Deuteronomy 28
1 “Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
Now if you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep with care all these orders which I have given you today, then the Lord your God will put you high over all the nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
And all these blessings will come on you and overtake you, if your ears are open to the voice of the Lord your God.
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
A blessing will be on you in the town, and a blessing in the field.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock— the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
A blessing will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock.
5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
A blessing will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
A blessing will be on your coming in and on your going out.
7 The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.
By the power of the Lord, those who take arms against you will be overcome before you: they will come out against you one way, and will go in flight from you seven ways.
8 The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.
The Lord will send his blessing on your store-houses and on everything to which you put your hand: his blessing will be on you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
The Lord will keep you as a people holy to himself, as he has said to you in his oath, if you keep the orders of the Lord your God and go on walking in his ways.
10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.
And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is on you, and they will go in fear of you.
11 The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
And the Lord will make you fertile in every good thing, in the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your fields, in the land which the Lord, by his oath to your fathers, said he would give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.
Opening his store-house in heaven, the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time, blessing all the work of your hands: other nations will make use of your wealth, and you will have no need of theirs.
13 The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today.
The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; and you will ever have the highest place, if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God which I give you today, to keep and to do them;
14 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.
Not turning away from any of the orders which I give you today, to the right hand or to the left, or going after any other gods to give them worship.
15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to do all his orders and his laws which I give you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
You will be cursed in the town and cursed in the field.
17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.
18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
A curse will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20 The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.
The Lord will send on you cursing and trouble and punishment in everything to which you put your hand, till sudden destruction overtakes you; because of your evil ways in which you have been false to me.
21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.
The Lord will send disease after disease on you, till you have been cut off by death from the land to which you are going.
22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
The Lord will send wasting disease, and burning pain, and flaming heat against you, keeping back the rain till your land is waste and dead; so will it be till your destruction is complete.
23 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
And the heaven over your heads will be brass, and the earth under you hard as iron.
24 The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust, sending it down on you from heaven till your destruction is complete.
25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
The Lord will let you be overcome by your haters: you will go out against them one way, and you will go in flight before them seven ways: you will be the cause of fear among all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
Your bodies will be meat for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth; there will be no one to send them away.
27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
The Lord will send on you the disease of Egypt, and other sorts of skin diseases which nothing will make well.
28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
He will make your minds diseased, and your eyes blind, and your hearts wasted with fear:
29 and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.
You will go feeling your way when the sun is high, like a blind man for whom all is dark, and nothing will go well for you: you will be crushed and made poor for ever, and you will have no saviour.
30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.
You will take a wife, but another man will have the use of her: the house which your hands have made will never be your resting-place: you will make a vine-garden, and never take the fruit of it.
31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.
Your ox will be put to death before your eyes, but its flesh will not be your food: your ass will be violently taken away before your face, and will not be given back to you: your sheep will be given to your haters, and there will be no saviour for you.
32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will be wasted away with looking and weeping for them all the day: and you will have no power to do anything.
33 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
The fruit of your land and all the work of your hands will be food for a nation which is strange to you and to your fathers; you will only be crushed down and kept under for ever:
34 You will be driven mad by the sights you see.
So that the things which your eyes have to see will send you out of your minds.
35 The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
The Lord will send a skin disease, attacking your knees and your legs, bursting out from your feet to the top of your head, so that nothing will make you well.
36 The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
And you, and the king whom you have put over you, will the Lord take away to a nation strange to you and to your fathers; there you will be servants to other gods of wood and stone.
37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
And you will become a wonder and a name of shame among all the nations where the Lord will take you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
You will take much seed out into the field, and get little in; for the locust will get it.
39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
You will put in vines and take care of them, but you will get no wine or grapes from them; for they will be food for worms.
40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
Your land will be full of olive-trees, but there will be no oil for the comfort of your body; for your olive-tree will give no fruit.
41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
You will have sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go away prisoners into a strange land.
42 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
All your trees and the fruit of your land will be the locust's.
43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
The man from a strange land who is living among you will be lifted up higher and higher over you, while you go down lower and lower.
44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.
He will let you have his wealth at interest, and will have no need of yours: he will be the head and you the tail.
45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.
And all these curses will come after you and overtake you, till your destruction is complete; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, or keep his laws and his orders which he gave you:
46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever.
These things will come on you and on your seed, to be a sign and a wonder for ever;
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
Because you did not give honour to the Lord your God, worshipping him gladly, with joy in your hearts on account of all your wealth of good things;
48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
For this cause you will become servants to those whom the Lord your God will send against you, without food and drink and clothing, and in need of all things: and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck till he has put an end to you.
49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
The Lord will send a nation against you from the farthest ends of the earth, coming with the flight of an eagle; a nation whose language is strange to you;
50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
A hard-faced nation, who will have no respect for the old or mercy for the young:
51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.
He will take the fruit of your cattle and of your land till death puts an end to you: he will let you have nothing of your grain or wine or oil or any of the increase of your cattle or the young of your flock, till he has made your destruction complete.
52 They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.
Your towns will be shut in by his armies, till your high walls, in which you put your faith, have come down: his armies will be round your towns, through all your land which the Lord your God has given you.
53 Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.
And your food will be the fruit of your body, the flesh of the sons and daughters which the Lord your God has given you; because of your bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters.
54 The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,
That man among you who is soft and used to comfort will be hard and cruel to his brother, and to his dear wife, and to of those his children who are still living;
55 refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates.
And will not give to any of them the flesh of his children which will be his food because he has no other; in the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.
56 The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter
The most soft and delicate of your women, who would not so much as put her foot on the earth, so delicate is she, will be hard-hearted to her husband and to her son and to her daughter;
57 the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates.
And to her baby newly come to birth, and to the children of her body; for having no other food, she will make a meal of them secretly, because of her bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.
58 If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—
If you will not take care to do all the words of this law, recorded in this book, honouring that name of glory and of fear, THE LORD YOUR GOD;
59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
Then the Lord your God will make your punishment, and the punishment of your seed, a thing to be wondered at; great punishments and cruel diseases stretching on through long years.
60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.
He will send on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which were a cause of fear to you, and they will take you in their grip.
61 The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
And all the diseases and the pains not recorded in the book of this law will the Lord send on you till your destruction is complete.
62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
And you will become a very small band, though your numbers were like the stars of heaven; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God.
63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and increasing you, so the Lord will take pleasure in cutting you off and causing your destruction, and you will be uprooted from the land which you are about to take as your heritage.
64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
And the Lord will send you wandering among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other: there you will be servants to other gods, of wood and stone, gods of which you and your fathers had no knowledge.
65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
And even among these nations there will be no peace for you, and no rest for your feet: but the Lord will give you there a shaking heart and wasting eyes and weariness of soul:
66 So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.
Your very life will be hanging in doubt before you, and day and night will be dark with fears, and nothing in life will be certain:
67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.
In the morning you will say, If only it was evening! And at evening you will say, If only morning would come! Because of the fear in your hearts and the things which your eyes will see.
68 The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
And the Lord will take you back to Egypt again in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You will never see it again: there you will be offering yourselves as men-servants and women-servants to your haters for a price, and no man will take you.
