(כד) אָר֕וּר מַכֵּ֥ה רֵעֵ֖הוּ בַּסָּ֑תֶר וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃ (ס)
(כה) אָרוּר֙ לֹקֵ֣חַ שֹׁ֔חַד לְהַכּ֥וֹת נֶ֖פֶשׁ דָּ֣ם נָקִ֑י וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃ (ס)
(כו) אָר֗וּר אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹא־יָקִ֛ים אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י הַתּוֹרָֽה־הַזֹּ֖את לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אוֹתָ֑ם וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃ (פ)
FOX
(24) Damned be he that strikes down his neighbor in secret! And all the people are to say: Amen!
(25) Damned be he that takes a bribe, (thus) striking-down a life (through) innocent blood! And all the people are to say: Amen!
(26) Damned be he that does not fulfill the words of this Instruction, to observe them! And all the people are to say: Amen!
Jewish Study Bible/JPS
24 Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret.--And all the people shall say, Amen. 25 Cursed be he who accepts a bribe **in the case of the murder of** an innocent person.--And all the people shall say, Amen. 26 Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.--And all the people shall say, Amen.
Jewish Study Bible: the phrase inside the ** is noted as "I.e., to acquit the murderer; others 'to slay.'"
Friedman
24 'Cursed be one who strikes his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 25 'Cursed be one who takes a bribe to strike a person--innocent blood.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' 26 'Cursed be one who will not uphold the words of this instruction, to do them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
JPS
24. strikes down. Hebrew makkeh, "strike," can refer to lethal or nonlethal blows. Often, when murder is meant, more explicit idioms such as makkeh nefesh, "strike mortally," are used, as in the next verse. This verse may be intentionally equivocal so as to cover all types of clandestine assault.
(כד) מכה רעהו בסתר. על לשון הרע הוא אומר ראיתי ביסודו של רבי משה הדרשן, אחד עשר ארורים יש כאן, כנגד אחד עשר שבטים. וכנגד שמעון לא כתב ארור, לפי שלא היה בלבו לברכו לפני מותו כשברך שאר השבטים, לכך לא רצה לקללו:
(24) מכה רעהו בסתר [CURSED BE] HE THAT SMITETH HIS FELLOW SECRETLY — It is of slander that it here speaks (slander may be termed “smiting in secret”) (Pirke d'R. Eliezer 35). — I have seen in the Work of R. Moses the Preacher; There are here eleven verses beginning with the words “cursed be” corresponding to eleven tribes. In allusion to Simeon, however, he (Moses) did not write down a formula beginning with “cursed be”, because he had no intention to bless him before his death when he blessed the other tribes (the tribe of Simeon is the only one not mentioned in chapter 33. which contains the blessings that Moses bestowed on the tribes), therefore he did not want to curse him either.
(א) כַּמָּה גָּדוֹל אִסוּר לָשׁוֹן הָרָע, שֶׁאְסַרְתּוֹ הַתּוֹרָה אֲפִלּוּ עַל אֱמֶת וּבְכָל גַּוְנֵי, דְּלֹא מִּבָּעֵי אִם הוּא שׁוֹמֵר אֶת עַצְמוֹ לְסַפֵּר עָלָיו בַּסֵתֶר וּמַקְפִּיד עַל זֶה שֶׁלֹּא יִתְגַּלֶּה לוֹ דְּאָסוּר, שֶׁעַל יְדֵי זֶה מְקַבֵּל עַל עַצְּמוֹ גַּם כֵּן אָרוּר, כְּמָה דִכְתִיב "אָרוּר מַכֶּה רֵעֵהוּ בַּסָתֶר", אֶלָּא אֲפִלּוּ אִם הוּא מְשַׁעֵר בְּעַצְּמוֹ, (א) שֶׁהָיָה אוֹמֵר דָּבָר זֶה אַךְ בְּפָנָיו, אוֹ שֶׁהוּא מְסַפֵּר לָשׁוֹן הָרָע על חֲבֵרוֹ בְּפָנָיו מַמָּשׁ, גַּם בֵּן אָסוּר וְלָשׁוֹן הָרָע מִקְרֵי, וּבְצַּד אֶחָד גָּדוֹל אִסוּרוֹ בְּפָנָיו מִשֶּׁלֹּא בְּפָנָיו, דִּבְפָנָיו, לְבַד אִסוּר לָשׁוֹן הָרָע, הוּא מַלְבִּישׁ אֶת עַצְּמוֹ עַל יְדֵי זֶה בְּמִדַּת הָעַזּוּת וְהַחֻצְפָּה וְהוּא מְעוֹרֵר יוֹתֵר מְדָנִים עַל יְדֵי זֶה, וְכַמָּה פְּעָמִים בָּא עַל יְדֵי זֶה גַּם כֵּן לִידֵי הַלְבָּנַת פָּנִים, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהֶאֱרַכְנוּ לְעֵיל בַּפְּתִיחָה בְּלָאו דְּ"לֹא תִשָּׂא עָלָיו חֵטְא". עַיֵּן שָׁם.
How great is the issur of lashon hara, which the Torah has forbidden even if true and in all modes. For not alone if he is careful to speak it only in private and to insist that it not be revealed to him [who is spoken about] is it forbidden, [for through this he also brings a curse upon himself, viz. (Deut. 27:24): "Cursed be he who smites his neighbor in secret"], but even if he knows that he would speak it even to his face, or actually speaks lashon hara to his face, even so it is forbidden and called "lashon hara." And in one respect, the issur is greater "to his face" than not to his face." For in his presence, aside from the issur of lashon hara, he [the speaker] clothes himself with the trait of brazenness and audacity, and arouses more strife thereby. And very often this leads also to the "whitening of (the other's) face (in shame)," as we have enlarged upon in the introduction concerning the negative commandment of (Lev. 19:17): "Do not bear sin because of him."
JPS
25. in the case of the murder of an innocent person Rather, "to mortally strike an innocent person." Conceivably this refers to a hired assassin or to a false witness whose testimony leads to the execution of an innocent defendant. However, since biblical laws about accepting bribes refer to judges, it more likely refers to a judge who accepts a bribe to condemn an innocent defendant to death....
(כו) ארור אשר לא יקים - על כל עבירות שבסתר.
(26) ארור אשר לא יקים, this is a blanket curse applying to all sins committed in private, the sinner making sure he is not observed.
(כו) אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת לעשות אותם. שלא יקיים ויודה שראוי לעשות את כולם אבל תהיה איזו מצוה מהם לבטלה אצלו והוא החשוד לדבר אחד:
(26) אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת לעשות אותם, who neither observes nor admits that they are all worth observing. but, who in his arrogance, considers some commandment or commandment of the Torah not worth his while observing. In the Talmud such a person is considered a “heretic because he rejects a single one of G’d’s commandments.”
Friedman
27:26. who will not uphold the words of this instruction. The curses seem like a list of sundry examples of the laws that Moses has given until now. Most of the things that are forbidden are uncommon and easy to avoid doing. So the people as a whole will readily say the "Amen" to them. But then the final curse is on anyone who will not support and perform "the words of this Torah" --in other words: the Torah as a whole. The people are led to a point at which they must say "Amen" to the full Torah.
JPS
26. The final anathema refers to all other provisions of the Teaching. As Rashi comments, this constitutes an oath to uphold the entire Teaching.
When Moses refers to "this Teaching," he means the Teaching he is currently expounding. Here, however, the phrase is part of what the Levites will say at a later date. If this ceremony was to be performed at Mount Ebal, at the same time as the others in this chapter, "this Teaching" may refer to the copy of the Teaching inscribed on the stones that stood nearby.