Ki Tavo () are the second and third words and the incipits of the 50th weekly Torah portion () in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the Book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8. The tells of the ceremony of the First Fruits (), tithes, the blessings from observance, and (, ) from violation of the law.
The parashah is made up of 6,811 Hebrew letters, 1,747 Hebrew words, 122 verses, and 261 lines in a Torah scroll (). Jews generally read it in September, or rarely in late August.
Readings In traditional Shabbat Torah reading, the is divided into seven readings, or (). In the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, has four "open portion" () divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs), which are often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (). has several further subdivisions, called "closed portion" () divisions, which are often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter () within the open portion divisions. The first open portion spans the first three readings. The second open portion contains all of the fourth and fifth readings and part of the sixth reading. The third open portion constitutes the balance of the sixth reading, which enumerates a series of curses. The fourth open portion is identical with the seventh reading. Closed portion divisions coincide with the first two readings. Closed portion divisions further divide the fourth, fifth, and sixth readings, and a string of 11 closed portion divisions set off a series of curses in the fifth reading.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2009), pages 162–84.
First reading—Deuteronomy 26:1–11 In the first reading, Moses directed the Israelites that when they entered the land that God was giving them, they were to take some of every first fruit of the soil that they harvested, put it in a basket, and take it to the place God would choose. There, they were to go to the () in charge and acknowledge that they had entered the land that God swore to their fathers.. The priest was to set the basket down in front of the altar.. They were then to recite:
The supplicants were to leave their offerings before the altar, bow before God, and then eat the produce God had provided to them with the land's Levites and (, ). The first reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 164.
Second reading—Deuteronomy 26:12–15 In the second reading, Moses instructed that when the Israelites had given their () to the Levites, the stranger, the fatherless, and widows living amongst them in the third year (the year of tithing), they were to declare before God:
The second reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 166.
Third reading—Deuteronomy 26:16–19 In the third reading, Moses exhorted the Israelites to diligently observe the laws God was bestowing upon them, with wholehearted commitment and complete sincerity, affirming their declaration that God of Israel is their God and that they would obey him. God affirmed that the Israelites were God's treasured people, that God would set them high above all the nations in fame and glory, and that they would be a holy people () to God. The third reading and the first open portion end here with the end of chapter 26.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 167.
Fourth reading—Deuteronomy 27:1–10 In the fourth reading, Moses and the elders charged the people that as soon as they had crossed the Jordan River, they were to set up large stones on Mount Ebal, coat them with plaster, and inscribe on them all the words of the Torah.. There they were also to build an altar to God made of stones on which no iron tool had struck, and they were to offer on it offerings to God and rejoice.. A closed portion ends here with Deuteronomy 27:8.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 168.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses and the priests told all Israel to hear: They had become the people of God, and should heed God and observe God's commandments.. The fourth reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 169.
Fifth reading—Deuteronomy 27:11–28:6 In the fifth reading, Moses charged the people that after they had crossed the Jordan, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin were to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings were spoken. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphthali were to stand on Mount Ebal when the curses were spoken.. The Levites were then to loudly curse anyone who: made a sculptured image; insulted father or mother; moved a fellow countryman's landmark; misdirected a blind person; subverted the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow; lay with his father's wife; lay with any beast; lay with his sister; lay with his mother-in-law; struck down his fellow countryman in secret; accepted a bribe in a murder case; or otherwise would not observe the commandments; and for each curse all the people were to say, "Amen.". Eleven closed portion divisions set apart each of the curses, and the curses bring chapter 27 to an end.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, pages 169–71.
In the continuation of the reading, chapter 28 in the Christian Bible, Moses taught that, on the other hand, if the Israelites obeyed God and observed faithfully all the commandments, then God would set them high above all the nations of the earth; bless them in the city and the country; bless the issue of their wombs, the produce of their soil, and the fertility of their herds and flocks; bless their basket and their kneading bowl; and bless them in their comings and goings.. The fifth reading ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 172.
