The hidden cost of rebellion

26 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which Yehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, ²that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee; and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Yehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ³And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Yehovah thy God, that I am come unto the land which Jehovah sware unto our fathers to give us. ⁴And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand and set it down before the altar of Yehovah thy God. ⁵And thou shalt answer and say before Yehovah thy God, My ancestor was a nomad from Aram; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ⁶And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: ⁷and we cried unto Yehovah, the God of our fathers, and Yehovah heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression; ⁸and Yehovah brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders; ⁹and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Yehovah, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before Yehovah thy God, and worship before Yehovah thy God: ¹¹and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Yehovah thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levi, and the sojourner that is in the midst of thee.

¹²When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then thou shalt give it unto the Levi, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled. ¹³And thou shalt say before Yehovah thy God, I have put away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them unto the Levi, and unto the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy mitzvot which thou hast gave me: I have not transgressed any of thy mitzvot, neither have I forgotten them: ¹⁴I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead: I have hearkened to the voice of Yehovah my God; I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. ¹⁵Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁶This day Yehovah thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. ¹⁷Thou hast avouched Yehovah this day to be thy God, and that thou wouldest walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his mitzvot, and his ordinances, and hearken unto his voice: ¹⁸and Yehovah hath avouched thee this day to be a people for his own possession, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his mitzvot; ¹⁹and to make thee high above all nations that he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto Yehovah thy God, as he hath spoken.

27 And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the mitzvot which I command you this day. ²And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over the Yarden unto the land which Yehovah thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: ³and thou shalt write upon them all the words of this Torah, when thou art passed over; that thou mayest go in unto the land which Yehovah thy God giveth thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath promised thee. ⁴And it shall be, when ye are passed over the Yarden, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount ‘Eival, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. ⁵And there shalt thou build an altar unto Yehovah thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt lift up no iron tool upon them. ⁶Thou shalt build the altar of Yehovah thy God of unhewn stones; and thou shalt offer burnt-offerings thereon unto Yehovah thy God: ⁷and thou shalt sacrifice peace-offerings, and shalt eat there; and thou shalt rejoice before Yehovah thy God. ⁸And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this Torah very plainly.

⁹And Moshe and the cohanim the L’vi’im spake unto all Isra’el, saying, Keep silence, and hearken, O Isra’el: This day thou art become the people of Yehovah thy God. ¹⁰Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of Yehovah thy God, and do his mitzvot and his statutes, which I am giving thee this day.

¹¹And Moshe charged the people the same day, saying, ¹²These shall stand upon mount G’rizim to bless the people, when ye are passed over the Yarden: Shim’on, and Levi, and Y’hudah, and Yissakhar, and Yosef, and Binyamin. ¹³And these shall stand upon mount ‘Eival for the curse: Re’uven, Gad, and Asher, and Z’vulun, Dan, and Naftali. ¹⁴And the L’vi’im shall answer, and say unto all the men of Isra’el with a loud voice,

¹⁵Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto Yehovah, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.

¹⁶Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

¹⁷Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

¹⁸Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

¹⁹Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²⁰Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife, because he hath uncovered his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²¹Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²²Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²³Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²⁴Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²⁵Cursed be he that taketh a bribe to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

²⁶Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.

28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Yehovah thy God, to observe to do all his mitzvot which I command thee this day, that Yehovah thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth: ²and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Yehovah thy God. ³Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. ⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock. ⁵Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. ⁶Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

⁷Yehovah will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. ⁸Yehovah will command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto; and he will bless thee in the land which Yehovah thy God giveth thee. ⁹Yehovah will establish thee for a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the mitzvot of Yehovah thy God, and walk in his ways. ¹⁰And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Yehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee. ¹¹And Yehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Yehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee. ¹²Yehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. ¹³And Yehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the mitzvot of Yehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them, ¹⁴and shalt 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 thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Yehovah thy God, to observe to do all his mitzvot and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. ¹⁶Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. ¹⁷Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. ¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock. ¹⁹Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

²⁰Yehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. ²¹Yehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it. ²²Yehovah will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. ²³And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. ²⁴Yehovah will make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

²⁵Yehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and from among all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶And thy dead body shall be food unto all birds of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away. ²⁷Yehovah will smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. ²⁸Yehovah will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; ²⁹and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee. ³⁰Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. ³¹Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee. ³²Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand. ³³The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway; ³⁴so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. ³⁵Yehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.

³⁶Yehovah will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. ³⁷And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Yehovah shall lead thee away. ³⁸Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. ³⁹Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. ⁴⁰Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit. ⁴¹Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity. ⁴²All thy trees and the fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess. ⁴³The sojourner that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower. ⁴⁴He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. ⁴⁵And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Yehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: ⁴⁶and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

⁴⁷Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. ⁴⁹Yehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; ⁵⁰a nation of fierce countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young, ⁵¹and shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; that also shall not leave thee grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flock, until they have caused thee to perish. ⁵²And they shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and they shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which Yehovah thy God hath given thee. ⁵³And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Yehovah thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee. ⁵⁴The man that 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 hath remaining; ⁵⁵so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates. ⁵⁶The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon 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 that cometh 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 wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

⁵⁸If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, YEHOVAH THY GOD; ⁵⁹then Yehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. ⁶⁰And he will bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. ⁶¹Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will Yehovah bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. ⁶²And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Yehovah thy God. ⁶³And it shall come to pass, that, as Yehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yehovah will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it. ⁶⁴And Yehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. ⁶⁵And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot: but Yehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; ⁶⁶and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life. ⁶⁷In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. ⁶⁸And Yehovah will bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

29 These are the words of the covenant which Yehovah commanded Moshe to make with the children of Isra’el in the land of Mo’av, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

²And Moshe called unto all Isra’el, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Yehovah did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; ³the great trials which thine eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders: ⁴but Yehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. ⁵And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot. ⁶Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye may know that I am Yehovah your God. ⁷And when ye came unto this place, Sichon the king of Heshbon, and ‘Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them: ⁸and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Re’uveni, and to the Gadi, and to the half-tribe of the M’nashi. ⁹Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.