- 1And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
- 2And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister:
- 3And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.
- 4Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.
- 5And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.
- 6Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:
- 7And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God.
- 8And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.
- 9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God.
- 10Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.
- 11 And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
- 12These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:
- 13And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
- 14 And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,
- 15Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
- 16Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 17Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 18Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 19Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 20Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 21Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 22Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 23Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 24Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 25Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- 26Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
KING JAMES VERSION
DEUTERONOMY 27
Read the chapter, follow a linked verse, and continue into related Watchman 33 teaching.
CHAPTER VISUAL
Deuteronomy 27 — Israel must write the law on stones, build an unworked altar, and answer the covenant curses.
About this illustration
The stones remain blank to avoid fabricated writing; the tribal antiphony forms an ordered assembly.
Scripture basis: Deuteronomy 27:1–26King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom
EXPLORE THE MESSAGE
Related Watchman 33 Resources
Archaeological Evidence
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEArchaeological site
Early Iron Age I, approximately thirteenth–twelfth centuries BC
The Mount Ebal Stone Installation
An isolated early Iron Age complex on Mount Ebal contains a large stone installation, enclosure walls, ash, selected animal bones, pottery, and Egyptian scarabs; cultic use is plausible, but its function and identification as Joshua’s altar remain contested.
Deuteronomy 27:4–8 · Joshua 8:30–35 · Deuteronomy 11:29
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEArtifact
Claimed Late Bronze Age; independent dating remains unresolved
The Disputed Mount Ebal Lead Object
A 2-centimeter folded lead object recovered from an old excavation dump has been published as a Late Bronze Age Hebrew curse naming YHW, but its date is unstratified and multiple epigraphers find no demonstrable letters in the released scans.
Deuteronomy 27:13–26 · Joshua 8:30–35 · Numbers 5:23
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEInscription
Mid-eighth century BC
Sefire Treaty Stelae
Three mid-eighth-century BC Old Aramaic stelae monumentalize obligations, divine witnesses, and treaty curses between Bar-Ga’yah and Mati’el, illuminating a shared Northwest Semitic covenant vocabulary without becoming a source text for Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 27:11–26 · Deuteronomy 28:1–68 · Jeremiah 34:18–20
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEManuscript
Hasmonean-period copies
4QMMT and Contested Works of the Torah
Six fragmentary Cave 4 manuscripts preserve a composite Hebrew work that presents a calendar, disputed temple and purity rulings, communal separation, and an appeal to an influential addressee.
Leviticus 22:1–16 · Deuteronomy 27:1–26 · Deuteronomy 30:1–10
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEManuscript
Second century BC
Rylands Papyrus 458: Early Greek Deuteronomy
Eight small papyrus fragments preserve one of the earliest surviving copies of Greek Deuteronomy and reveal a carefully laid-out Jewish scriptural roll from Ptolemaic Egypt.
Deuteronomy 26:16–19 · Deuteronomy 27:1–26 · Deuteronomy 28:1–14
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCECult & worship
5th–2nd centuries BC, with later Roman and Byzantine phases
Mount Gerizim Samaritan Temple Precinct and Inscriptions
The fortified Hellenistic sanctuary and hundreds of dedicatory inscriptions on Mount Gerizim materially document the mountain's central place in Samaritan worship centuries before the New Testament.
Deuteronomy 11:29 · Deuteronomy 27:12 · Joshua 8:33
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Doctrine and DiscernmentApostasy and DeceptionChrist AloneScripture AloneSalvation and the Gospel
View sermon Church History & Function #12 - The Key of David: Heart of Worship
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Bible ProphecyChurch and MinistryIsrael and JerusalemSpiritual Warfare
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