(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Ki-Tavo
First Fruits
26.1. “And it will be, when you have come in to the land which the LORD* your God is giving you for an inheritance and possess it and live there, 2. that you will take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you will bring from your land that the LORD* your God gives you and put it in a basket and go to the place which the LORD* your God will choose to place His name there. 3. And you will go to the priest that will be in those days and say to him, ‘I profess this day to the LORD* your God that I have come to the country which the LORD* swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4. And the priest will take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD* your God. 5. And you will speak and say before the LORD* your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few, and there became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6. And the Egyptians treated us ill and afflicted us, and laid hard bondage upon us. 7. And when we cried to the LORD* God of our fathers, the LORD* heard our voices, and looked on our affliction, our labor, and our oppression. 8. And the LORD* brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great fear, with signs, and with wonders. 9. And He has brought us into this place and has given us this land, a land that flows with milk and honey. 10. And now, behold, I have brought the First Fruits of the land which You, LORD*, have given me.’ And you will set it before the LORD* your God and worship before the LORD* your God, 11. and you will rejoice in every good thing which the LORD* your God has given to you and to your house, you, the Levite, and the stranger that is in your midst.”
Tithe
26:12. “When you have completed tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so they may eat within your gates and be filled, 13. then you will say before the LORD* your God, ‘I have brought away the holy things from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me. I have not trespassed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. 14. Ihave not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I taken away any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead, but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD* my 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, as You have sworn to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.’
26:16. “This day the LORD* your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgments. You will therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with your entire being. 17. You have told the LORD* this day He is your God and you walk in His Ways and keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and hearken to His voice. 18. And the LORD* has told you this day you are His treasured people, as He has promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments, 19. and He will set you high above all the nations that He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor; and so you will be holy people to the LORD* your God, as He has spoken.”
Keep All the Commandments
27.1. And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. 2. And it will be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD* your God gives you, that you will set up great stones for yourselves and plaster them with plaster, 3. and you will write upon them all the words of this Torah, when you have crossed, so you may enter the land which the LORD* your God gives you, a land that flows with milk and honey, as the LORD* God of your fathers has promised you. 4. Therefore it will be when you have gone over the Jordan, you will set up these stones, which I command you this day, on Mount Ebal and you will plaster them with plaster. 5. And there you will build an altar to the LORD* your God, an altar of stones. You will not lift up any iron tool upon them. 6. You will build the altar of the LORD* your God of whole stones and you will offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD* your God, 7. and you will offer a peace offering and will eat there and rejoice before the LORD* your God. 8. And you will write all the words of this Torah very plainly upon the stones.”
Gerizim to Bless, Eval to Curse
27:9. And Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel saying, “Silence! Listen! Obey, O Israel! This day you have become the people of the LORD* your God. 10. You will therefore obey the voice of the LORD* your God and do His commandments and His statutes, which I command you this day.”
27:11. And Moses charged the people the same day saying, 12. “These will stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you cross the Jordan; Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13. And these will stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse; Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14. And the Levites will speak and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
27:15. “‘Cursed is the man who makes any graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD*, the work of the hands of the craftsman and puts it in a secret place.’
“And all the people will answer and say, ‘Amen.’
27:16. “‘Cursed is he who esteems lightly his father or his mother.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:17. “‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:18. “‘Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:19. “‘Cursed is he who perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’”
27:20. “‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he uncovers his father’s wing.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:21. “‘Cursed is he who lies with any manner of beast.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:22. “‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:23. “‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:24. “‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor secretly.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:25. “‘Cursed is he who takes a reward to slay an innocent person.’
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’
27:26. “‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this Torah to do them.’ (Gal. 3:10)
“And all the people will say, ‘Amen.’”
Blessings Amplified
28.1. “And it will be, if you will 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 high above all nations of the earth 2. and all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you heed the voice of the LORD* your God.
28:3. “Blessed will you be in the city and blessed will you be in the field.
28:4. “Blessed will be the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your cattle, the offspring of your oxen, and the increase of your flock.
28:5. “Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.
28:6. “Blessed will you be when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out.
28:7. “The LORD* will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They will come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
28:8. “The LORD* will command the blessing upon you in your storehouses and in all that you undertake, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD* your God gives you.
28:9. “The LORD* will establish you as a people holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD* your God, and walk in His Ways.
28:10. “And all the people of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD* and they will stand in awe of you.
28:11. “And the LORD* will give you abundance for good, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD* swore to your fathers to give you.
28:12. “The LORD* will open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. And you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.
28:13. “And the LORD* will make you the head and not the tail and you will be above only and you will not be beneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the LORD* your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them.
28:14. “And you will not go 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.”
Curses Amplified
28:15. “But it will be, 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 will come upon you and overtake you:
28:16. “Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the field.
