Joshua 8:31-35

Contemporary English Version

Joshua Reads the Blessings and Curses

(Deuteronomy 27.1-26)

^30-32^(A) One day, Joshua led the people of Israel to Mount Ebal, where he told some of his men, “Build an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord. And use stones that have never been cut with iron tools,^[a] because that is what Moses taught in The Book of the Law.”^[b]

Joshua offered sacrifices to please the Lord^[c] and to ask his blessing.^[d] Then with the Israelites still watching, he copied parts of The Book of the Law^[e] of Moses onto stones.

^33-35^(B) Moses had said that everyone in Israel was to go to the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where they were to be blessed. So everyone went there, including the foreigners, the leaders, officials, and judges. Half of the people stood on one side of the valley, and half on the other side, with the priests from the Levi tribe standing in the middle with the sacred chest. Then in a loud voice, Joshua read the blessings and curses from The Book of the Law^[f] of Moses.^[g]

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Footnotes

8.30-32 use stones … iron tools: See Exodus 20.25.
8.30-32 taught … Law: Or “commanded … Teachings.”
8.30-32 sacrifices to please the Lord: These sacrifices have been traditionally called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to please the Lord.”
8.30-32 to ask his blessing: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “peace offerings,” or “offerings of well-being.” A main purpose was to ask for the Lord's blessing, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.”
8.30-32 Law: Or “Teachings.”
8.33-35 Law: Or “Teachings.”
8.33-35 the blessings … Moses: Or “all of The Book of the Law of Moses, including the blessings and the curses.”