Deu_11:1-32; Deu_12:1-32; Deu_13:1-18; Deu_14:1-29; Deu_15:1-23; Deu_16:1-22

SECTION XLVII.

REèH.

BEHOLD, I set before you this day blessings and curses: blessings, if you obey the precepts of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; but curses, if you obey not the precepts of the Lord your God, and turn aside from the way that I teach you this day, to go after the idols of the peoples whom you have not known. And it shall be, when the Lord your God hath brought thee into the land which thou goest to possess, thou shalt set the blessings upon the Mount of Gerizim, and the curses upon the Mountain of Ebal. Are they not beyond Jordan, after the way of the sun-setting, in the land of the Kenaanites, which dwell in the plains over against Gilgala, by the side of the plain of Moreh?^{[10] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} For you are to pass over the Jordan to enter in to inherit the land which the Lord your God will give you; and you will possess, and dwell therein. And you shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I have set before you this day.

XII. These are the commandments and judgments you shall observe to do in the land that the Lord the God of your fathers will give to thee to inherit all the days that you subsist upon the earth. You shall destroying destroy all the places wherein the peoples (whose lands) you will inherit have served their idols, upon the high mountains, and the hills, and under every leafy tree. And you shall lay their altars in ruin, break their statues,^{[11] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} l burn their groves with fire, cut the images of their idols in pieces, and blot out their names from that place. Not so shall you do before the Lord your God; but, to the place which the Lord your God will choose that His Shekinah may dwell there, unto the house of His Shekinah you shall seek, and thither come to offer there your burnt offerings, your consecrated victims, your tenths, and the separations of your hands, your vows and freewill gifts, and the firstlings of your oxen and sheep. And there shall you eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all that you have set your hand unto, you and your households, for that the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. You shall not (then) do as we are doing here this day, every man as (seemeth) proper in his own eyes; for you are not come as yet to the place of quietness, and to the inheritance which the Lord thy God will give thee. But (when) you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and He hath given you rest from all your enemies round about, and you dwell in safety, then there will be a Place which the Lord your God will choose, to make His Shekinah to dwell there; thither shall you bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and consecrated oblations, your tenths and the separations of your hands, and all the goodly things of your vows which you may vow before the Lord. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your servants and handmaids, and the Levite who is among you, for he hath no part or inheritance with you.

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest; but in the Place which the Lord will choose out of one of thy tribes thou shalt offer thy sacrifices, and there do all that I command thee. Though in any place where thy soul may desire thou mayest kill and eat flesh, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which He will give thee in all thy cities; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as the flesh of the gazelle and the deer. Only of blood you may not eat; thou shalt pour it upon the ground like water. It is not lawful for thee to eat in thy cities of the tythe of the produce of thy wine or oil, or the firstlings of thy bullocks or thy sheep, or of any vow which thou hast devoted, or of thy freewill offerings, or separations of thy hands; but before the Lord thy God shalt thou eat it, in the place which the Lord thy God will choose; thou and thy son and daughter, thy servant and handmaid, and the Levite who is in thy cities; and you shall rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou set test thy hand unto. Take heed to thee that thou forsake not the Levite all thy days upon thy land. When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy border, as He bath said to thee, and thou sayest, I will eat flesh, when thy soul desireth to eat flesh, of all the desire of thy soul thou mayest eat flesh. If the place which the Lord thy God will choose for His Shekinah to dwell there, be too far from thee, thou mayest kill of thy oxen and sheep which the Lord will give thee, as I have commanded thee, and eat in thy cities of all the desire of thy soul. As the flesh of the gazelle and the deer so shalt thou eat it, the unclean and the clean may eat it alike. Only, be steadfast in not eating the blood, for blood is life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh: thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it like water upon the ground; thou shalt not eat it, that it may be well with thee and with thy children after thee, when thou doest that which is right before the Lord. Only thy consecrated things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take and bring to the place that the Lord will choose; and make thy burnt sacrifices, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God; and the blood of thy consecrated victims thou shalt pour out at the altar of the Lord thy God, but of the flesh thou mayest eat. Observe and obey all these commandments which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is meet and right before the Lord thy God. When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed the nations (of the land) whither thou art going to cast them out from before thee, and He cast them out, and thou dwell in their land, take heed to thyself that thou stumble not after them when they shall have been dispersed before thee, and that thou seek not to their idols, saying, How did these nations serve their idols? for so will I do also. Thou shalt not do so before the Lord thy God; for all that is abominable before the Lord, and that He hateth, have they done to their idols. For even their sons and daughters they have burned in the fire. Every word I command you, that shall you observe to perform; you shall not add to it nor diminish from it.

XIII. If there shall arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder cometh to pass, (yet,) should he speak with thee, saying, Let us go after the gods of the Gentiles whom thou hast not known, and let us worship them; thou shalt not hearken to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is proving you, to know whether you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God; Him shall ye fear, and keep His commandments, and be obedient to His Word, and serve Him, and keep close to His fear. And that prophet, or dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; for he hath spoken perversions against the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Mizraim, and delivered you from the house of bondage, to make you go astray from the path in which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to walk; and so shalt thou put away the evil doer from the midst of thee.

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy covenant,^{[12] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} or thy friend who is as thy soul, shall persuade thee in secret, saying: Let us go and worship the gods of the Gentiles whom thou hast not known, nor thy fathers, gods of the nations round about you, nigh thee, or far off, from one end of the earth to the other; thou shalt not consent to him, nor listen to his word, nor must thy eye have pity on him; thou shalt neither compassionate nor conceal him, but killing thou shalt kill him; thy hand shall be upon him the first to kill him, and afterwards the hand of all the people; and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he sought to lead thee astray from the fear of the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Mizraim, from the house of bondage; and all Israel will hear and be afraid, and not add to do this evil thing among thee.

If thou hear in one of the cities which the Lord thy God will give thee to dwell in, saying: Men, sons of wickedness, have gone forth from among thee, and led away the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and worship the gods of the nations which you have not known; then shalt thou seek and search out, and fairly inquire; and, behold, such a thing is the truth, and this abomination is being done among thee, thou shalt smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and destroy it and all that is therein and its cattle by the edge of the sword; and thou shalt gather all the spoil of it together into the midst of its street, and burn the city and the whole spoil thereof with fire entirely before the Lord thy God, and it shall be a desolate heap for ever, it shall be builded no more; and nought of the accursed thing shall cleave to thy hand, that the Lord may turn away His anger from thee, and show mercy upon thee, and be loving towards thee, and increase thee, as He sware unto thy fathers; when thou shalt be obedient to the Word of the Lord thy God, to observe all His commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right before the Lord thy God.

XIV. Children are you before the Lord your God. You shall not lacerate yourselves, nor make baldness between your eyes for the dead; for thou art (to be) a holy people before the Lord thy God, chosen to be unto Him a people more beloved than all the nations upon the face of the earth. Thou shalt not eat any thing that is abominable. These are the cattle that you may eat: oxen, lambs of the flock, and kids of the goats. The hart, and the antelope, the forest deer, and the wild goat, the pygarg, the buffalo, and the chamois; and any animal that hath the hoof cloven, and that divideth the hoof into two parts, and ruminateth the cud, among cattle, that you may eat. Nevertheless, you shall not eat of those that (only) chew the cud, or of them that (only) separate the hoof into divided parts: the camel, the hare, and the coney, for they bring up the cud, but divide not the hoof, they are unclean to you; and the swine, because it divideth the hoof, but doth not ruminate, shall be unclean to you; of their flesh you may not eat, nor touch their carcases. Of all that are in the waters these you may eat: all that have fins and scales you may eat; but any (fish) that hath not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you. You may eat any clean bird; but of these you shall not eat: the eagle, ossifrage, osprey, gleed, vulture, and kite after his kind, and every raven after his kind; the owl, nightbird, gull, and hawk after his kind; the heron, swan, and stork, the cormorant, pelican, and owl; the bittern and ibis after his kind; the lapwing and the bat: and no reptile may you eat whose flesh is unclean to you; but you may eat any fowl (or winged thing) that is clean.

You shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou mayest give it to the uncircumcised stranger who is in thy city, and he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it to the outward people; for thou art to be a holy people to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not eat flesh with the milk.

Thou shalt tythe all the produce of thy seed, and all that thy field may bring forth from year to year; and before the Lord thy God in the place which He will choose to make His Shekinah dwell there, thou shalt eat the tythe of thy corn, wine, and oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and flock, that thou mayest learn to fear before the Lord thy God all days. But if the way be too great for thee, so that thou art not able to bring it, if the way be too distant from the place which the Lord thy God may choose to make His Shekinah to dwell there, when the Lord thy God shall have blessed thee, then thou shalt put (change) it into silver, and bind the silver in thy hand, and go to the place which the Lord thy God will choose, and shalt give the silver for whatever thy soul may please, for oxen, sheep, wine, new or old, or any thing thy soul may desire, and shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and rejoice, thou, the men of thy house, and the Levite who is in thy cities; thou shalt not forsake him, for he hath no portion or inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thy produce in that year, and lay it up in thy cities and the Levite, because he hath no part or inheritance with thee, and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in thy cities, shall come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou shalt do.