28:17. “Cursed will be your basket and your kneading trough. 18. Cursed will be the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land, the increase of your herds and the increase of your flocks.
28:19. “Cursed will you be when you come in and cursed will you be when you go out.
28:20. “The LORD* will send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that you set your hand to until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings with which you have forsaken Me. 21. The LORD* will make the pestilence cleave to you, until He has consumed you from off the land, where you go to possess it. 22. The LORD* will strike you with an epidemic, with a fever, with an inflammation, with an extreme burning, with the sword, with blasting winds, and with mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish. 23. And your heavens that are over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. 24. The LORD* will make the rain of your land powder and dust: it will come down upon you from heaven, until you are destroyed.
28:25. “The LORD* will cause you to be stricken before your enemies you will go out against them one way, and flee before them seven ways, and will be a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26. And your carcass will be meat for all the fowls of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and no man will scare them away. 27. The LORD* will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28. The LORD* will strike you with madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29. and you will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways and you will only be oppressed and plundered forevermore, and no man will save you. 30. You will betroth a wife and another man will lie with her. You will build a house and you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard and will not use the fruit of it. 31. Your ox will be slain before your eyes and you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies and you will have no one to rescue them. 32. Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people and your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there will be no God at your hand. 33. A nation which you do not know will eat up the fruit of your land and all your labors; and you will be only oppressed and crushed always, 34. so that you will become mad because of the sight of your eyes which you will see. 35. The LORD* will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. (Rev. 16:2) 36. The LORD* will bring you and your king whom you will set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known; and there you will serve other wood and stone gods. 37. And you will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD* will lead you.
28:38. “You will carry much seed out into the field and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. 39. You will plant vineyards and dress them, but will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms will eat them. 40. You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olive will cast its fruit. 41. You will beget sons and daughters, but they will not be with you, for they will go into captivity. 42. The locust will consume all your trees and the fruit of your land.
28:43. “The stranger who is among you will get up very high above you, and you will come down very low. 44. He will lend to you, and you will not lend to him. He will be the head and you will be the tail.
28:45. “Moreover all these curses will come upon you, and will 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, 46. and they will be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and upon your seed forever, 47. because you did not serve the LORD* your God with joyfulness and with goodness of heart, for the abundance of all things. 48. Therefore you will serve your enemies whom the LORD* sends against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in want of all things: and He will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until He has destroyed you.
28:49. “The LORD* will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth like the eagle flies, a nation whose tongue you will not understand, 50. a nation of fierce countenance that will not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young, 51. and he will eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed, that also will not leave you grain, wine, or oil, or the increase of your herd or the increase of your flock until he has destroyed you. 52. And he will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fenced walls come down, in which you trusted throughout all your land. And he will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which the LORD* your God has given you. 53. And you will 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 straitness by which your enemies will distress you, 54. so the man who is tender among you and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he will leave, 55. so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat because he has nothing left for himself in the siege and in the distress, by which your enemies will distress you in all your gates. 56. The 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 will be evil toward the husband of her bosom, toward her son, toward her daughter, 57. toward her young one that comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she will bear, for she will eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and in the stress, by which your enemy will distress you in your gates.
28:58. “If you will not observe to do all the words of this Torah that are written in this scroll, so you will revere this glorious and awesome name, the LORD* your God, 59. then the LORD* will make your plagues astounding and the plagues of your seed, great plagues and of long continuance, and sore sickness and of long continuance. 60. Moreover He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of, and they will cling to you. 61. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the scroll of this Torah, the LORD* will bring them upon you, until you are destroyed. 62. And you will be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD* your God. 63. And it will be, as the LORD* rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the LORD* will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought, and you will be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it. 64. And the 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 will serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. 65. And among these nations you will find no rest, neither will the sole of your foot have rest, but there the LORD* will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. 66. And your life will hang in doubt before you and you will fear night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. 67. In the morning you will say, “Would to God it were evening!” And at evening you will say, “Would to God it were morning!” For the fear of your heart by which you will fear and for the sight of your eyes which you will see, 68. the LORD* will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I spoke to you, you will see it no more again, and there you will be sold to your enemies for bond men and bondwomen, and no man will buy you.
28:69. “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD* commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
Moses Sums Up
29.1. And Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “You have seen all that the LORD* did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land. 2. The great temptations which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles, 3. yet the LORD* has not given you a heart to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear to this day. (Rom. 11:8) 4. And I have led you in the wilderness for forty years: your clothes have not grown old upon you and your shoe has not grown old upon your foot. 5. You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, so you would know that I AM the LORD* your God. 6. And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle and we struck them: 7. and we took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh. 8. Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, so you will succeed in all that you do.”
Next week’s Torah readings: Nitsavim