Twelve times the Levites were to call out a curse, and twelve times a whole nation was to shout Amen back. The twelfth one was written so that it left nobody out. This Deuteronomy 27 summary and study guide sets out what that ceremony was and why it ends where it does.
Table of Contents
- Setting the Stage
- Comprehensive Deuteronomy 27 Summary
- Deuteronomy 27 Outline
- The Twelve Curses at Mount Ebal
- Observations from Deuteronomy 27
- Difficult Verses Explained
- Common Misunderstandings
- Christ Connection
- When, Where, and Why
- Key Verses
- Key Lessons from Deuteronomy 27
- Bible Study Questions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Deuteronomy 27, The Full Text (KJV)
Setting the Stage
Centuries before any of this, God promised Abraham that the land of Canaan would belong to his descendants. At a place called Shechem, Abraham built the first altar he ever raised in that land (Genesis 12:6-7). Generations later his descendants came out of slavery in Egypt, met God at Mount Sinai, and agreed to live by the law he gave them.
That generation refused to enter the land and died in the desert. Their children are now camped east of the Jordan River, and Moses has spent most of this book laying the law out again for them. Deuteronomy 27 tells them what to do on the day they finally cross over: go to Shechem, and publicly take on themselves the agreement God made with them at Sinai, out loud, where everyone can hear it.
Comprehensive Deuteronomy 27 Summary
Moses and the elders of Israel give the people one charge: keep the whole commandment God has given them. Then Moses tells them what is to happen once they are over the Jordan River. They are to set up large stones, coat them with plaster, and write God’s law on them. The stones are to go up on Mount Ebal.
There they are also to build an altar, and it is to be made of whole stones that no iron tool has touched. On that altar they are to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, eat a meal, and rejoice in God’s presence. Then Moses repeats the instruction about the writing and adds one requirement to it: write it very plainly.
Moses and the Levitical priests speak together next. This day, they tell Israel, you have become the people of the LORD your God, and so you must obey his voice and keep his commandments.
The same day Moses divides the nation. Once they cross the river, six tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. Six are to stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.
The Levites are then to speak to every man in Israel with a loud voice. Twelve times they name a sin and pronounce a curse on whoever commits it: the idol hidden away in secret, contempt for father and mother, the moved boundary stone, sending a blind man the wrong way, denying justice to the foreigner and the orphan and the widow, four sexual sins, a killing done in secret, and a killing done for money.
Twelve times the whole nation is to answer Amen. The last curse falls on anyone who does not keep all the words of the law, and Israel is to say Amen to that one too.
One Word Summary
- Ratification: the ceremony that makes the covenant Israel’s own, out loud
- Amen: the only word the people are given to say, and they say it twelve times
- Ebal: the cursing mountain, and the mountain where God puts the altar
In One Sentence
Moses tells Israel to write God’s law on plastered stones at Mount Ebal, build an altar there, then split between two mountains while the Levites call out twelve curses and every Israelite answers Amen, and the twelfth curse lands on every person who has ever broken any part of the law.
Theme of Deuteronomy 27
Deuteronomy 27 is about a nation binding itself to a law it cannot fully keep, on the very hill where God tells it to build an altar. Two other ideas run alongside that one. God declares Israel his people first and calls for obedience second, so belonging comes before the demand. And God insists that his word be readable by ordinary people, written out in the open and written plainly, right down to the sins that hide where no court would ever reach them.
Deuteronomy 27 Outline
- Deuteronomy 27:1: Moses and the elders of Israel charge the people to keep every commandment God has given them.
- Deuteronomy 27:2-4: Israel is to set up large stones once it crosses the Jordan, coat them with plaster, write the law on them, and raise them on Mount Ebal.
- Deuteronomy 27:5-7: Israel is to build an altar of uncut stones there and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, eating and rejoicing before God.
- Deuteronomy 27:8: The command to write the law on the stones is repeated, with the added requirement to write it very plainly.
- Deuteronomy 27:9-10: Moses and the Levitical priests tell Israel that this day it has become the people of the LORD, and must obey his voice.
- Deuteronomy 27:11-13: Moses names the six tribes who will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless and the six who will stand on Mount Ebal to curse.
- Deuteronomy 27:14-16: The Levites are to speak to all Israel with a loud voice, and the first two curses fall on the person who makes an idol in secret and the person who treats father or mother with contempt.
- Deuteronomy 27:17-19: Three more curses fall on moving a neighbour’s landmark, sending a blind man out of his way, and perverting justice for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
- Deuteronomy 27:20-23: Four curses name sexual sins inside the family and with an animal.
- Deuteronomy 27:24-25: Two curses fall on striking a neighbour in secret and on taking payment to kill an innocent person.
- Deuteronomy 27:26: The final curse falls on anyone who does not confirm all the words of the law by doing them.
The Twelve Curses at Mount Ebal
Every curse in this chapter comes in the same shape. The Levites say “Cursed be he that” and name a sin, and then all the people say “Amen.” The first half declares the person to be under God’s judgment. The second half is the whole nation agreeing that the sentence is right.
| # | Reference | The person cursed | Where the law had already said it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27:15 | Makes a carved or cast idol and keeps it in a secret place | Exodus 20:4 |
| 2 | 27:16 | Treats his father or mother as worth nothing | Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17 |
| 3 | 27:17 | Moves his neighbour’s boundary stone | Deuteronomy 19:14 |
| 4 | 27:18 | Sends a blind man the wrong way | Leviticus 19:14 |
| 5 | 27:19 | Twists justice against the foreigner, the orphan, the widow | Deuteronomy 24:17 |
| 6 | 27:20 | Sleeps with his father’s wife | Leviticus 18:8 |
| 7 | 27:21 | Sleeps with an animal | Leviticus 18:23 |
| 8 | 27:22 | Sleeps with his sister or half sister | Leviticus 18:9 |
| 9 | 27:23 | Sleeps with his mother in law | Leviticus 20:14 |
| 10 | 27:24 | Strikes his neighbour down in secret | Exodus 20:13 |
| 11 | 27:25 | Takes money to kill an innocent person | Exodus 23:7-8 |
| 12 | 27:26 | Fails to keep all the words of the law | The whole law |
The eleven named sins are examples rather than a complete code. Adultery, perjury, blasphemy and Sabbath breaking are all missing from the list, though the law forbids each of them elsewhere, which suggests Moses picked a sample rather than writing out the whole law again.
Observations from Deuteronomy 27
Twelve Curses for Twelve Tribes (verses 15-26)
The nation is split evenly, half the tribes on each mountain, and every man in Israel answers all twelve curses. No family gets a curse assigned to a different family. Twelve curses for twelve tribes leaves the whole nation standing under the whole list.
The Altar Goes on the Cursing Mountain (verses 4-6, 13)
God could have put the altar on Mount Gerizim, where the blessing was to be spoken. He puts it on Mount Ebal, where the curses are read out. Both the stones carrying the law and the altar carrying the sacrifice stand on the same hill, so Israel would come to the same place to read the demand and to bring the offering for breaking it.
Almost Every Cursed Sin Is One That Hides (verses 15, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25)
The idol is kept “in a secret place” (verse 15). The neighbour is struck “secretly” (verse 24). A boundary stone can be moved at night, a blind man cannot see who misdirected him, a widow without means had little power against a rigged court, and a paid killer leaves no obvious motive. These are the sins a village court would rarely catch, which may be why God names them out loud in front of everybody.
The Tribes Are Not Divided at Random (verses 12-13)
All six tribes sent to Mount Gerizim to bless descend from Jacob’s wives Leah and Rachel. Four of the six sent to Mount Ebal descend from the two servant mothers, Zilpah and Bilhah, and they are joined by Reuben, who lost his birthright, and Zebulun, Leah’s youngest son.
Levi is counted among the blessing tribes in verse 12, and Levites call out the curses in verse 14, which is addressed to all the men of Israel, so nobody stands outside the ceremony. Moses gives no reason for the split, so this is a pattern readers can see rather than an explanation Scripture offers. Some teachers suggest a simpler reason: the Gerizim tribes were later settled mostly to the south and the Ebal tribes mostly to the north.
Blessing Is Assigned and Never Written Down (verses 12-13, 15-26)
Verse 12 sends six tribes up Mount Gerizim “to bless the people.” What follows is twelve curses, with the blessing left unwritten. Moses supplies the blessings in full in the next chapter, so the book keeps them, and this ceremony ends on the sentence alone.
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Difficult Verses Explained
Are the Plastered Stones and the Altar the Same Thing?
They are two different things, built for two different purposes. Verses 2 to 4 describe large stones coated with plaster so the law can be written on their surface, which is how inscriptions were often made in Egypt and elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Verses 5 and 6 describe an altar built of whole, uncut stones for sacrifice. Plenty of popular summaries merge them into one plastered altar, and the chapter itself keeps them apart.
What Is “All the Words of This Law”?
Scripture does not say. Verse 3 and verse 8 both use the phrase and neither one defines it. Bible teachers have suggested the Ten Commandments, the blessings and curses, the laws of Deuteronomy 12 to 26, or the whole body of law Moses gave. The honest answer is that God told Israel to write it and left the boundary of it undescribed.
Is a Curse Here a Spell Being Cast?
