The Altar on Mount Ebal
(Joshua 8:30–35)

1Then Moses and the elders of Israel instructed the people, saying: “Keep each commandment that I instruct to you this day. 2And when you have crossed over the Jordan, into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, you shall erect immense stones, and you shall coat them with plaster, 3so that you may be able to write upon them all the words of this law, when you have crossed the Jordan so as to enter into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as he swore to your fathers. 4Therefore, when you have crossed over the Jordan, erect the stones, just as I instruct you to do this day, on Mount Ebal. And you shall coat them with plaster, 5and you shall build, in that place, an altar to the Lord your God out of stones which have not been touched by iron, 6out of stones which have not been hewn or polished. And you shall offer holocausts on it to the Lord your God. 7And you shall immolate peace victims. And you shall eat and feast in that place, in the sight of the Lord your God. 8And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this law, plainly and clearly.”

9And Moses and the priests of Levitical stock said to all of Israel: “Attend and listen, O Israel! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10You shall listen to his voice, and you shall do the commandments and justices, which I am entrusting to you.”

Curses Pronounced from Ebal

11And Moses instructed the people in that day, saying: 12“These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim, as a blessing to the people, when you will have crossed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13And in the opposite region, there shall stand upon Mount Ebal, as a curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14And the Levites shall pronounce and declare to all the men of Israel, with an exalted voice:

15Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten idol, an abomination to the Lord, a work of the hands of its maker, and who puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall respond by saying: Amen.

16Cursed be he who does not honor his father and mother. And all the people shall say: Amen.

17Cursed be he who removes his neighbor’s landmarks. And all the people shall say: Amen.

18Cursed be he who causes the blind to go astray on a journey. And all the people shall say: Amen.

19Cursed be he who subverts the judgment of the new arrival, the orphan, or the widow. And all the people shall say: Amen.

20Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, and so exposes the covering of his bed. And all the people shall say: Amen.

21Cursed be he who lies with any beast. And all the people shall say: Amen.

22Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen.

23Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen.

24Cursed be he who secretly strikes down his neighbor. And all the people shall say: Amen.

25Cursed be he who accepts gifts in order to strike down the life of innocent blood. And all the people shall say: Amen.

26Cursed be he who does not remain in the words of this law, and does not carry them out in deed. And all the people shall say: Amen.”