Deuteronomy 27:1-8
When Israel crosses the Jordan, the law must be made public and worship must be ordered before the Lord, showing that life in the land rests on covenant revelation and sacrificial fellowship with God.
1 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandment which I command you today.
2 It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster.
3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over, that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
4 It shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall coat them with plaster.
5 There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones. You shall not use any iron tool on them.
6 You shall build Yahweh your God’s altar of uncut stones. You shall offer burnt offerings on it to Yahweh your God.
7 You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God.
8 You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
When Israel crosses the Jordan, the law must be made public and worship must be ordered before the LORD, showing that life in the land rests on covenant revelation and sacrificial fellowship with God.
Moses and the elders command Israel to mark entry into the land by publicly inscribing the law on plastered stones, building an untooled-stone altar on Mount Ebal, and offering sacrifices with rejoicing before the LORD, so that possession of the land is immediately ordered by revealed covenant word and worship.
The passage addresses Israel on the plains of Moab before crossing the Jordan. Moses, together with Israel's elders, commands a ceremony to be performed after entry into Canaan, especially on Mount Ebal, the mountain associated with covenant curse in Deuteronomy 11. The instruction anticipates Israel's later fulfillment under Joshua.
The Covenant Written, Worshiped, and Affirmed Under Curse
The people who receive the LORD's land must live under the LORD's written word, worship before Him, and confess the justice of His curse against covenant-breaking sin.