No. Hebrew scholars note that the form here is a statement of fact rather than a wish, closer to “cursed is the man who does this” than to “may this man be cursed.” The chapter never says what the consequence will be, either. It declares where the person stands with God and leaves the outcome in God’s hands.
What Does It Mean to “Set Light By” Your Father or Mother?
The phrase in verse 16 means to treat them as weightless, as if they counted for nothing. Israel already had a law putting a man to death for striking or cursing his parents (Exodus 21:15, 17). This curse reaches further down, into contempt that never becomes a crime, and it is the second sin in the whole list.
Common Misunderstandings
- That Deuteronomy 27 lists blessings as well as curses. Verse 12 assigns six tribes to bless, and the chapter never records a single blessing. Chapter 28 supplies them.
- That the plastered stones were the altar. The chapter describes plastered stones for writing and an altar of uncut stones for sacrifice, and it says plainly that no iron tool was to touch the altar stones.
- That these are the twelve stones taken out of the Jordan River. Those are a different set, lifted from the riverbed and set up at Gilgal (Joshua 4:1-9, 19-20). The stones in this chapter go up on Mount Ebal.
- That Deuteronomy 27 describes the ceremony happening. Deuteronomy 27 gives the instructions. Joshua 8:30-35 records Israel carrying them out, after the defeat and recovery at Ai.
- That the chapter is predicting Israel’s future. Deuteronomy 27 is covenant procedure and public ceremony. The long warnings about being driven out of the land come in chapters 28 to 30.
Christ Connection
The New Testament quotes this chapter directly. Paul writes, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3:10).
Everyone who tries to stand before God on the strength of law keeping is under a curse, because nobody keeps all of it. That is Paul’s use of Deuteronomy 27:26, and it is exactly how the chapter uses it. The twelfth curse is the one nobody could step around, and Israel had to affirm it aloud like all the rest.
Four things in this chapter reach forward to Christ:
- The curse Israel spoke over itself was taken by someone else. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). The sentence the nation agreed to at Ebal fell on Jesus at the cross.
- The altar stands on the cursing mountain. God put the place of sacrifice where the guilt was announced, which pictures the gospel’s own order: the remedy is set down at the point where the need is exposed.
- The blessing Gerizim never gave is echoed on another hillside. Matthew records Jesus opening his sermon on a mountain with blessing after blessing and no curse at all (Matthew 5:3-12).
- The law written on plaster is replaced by a law written on people. God promised a covenant he would write in the heart instead of on stone (Jeremiah 31:31-33), and Paul says the church is that letter, “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Hold the two halves together the way Paul does. The law’s curse is real and this chapter states it without softening. And the man who bore it did so willingly, so that the blessing Deuteronomy 27 never wrote down could reach people who had already earned the curse (Galatians 3:14).
When, Where, and Why
- When: In the fortieth year after Israel left Egypt, in the eleventh month, while the nation was camped on the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 1:3). The ceremony itself was to be held later, after the Jordan crossing, and Joshua 8:30-35 records it happening after the battle at Ai.
- Where: Moses speaks in Moab, east of the Jordan. The ceremony belongs to Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, two ridges facing each other across a narrow valley above Shechem, near the middle of the land. Ebal is the barer of the two and Gerizim the greener, and Shechem carries the memory of Abraham’s altar from centuries earlier (Genesis 12:6-7).
- Why: Moses had already pointed Israel toward Gerizim and Ebal earlier in the book (Deuteronomy 11:26-32), and this chapter gives the working instructions for it. Israel was about to take possession of land held on stated terms, and Moses records how those terms were to be accepted publicly. Agreements of this period were commonly ratified by writing them down, depositing them, and reading the penalties aloud before witnesses. Moses has the nation itself act as the witness, so no Israelite could later claim the terms were never explained.
Key Verses
“And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” (Deuteronomy 27:8)
Write all the words of this law on the stones so it can be read easily. God wanted his law legible to any Israelite who walked past it, and the instruction is about clarity rather than craftsmanship.
“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.”
Deuteronomy 27:9
To “take heed and hearken” is to pay attention and listen, so Moses and the priests are telling Israel to stop and listen, because today it has become God’s people. Verse 10 then says “therefore” and gives the command to obey, so belonging comes first and obedience follows from it.
“Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
Deuteronomy 27:19
To “pervert the judgment” of someone is to twist a legal decision against them, so this curse falls on anyone who rigs a case against a foreigner, an orphan or a widow. Those were among the least able to defend themselves in an Israelite court, and God puts their cases under his own protection.
“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
Deuteronomy 27:26
To “confirm” the law is to carry it out, so anyone who fails to keep the whole law is under God’s curse. Paul quotes this verse in Galatians 3:10, and it is what turns a list of eleven avoidable sins into a sentence nobody in the crowd could escape.
