedshallyoubewhen you come in, and cursedshallyoubewhen you go out.

20 “TheLordwill send on youcursing,confusion, andrebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

21 TheLordwill make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.

22 TheLordwill strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, withscorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.

23 Andyour heavens whichareover your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under youshallbeiron.

24 TheLordwill change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 “TheLordwill cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frightenthemaway.

27 TheLordwill strike you withthe boils of Egypt, withtumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.

28 TheLordwill strike you with madness and blindness andconfusion of heart.

29 And you shallgrope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall saveyou.

30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her;you shall build a house, butyou shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes.

31 Your oxshallbeslaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkeyshallbeviolently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheepshallbegiven to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescuethem.

32 Your sons and your daughtersshallbegiven toanother people, and your eyes shall look andfailwithlongingfor them all day long; andthereshallbeno strength in yourhand.

33 A nation whom you have not known shall eatthe fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually.

34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.

35 TheLordwill strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

36 “TheLordwillbring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, andthere you shall serve other gods—wood and stone.

37 And you shall becomean astonishment, a proverb,and a byword among all nations where theLordwill drive you.

38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, forthe locust shall consume it.

39 You shall plant vineyards and tendthem,but you shall neither drinkofthewine nor gather thegrapes;for the worms shall eat them.

40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anointyourselfwith the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

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

42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

43 “The alien whoisamong you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.

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

45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of theLordyour God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.

46 And they shall be uponyou for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

47 “Because you did not serve theLordyour God with joy and gladness of heart,for the abundance of everything,

48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom theLordwill send against you, inhunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and Hewill put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.

49 TheLordwill bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,asswiftas the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,

50 a nation of fierce countenance,which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.

51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil,orthe increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

52 “They shallbesiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which theLordyour God has given you.

53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom theLordyour God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.

54 The sensitive and very refined man among youwill be hostile toward his brother, towardthe wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind,

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

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter,

57 her placenta which comes outfrom between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fearthis glorious and awesome name, THE Lord YOUR GOD,

59 then theLordwill bring upon you and your descendantsextraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.

60 Moreover He will bring back on you allthe diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.

61 Also every sickness and every plague, whichisnot written in this Book of the Law, will theLordbring upon you until you are destroyed.

62 Youshall be left few in number, whereas you wereas the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of theLordyour God.

63 And it shall be,thatjust as theLordrejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so theLordwill rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall beplucked from off the land which you go to possess.

64 “Then theLordwill scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, andthere you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.

65 Andamong those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place;but there theLordwill give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, andanguish of soul.

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

67 In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, andbecause of the sight which your eyes see.

68 “And theLordwill take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you,‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buyyou.”