8:34a

Afterward: The word Afterward refers to the time after the people arranged themselves in the two groups. Many English versions use the word “then” to signal this next event. Use the connecting word that is most natural in your language to indicate this.

Joshua read aloud all the words of the law: The clause Joshua read aloud all the words of the law indicates that Joshua read aloud the entire teachings of Moses.

the blessings and the curses: The phrase the blessings and the curses refers to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 27:12–28:68. Moses said that they would receive blessings if they obeyed Yahweh, but they would experience curses if they did not obey him.

8:34b

according to all that is written in the Book of the Law: The phrase according to all that is written in the Book of the Law repeats 8:34a in different words. The information that Joshua read the entire Book of the Law is repeated to emphasize its importance. Find a way to emphasize the reading of the law that is natural in your language.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.