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again strongly enjoined. The laws respecting first-fruits, tithes, and other offerings, are particularly announced. When Moses had finished revealing all these laws, a solemn form of covenanting between God and the people is given; and they avouched the Lord to be their God, and promised obedience; and the Lord avouched them to be his peculiar people.

SECTION L.

THE LAW TO BE INSCRIBED ON PLAISTERED STONES-THE BLESSINGS FROM MOUNT GERIZZIM, AND CURSES FROM MOUNT EBAL.

MOSES having now completed the recapitulation of the laws and ordinances, which had been given by divine command, with the elders of Israel exhorted the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. 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. 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. Therefore it shall be when ye are 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. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt not lift up an iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt offer burnt-offerings thereon, unto the Lord thy God. And thou shalt offer peace-offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly."

"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. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and statutes, which I command you this day."

"And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 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. And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse, Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali." Then he enumerated the curses which the Levites should denounce with a loud voice; and at every denunciation the whole congregation were to say, Amen. The crimes unto which these curses were annexed, were

idolatry; dishonouring of parents; removing a neighbour's land-mark; perverting the judgment of the stranger, the fatherless, and widow; incest with a father's wife; bestiality; incest with a sister, half-sister, or wife's mother; secret assault upon a neighbour; the slaying of the innocent for reward. And at the close, there was a general curse upon every man who did not confirm all the words of the law to do them. Then Moses proceeded to enumerate the blessings with which the Lord would bless them if they should prove obedient. "The Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth; and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face. They shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle; and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee her good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season; and to bless all the work of thine hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God; which I command thee this day to observe and do them. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words, which I command thee this day, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."

Then Moses went on with a series of curses answering to the blessings already mentioned. But not contented with these general denunciations of the divine judgments, he enters into a particular enumeration and vivid description of the kinds of misery which should certainly overtake them, if they proved disobedient and rebellious. "The Lord," says he, "shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest

thine hand unto for to do; until thou be destroyed, and thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee until he have consumed thee off the land whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And the heaven that is over thy head shall be brass; and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down upon thee until thou be destroyed. The Lord shall make thee to be smitten before thine enemies. Thou shalt go out one way, and flee seven ways before them; AND

SHALT BE REMOVED INTO ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH.

And thy carcase shall be meat unto all the fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The Lord shall smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. And thou shalt grope at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee." "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another people, and thine eyes shall look and fail with longing for them, all the day long; and there shall be no might in thy hand. The fruit of thy land and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always; so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the soul of thy foot unto the top of thy head. The Lord shall bring thee and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations, whither the Lord shall lead thee. Thou shalt carry much seed into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them; but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees through all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All the trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within thy land, shall

get above thee very high: and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee and thou shalt not lend to him, he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail.

Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and consume thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded thee. And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not thy God with joyfulness, and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things. Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."

SECTION LI.

A PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, AND CAPTIVITY OF THE JEWS.

"THE Lord will bring a nation against thee from afar, from the ends of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young. And he shall eat the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed; which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil; or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come. down, wherein thou trustest, throughout all thy land; which the Lord thy God hath given thee; in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee. So that the man that is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom; and towards the remnant of his children which he shall have; so that he will not give to any of them the flesh of his children, whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness; her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her daughter, and towards her young one that cometh from between her feet; and towards her children which she shall bear; for she shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly in the siege, and straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not

observe to do all the words of this law, that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this dreadful and glorious name, THE LORD THY GOD. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful; and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues and of long continuance; and sore sickness, and of long continuance. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou art destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number; whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no case, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. And thou shalt fear day and night; and shalt have none assu rance of thy life. In the morning, thou shalt say, Would God it were even! And at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning; for the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou shalt fear; and for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women; and no man shall buy you."

SECTION LII.

COVENANT OF HOREB RENEWED IN THE PLAINS OF MOAB.

MOSES having finished the recital of past events, and having pronounced blessings on obedience, and denounced curses on disobedience, now, in the plains of Moab, assembled the whole congregation, and caused them afresh to enter into covenant with God, saying, "Ye stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God, your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel. Your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water; that thou shouldest

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