Sixth reading—Deuteronomy 28:7–69
In the sixth reading, Moses continued that if the Israelites obeyed God and observed faithfully all the commandments, then God would rout their enemies; bless them upon their barns and all their undertakings; bless them in the land; establish them as God's holy people; give them abounding prosperity; provide rain in season; and make them the head and not the tail.. The second open portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 174.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses taught that if they did not obey God and observe faithfully the commandments, then God would curse them in the city and the country; curse their basket and kneading bowl; curse the issue of their womb, the produce of their soil, and the fertility of their herds and flocks; curse them in their comings and goings; loose on them calamity, panic, and frustration in all their enterprises; make pestilence cling to them; strike them with tuberculosis, fever, inflammation, scorching heat, drought, blight, and mildew; turn the skies into copper and the earth into iron; make the rain into dust; rout them before their enemies; and strike them with the Egyptian inflammation, hemorrhoids, boil-scars, itch, madness, blindness, and dismay.. If they paid the bride price for a wife, another man would enjoy her; if they built a house, they would not live in it; if they planted a vineyard, they would not harvest it.. Their oxen would be slaughtered before their eyes, but they would not eat of it; their donkey would be seized and not returned; their flock would be delivered to their enemies; their sons and daughters would be delivered to another people; a people they did not know would eat the produce of their soil; they would be abused and downtrodden continually, until they were driven mad; God would afflict them at the knees and thighs with a severe inflammation; God would drive them to an unknown nation where they would serve other gods, of wood and stone; and they would be a byword among all the peoples.. Locusts would consume their seed, worms would devour their vineyards, the olives would drop off their olive trees, their sons and daughters would go into captivity, the cricket would take over all the trees and produce of their land, the stranger in their midst would rise above them, the stranger would be their creditor, and the stranger would be the head and they the tail.. Because they would not serve God in joy over abundance, they would have to serve in hunger, thirst, and nakedness, the enemies whom God would let loose against them.. God would bring against them a ruthless nation from afar, whose language they would not understand, to devour their cattle and produce of their soil and to shut them up in their towns until every mighty wall in which they trusted had come down.. And when they were shut up under siege, they would eat the flesh of their sons and daughters.. God would inflict extraordinary plagues and diseases on them until they would have a scant few left, for as God once delighted in making them prosperous and many, so would God delight in causing them to perish and diminish.. God would scatter them among all the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, but even among those nations, they would find no place to rest.. In the morning they would say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening they would say, "If only it were morning!". God would send them back to Egypt in galleys and they would offer themselves for sale as slaves, but none would buy.. The long closed portion of the curses ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 183.
The reading concludes with a summary statement that this is the covenant that God commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant that God made with the Israelites at Horeb (Mount Sinai). The sixth reading and the third open portion end here with the end of chapter 28.
Seventh reading—Deuteronomy 29:1–8 In the seventh reading, Moses reminded the Israelites that they had seen all that God had done to Pharaoh and Egypt, yet they did not understand. Moses led them through the wilderness 40 years, their clothes and sandals did not wear out, and they survived without bread to eat and wine to drink, so that they might know that the Lord was their God..
In the maftir () reading of Deuteronomy 29:6–8 that concludes the parashah,See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, page 184. Moses recounted that the Israelites defeated King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, took their land, and gave it to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.. Therefore, Moses urged them to observe all the commandments faithfully, that they might succeed in all that they undertook.. The seventh reading, the fourth open portion, and the parashah end here.
Readings according to the triennial cycle Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule:See, e.g., Richard Eisenberg, "A Complete Triennial Cycle for Reading the Torah," Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement: 1986–1990 (New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2001), pages 383–418. Year 1Year 2Year 32023, 2026, 2029 ...2024, 2027, 2030 ...2025, 2028, 2031 ...Reading26:1–27:1026:12–28:627:11–29:8126:1–326:12–1527:11–28:3226:4–826:16–1928:4–6326:9–1127:1–328:7–11426:12–1527:4–828:12–14526:16–1927:6–1028:15–69627:1–427:11–28:329:1–5727:5–1028:4–629:6–8Maftir27:7–1028:4–629:6–8
In ancient parallels