XV. At the end of seven years thou shalt make the Release,^{[13] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} and this is the sentence (word) of the Release: That every man who is a creditor^{[14] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} shall give release to him who oweth to his neighbour; he shall not exact it from his neighbour or his brother, because the release is proclaimed before the Lord. From a son of the Gentiles thou mayest demand; but that which is with thy brother, thou shalt release by thy hand. Save when there shall not be the poor among thee, for the Lord in blessing will bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee for a possession to inherit. Only if thou wilt indeed be obedient to the Word of the Lord thy God, and observe to do all these precepts which I command thee this day; for the Lord thy God doth bless thee, as He hath said to thee: and thou shalt lend to many peoples, but thou shalt not take a loan ; and thou shalt have rule over many peoples, but they shall not have rule over thee.

If there be with thee a poor man of thy brethren, in one of the cities in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut up thy hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thy hand to him, and lend, according to the measure of his want, of that which he may need. Beware, lest there be a word with thy wicked heart, saying, The year of release draweth near, and thine eye be evil toward thy poor brother, and thou give not to him, and he cry against thee before the Lord, and there be guiltiness in thee. Giving thou shalt give to him, and thy heart shall not be evil when thou givest to him: because for this thing the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all thou put test thy hand unto. For the poor will not cease (to be) in the midst of thy land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt verily open thy hand to thy brother, to thy afflicted, and to thy poor in thy land.

If thy brother, a son of Israel, or a daughter of Israel, be sold to thee, and shall have served thee six years, in the seventh year let him go, a son of liberty, from thee. And when thou let test him go free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. But thou shalt separate to him from thy flock, and thy floor, and thy wine-press, and give to him of that which the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Mizraim, and the Lord thy God set thee free: therefore I command thee this thing today. But if he say to thee, I will not go out from being with thee, because he loveth thee, and the men of thy house, (and) because it is good for me to be with thee, then thou shalt take an awl, put it through his ear, and into the door, and he shall be a ministering servant to thee evermore. And also likewise shalt thou do to thy handmaid.

It shall not be a hardship in thy eyes when thou dost send him from thee to be a son of freedom, for he hath been doubly worth a hireling, serving thee six years; and the Lord thy God will bless thee in all that thou shalt do.

Every firstling male which cometh of thy cattle or thy sheep, thou shalt consecrate before the Lord thy God: thou shalt not work with the firstling of thy herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God from year to year in the place which the Lord will choose, thou and the men of thy house. And if there be any blemish (spot) in it, (if it be) lame, or blind, or have any evil spot, thou shalt not sacrifice it before the Lord thy God: thou mayest eat it in thy cities, unclean (persons) and clean alike (may eat it), as the antelope and the hart. Only thou shalt not eat the blood, but pour it out upon the ground like water.

XVI. Observe the month of Abiba, and perform the pascha before the Lord thy God; for in the month of Abiba the Lord thy God brought thee out of Mizraim, and wrought signs for thee in the night. And thou shalt sacrifice the pascha before the Lord thy God, with the lambs (young) of thy flock, and with consecrated victims from thy herd, in the place which the Lord will choose to make His Shekinah dwell there. Thou shalt not eat leaven with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of humiliation; for in haste didst thou come out of the land of Mizraim: that thou mayest remember the day of thy coming from the land of Mizraim all the days of thy life. And there shall not be leaven seen with thee within all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh of that which thou didst sacrifice in the evening of the first day remain until the morning. Thou hast not liberty to sacrifice the pascha in anyone of thy cities which the Lord thy God will give thee; but in the place which the Lord thy God will approve to make His Shekinah dwell, there thou shalt sacrifice the pascha, in the evening, at the going away of the sun; the time of thy coming out of Mizraim. And thou shalt dress and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall favour, and in the morning turn and go to thy tent. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened, and on the seventh day gather together before the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work.

Seven weeks number to thee from the beginning (of the harvest); when the omer of the elevation^{[15] <http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/onk/tgonk_deut.htm>} is reaped with the sickle, shalt thou begin to number the seven weeks. And thou shalt perform the festival of the weeks before the Lord thy God, with a tribute of the free-will offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give as the Lord thy God will have blessed thee. And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy man-servant, thy handmaid, the Levite who is in thy cities, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow who are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Mizraim, and keep and perform these statutes. The Feast of Tabernacles thou shalt make to thee seven days, when thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor, and from thy wine-press. And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy servant, thy handmaid, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, who are in thy cities. Seven days shalt thou hold the festival before the Lord thy God in the place the Lord shall choose, because the Lord thy God will have blessed thee in all thy produce, and in all the work of thy hands, and therefore shalt thou rejoice.

Three times in the year all thy males are to appear before the Lord thy God in the place that He will choose; at the Feast of the Unleavened, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; but every man with the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.