Study Desk

When you harvest your olives, don't try to get them all for yourself, but leave some for the poor.

she must go over to him while the town leaders watch. She will pull off one of his sandals and spit in his face, while saying, "That's what happens to a man who won't help provide descendants for his dead brother."

You were tired, and they followed along behind, attacking those who could not keep up with the others. This showed that the Amalekites have no respect for God.

and tell the priest, "Long ago the Lord our God promised our ancestors that he would give us this land. And today, I thank him for keeping his promise and giving me a share of the land."

We called out for help to you, the Lord God of our ancestors. You heard our cries; you knew we were in trouble and abused.

Then you and your family must celebrate by eating a meal at the place of worship to thank the Lord your God for giving you such a good harvest. And remember to invite the Levites and the foreigners who live in your town.

At this same place, build an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God. But don't use stones that have been cut with iron tools.

Look for stones that can be used without being cut. Then offer sacrifices to please the Lord , burning them completely on the altar.

The people of the Levi tribe will speak each curse in a loud voice, then the rest of the people will agree to that curse by saying, "Amen!" Here are the curses: We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who makes an idol or worships idols, even secretly. The Lord is disgusted with idols. We ask the Lord to put a curse on all who do not show respect for their father and mother. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who moves the rocks that mark property lines. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who tells blind people to go the wrong way. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice, whether these poor are foreigners, widows, or orphans. We ask the Lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his father's wife; that man has shown no respect for his father's marriage. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who has sex with an animal. We ask the Lord to put a curse on any man who sleeps with his sister or his half sister or his mother-in-law. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who commits murder, even when there are no witnesses to the crime. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who accepts money to murder an innocent victim. We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who refuses to obey his laws. And so, to each of these curses, the people will answer, "Amen!"

The Lord will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young. The Lord promised your ancestors that this land would be yours, and he will make it produce large crops for you.

The Lord will let you be defeated by your enemies, and you will scatter in all directions. You will be a horrible sight for the other nations to see,

The Lord will make you suffer with diseases that will cause oozing sores or crusty itchy patches on your skin or boils like the ones that are common in Egypt. And there will be no cure for you!

that even in bright sunshine you will have to feel your way around like a blind person, who cannot tell day from night. For the rest of your life, people will beat and rob you, and no one will be able to stop them.

Your sons and daughters will be dragged off to a foreign country, while you stand there helpless. And even if you watch for them until you go blind, you will never see them again.

You will work hard on your farms, but everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners, who will mistreat you and abuse you for the rest of your life.

Even if your olive trees grow everywhere in your country, the olives will fall off before they are ready, and there won't be enough olive oil for combing your hair.

They won't show any mercy, and they will have no respect for old people or pity for children.

You will be restless—always longing for home, but never able to return.

So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the Lord was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them: When you were in Egypt, you saw the Lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. He has even told you, "For forty years I, the Lord , led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard. When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them. Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. Moses said: Israel, the Lord has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do. Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the Lord 's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the Lord our God. In this agreement, the Lord promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the Lord is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants. When we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Then as we traveled through other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols. So make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the Lord and never starts worshiping gods of other nations. If even one of you worships idols, you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter, poisonous fruit. You may be an Israelite and know all about the Lord 's agreement with us, but he won't bless you if you rebel against him. You may think you can get away with it, but you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you. The Lord will be furious, and instead of forgiving you, he will separate you from the other tribes. Then he will destroy you, by piling on you all the curses in The Book of God's Law, and you will be forgotten forever. The Lord will strike your country with diseases and disasters. Your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land has become a scorching desert of salt and sulfur, where nothing is planted, nothing sprouts, and nothing grows. It will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, after the Lord became angry and destroyed them. People from other nations will ask, "Why did the Lord destroy this country? Why was he so furious?" And they will be given this answer: Our ancestors worshiped the Lord , but after he brought them out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, they rejected the agreement and decided to worship gods that had never helped them. The Lord had forbidden Israel to worship these gods, and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in The Book of God's Law. Then he pulled up Israel by the roots and tossed them into a foreign country, where they still are today. The Lord our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants.

So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the Lord was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them: When you were in Egypt, you saw the Lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country.