Study Desk

You are to take a part of the first-fruits of the earth, which you get from the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket, and go to the place marked out by the Lord your God, as the resting-place of his name.

And our cry went up to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord's ear was open to the voice of our cry, and his eyes took note of our grief and the crushing weight of our work:

Today you have given witness that the Lord is your God, and that you will go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions and give ear to his voice:

And the Lord has made it clear this day that you are a special people to him, as he gave you his word; and that you are to keep all his orders;

For this cause you are to give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and do his orders and his laws which I give you this day.

Cursed is he who does not give honour to his father or mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's landmark from its place. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his father's wife, for he has put shame on his father. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who has sex relations with his mother-in-law. And let all the people say, So be it.

Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's life secretly. And let all the people say, So be it.

The Lord will send his blessing on your store-houses and on everything to which you put your hand: his blessing will be on you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

The Lord will keep you as a people holy to himself, as he has said to you in his oath, if you keep the orders of the Lord your God and go on walking in his ways.

And the Lord will make you fertile in every good thing, in the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your fields, in the land which the Lord, by his oath to your fathers, said he would give you.

Opening his store-house in heaven, the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time, blessing all the work of your hands: other nations will make use of your wealth, and you will have no need of theirs.

But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to do all his orders and his laws which I give you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

He will let you have his wealth at interest, and will have no need of yours: he will be the head and you the tail.

And all these curses will come after you and overtake you, till your destruction is complete; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, or keep his laws and his orders which he gave you:

Your towns will be shut in by his armies, till your high walls, in which you put your faith, have come down: his armies will be round your towns, through all your land which the Lord your God has given you.

That man among you who is soft and used to comfort will be hard and cruel to his brother, and to his dear wife, and to of those his children who are still living;