Key Lessons from Deuteronomy 27
- God had his law written where anyone could read it and told Israel to write it plainly, so reading it for yourself was never meant to require an expert (Deuteronomy 27:8).
- The altar had to be built of stones no tool had shaped, so the worship God asked for rested on what he provided rather than on anybody’s skill (Deuteronomy 27:5-6).
- So many of these curses name what is done out of sight that no Israelite could treat a private sin as something God had not noticed (Deuteronomy 27:15, 24).
- God puts his own curse on anyone who rigs a case against the foreigner, the orphan or the widow, so the treatment of the powerless is something he settles himself (Deuteronomy 27:19).
- Israel was to answer Amen to a sentence that included itself, and agreeing that God is right about sin is not the same thing as being able to keep his law (Deuteronomy 27:26).
For the wider shape of the book, see our Book of Deuteronomy Summary by Chapter. To go deeper into the lessons from this chapter, read our full study: Lessons from Deuteronomy 27.
Bible Study Questions
- Read Deuteronomy 27:2-8. What two separate things was Israel told to build on Mount Ebal, and what was each one for?
- Verse 8 says the law was to be written “very plainly.” Why do you think God added that requirement, and what does it suggest about how he wants his word handled today?
- Look at verses 9 and 10 together. Which comes first, becoming God’s people or obeying him, and what difference does that order make?
- Go through the twelve curses in verses 15 to 26. What do most of them have in common, and why might God have chosen those particular sins for a public ceremony?
- Six tribes are appointed to speak a blessing in verse 12, and no blessing is written down anywhere in the chapter. What effect does that have on how it ends?
- Read Deuteronomy 27:26 alongside Galatians 3:10 and 3:13. What does Paul say happened to the curse Israel agreed to that day?
- Every man in Israel had to say Amen out loud to verse 26, in public. Where in your own life would honestly agreeing with God about a sin cost you something?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Deuteronomy 27 and Deuteronomy 28?
Deuteronomy 27 sets up the ceremony and gives twelve curses; Deuteronomy 28 gives the blessings and the curses in full detail. Chapter 27 is procedure, telling Israel where to stand, what to build and what to say. Chapter 28 is the content of the covenant terms, and it is far longer.
Is Deuteronomy 27 a prophecy?
No, it is covenant instruction. Moses is telling Israel how to formally accept the law once it enters the land, and the twelve curses are the sanctions of that agreement rather than predictions about particular people. The passages predicting Israel’s removal from the land belong to chapters 28 to 30.
Where are Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim today?
They stand on either side of the city of Nablus in the central highlands of the West Bank, which sits on the site of biblical Shechem. Ebal is the northern and barer of the two, Gerizim the southern and greener. Both are still climbable and the valley between them is still narrow.
What is the Mount Ebal curse tablet?
It is a small folded lead object recovered in 2019 from sifted excavation debris at the Mount Ebal site, announced in 2022 as carrying a very early Hebrew curse inscription. The reading is disputed, and several peer reviewed responses argue there is not enough evidence that the object bears legible writing at all. Nothing in Deuteronomy 27 depends on it either way.
Do the curses in Deuteronomy 27 fall on Christians today?
Paul answers this directly: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). The curse of the law is real, and Jesus took it. That does not make the sins in this list harmless, and the same grace that saves teaches believers to turn from every one of them (Titus 2:11-12).
Why do some traditions say Mount Gerizim instead of Mount Ebal?
The Samaritan Pentateuch reads Gerizim in verse 4 where the Hebrew text nearly all English Bibles follow reads Ebal. Most scholars judge the Samaritan wording a later change made to support the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. That long argument over which mountain God chose is the one the Samaritan woman raises with Jesus in John 4:20.
When was the ceremony in Deuteronomy 27 actually carried out?
Joshua 8:30-35 records it, after Israel had crossed the Jordan and recovered from its defeat at Ai. Joshua built an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal, wrote a copy of the law on the stones, and read the blessings and the curses to the whole assembly. Women, children and foreigners living among Israel were all present for it.
Read the chapter in another translation at Deuteronomy 27 on Bible Gateway, or take the Deuteronomy 27 Bible quiz to test what you remember.
Deuteronomy 27, The Full Text (KJV)
Read the full chapter below for reference.
1 And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.
2 And 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:
3 And 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.
4 Therefore 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.
5 And 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.
6 Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:
7 And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God.
8 And 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.
10 Thou 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,
12 These 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:
13 And 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,
15 Cursed 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.
16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.
19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
20 Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
21 Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.
22 Cursed 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.
23 Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.
24 Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.
25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
