Nitzavim - Back to the Beginning (Leader's Version)

(9) You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, (10) your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer — (11) to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God, which the Eternal your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; (12) to the end that God may establish you this day as God's people and be your God, as God promised you and as God swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (13) I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, (14) but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the Eternal our God and with those who are not with us here this day.

(10) Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran. (11) He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.

(12) He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (13) And the Eternal was standing beside him and God said, “I am the Eternal, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring. (14) Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants. (15) Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

(16) Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Eternal is present in this place, and I did not know it!” (17) Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

(18) Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. (19) He named that site Bethel; but previously the name of the city had been Luz. (20) Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, (21) and if I return safe to my father’s house—the Eternal shall be my God. (22) And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s abode; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.”

(69) These are the terms of the covenant which the Eternal commanded Moses to conclude with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which God had made with them at Horeb.

(16) The Eternal your God commands you this day to observe these laws and rules; observe them faithfully with all your heart and soul. (17) You have affirmed this day that the Eternal is your God, that you will walk in God's ways, that you will observe God's laws and commandments and rules, and that you will listen to God's voice. (18) And the Eternal has affirmed this day that you are, as God promised you, God's treasured people who shall observe all God's commandments, (19) and that God will set you, in fame and renown and glory, high above all the nations that God has made; and that you shall be, as God promised, a holy people to the Eternal your God.

(1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk in My ways and be blameless. (2) I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.” (3) Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further, (4) “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. (5) And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. (6) I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you. (7) I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. (8) I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God.” (9) God further said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant.

(2) God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Eternal. (3) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name YHVH. (4) I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. (5) I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. (6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the Eternal. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. (7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the Eternal, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the Eternal.”

(3) and Moses went up to God. The Eternal called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: (4) ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. (5) Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, (6) but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

(3) Moses went and repeated to the people all the commands of the Eternal and all the rules; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, “All the things that the Eternal has commanded we will do!”

(4) Moses then wrote down all the commands of the Eternal.

Early in the morning, he set up an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

(5) He designated some young men among the Israelites, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as offerings of well-being to the Eternal. (6) Moses took one part of the blood and put it in basins, and the other part of the blood he dashed against the altar.

(7) Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the Eternal has spoken we will faithfully do!” (8) Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Eternal now makes with you concerning all these commands.”

(1) Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying: Observe all the Instruction that I enjoin upon you this day. (2) As soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster (3) and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching. When you cross over to enter the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Eternal, the God of your fathers, promised you— (4) upon crossing the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster.

(5) There, too, you shall build an altar to the Eternal your God, an altar of stones. Do not wield an iron tool over them; (6) you must build the altar of the Eternal your God of unhewn stones. You shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Eternal your God, (7) and you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing before the Eternal your God.

(8) And on those stones you shall inscribe every word of this Teaching most distinctly.

(69) These are the terms of the covenant which the Eternal commanded Moses to conclude with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.

(9) You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, (10) your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer— (11) to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God, which the Eternal your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions;