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.
If you truly obey what the Lord your God tells you, and carefully follow all his commandments that I'm giving you today, then the Lord your God will place you high above 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:
You will have all the following blessings and even more, if you do what the Lord your God says.
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
You will be blessed when you're in the town; you will be blessed when you're in the countryside.
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.
You will be blessed with many children. You will be blessed with good harvests. You will be blessed with livestock—your cattle will have many calves, and your sheep will have many lambs.
5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
You will be blessed with plenty of bread.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
You will be blessed wherever you go and in everything you do.
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.
The Lord will defeat the enemies who come to attack you. They will come at you from one direction, but they will scatter seven different 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 bless your income and everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the country he 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 make you his holy people, just as he promised you, if you obey the Lord your God's commandments and follow 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.
Then everyone on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his, and they will be afraid 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.
The Lord will make you very prosperous. You will have many children, your livestock will produce plenty of young, and your land will grow good harvests—all this in the country the Lord promised your forefathers 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.
The Lord will provide rain for your land at the right time from his heavenly storehouse to bless all your work growing crops. You will lend money to many nations but you won't need to borrow from any of them.
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 put you in first place, not the last. You will only go up, never down, as long as you listen to and follow carefully the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today.
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.
Don't deviate from any of my instructions today. Don't go and worship other gods.
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 don't obey the Lord your God by following carefully all his commandments and regulations I'm giving you today, then you will experience all the following curses and more:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
You will be cursed when you're in the town; you will be cursed when you're in the countryside.
17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
You will be cursed by not having bread.
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.
You will be cursed by not having children, and by not having good harvests, and by your cattle not having calves, and your sheep not having lambs.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
You will be cursed wherever you go and in everything you do.
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 you curses, making you confused and frustrated in everything you do, until you are brought down and die quickly because of the evil that you've done by abandoning him.
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 give you infectious diseases until he has wiped you out from the country you are entering town.
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.
Then Lord will hit you with sickness that makes you waste away, with a severe fever and swelling like you're burning up, while your crops are damaged by drought and blight and mildew. These will attack you until you die.
23 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
The sky above you will be like bronze, and the earth beneath you will be like 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 change the rain of your land into dust and sand; it will fall from the sky on you until you're destroyed.
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 have your enemies defeat you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will scatter seven different ways. Everyone on earth will be horrified at what happens to you.
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 dead bodies will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare 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 give you boils like he did to the Egyptians, with swellings and scabs and skin rashes that can't be cured.
28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
The Lord will send you mad and make you blind and confused,
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.
so that even at noon you will be groping around like a blind man in the dark. You won't be successful in what you do. You'll be persecuted and robbed the whole time, and no one will come and save you.
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 be engaged to marry a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house but you won't live in it. You will plant a vineyard but won't benefit from any harvest.
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 slaughtered right in front of you, but you won't eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and won't be returned to you. Your sheep will be taken by your enemies, and no one will come and save 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 daughters will be taken away as slaves to other nations while you watch, and you'll wear your eyes out crying over them, but there won't be anything you can do about it.
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.
A foreign nation you've never heard of will eat all the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will be continually persecuted and downtrodden.
34 You will be driven mad by the sights you see.
What you see will drive you mad.
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 give you painful boils that can't be cured on your knees and thighs, in fact from head to toe.
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.
The Lord will exile you and your chosen king you to a foreign nation that neither you nor your forefathers had ever heard of. There you will worship other gods, idols made 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.
You will be something that horrifies all the nations where you've been exiled by the Lord. They will laugh at you and ridicule you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
You will sow a lot of seed in the field, but harvest very little because the locusts will destroy 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 plant and vineyards and care for them, but you won't harvest the grapes or drink the wine, because they'll be eaten by maggots.
40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
You will have olive trees all over the country but you won't have any olive oil to use, because the olives will drop early from the trees.
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 you won't have them for long, because they will be taken off into captivity as slaves.
42 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
Locust swarms will destroy all your trees and crops.
43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
Foreigners who live with you will rise higher and higher in status above you, while you sink 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.
They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the first, and you will be the last.
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.
All these curses will come down on you. They will chase after you and attack you until you die because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commandments and regulations he gave you.
46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever.
They will be lasting evidence, visible signs of what happened to you and your descendants.
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with happiness and with a joyful attitude,
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.
you will serve your enemies that the Lord sends to attack you with hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty. He will tie an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed 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 bring a nation to attack you from a long way off, from the ends of the earth. They will swoop down upon you like an eagle, this nation whose language you won't understand.
50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
They are a ruthless nation who don't respect for the old and have no mercy on 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.
They will eat your lambs and calves and the crops you've grown until you are destroyed. They won't leave you any grain or new wine or olive oil, no calves from your herds or lambs from your flocks, so you'll die of starvation.
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.
They will besiege all the towns in your country, until the high, fortified walls that you trust in have fallen. They will besiege all your towns in your country that 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.
You'll end up eating your children, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God gave you, because of the siege and the suffering that your enemy will cause you.
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,
The kindest and most sensitive man among you will refuse to share his food with his brother, the wife he loves, and those of his own children who are left.
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.
He will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children that he's forced to eat because he doesn't have anything else because of the siege and suffering your enemy has caused you in 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 kindest and most sensitive woman among you, so kind and sensitive she wouldn't ever go barefoot on the ground, will refuse to share her food, a baby and its afterbirth, with the husband she loves and her own son and 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.
She will even secretly eat her the babies she gives birth to and the afterbirth, since she doesn't have anything else because of the siege and suffering your enemy has caused you in 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 don't carefully observe all these laws written down in this book so that you may show respect for this glorious and awesome Lord your God,
59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
he will bring down on you and your descendants unbelievable disasters, intense and long-lasting diseases, and terrible and incurable sicknesses.
60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.
He will give you all the diseases you were terrified of in Egypt, and they will stay with you.
61 The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
The Lord will also give you every sickness and disease, even those not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
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.
You who grew as numerous as the stars in the sky will end up as only a few, because you would not obey what Lord your God told you.
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.
In the same way as he wanted to make you prosperous and increase in number, so now he will wipe you out and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the country you are going in to own.
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.
The Lord will scatter you among the nations all over the earth, and there you will worship other gods, gods made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers had never heard of.
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.
You won't find any place to rest among those nations, no place of your own. The Lord will make you anxious, with failing eyesight and a mind full of despair.
66 So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.
You will see your life hanging in the balance as you doubt. You will be afraid day and night, terrified you won't survive.
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'll say, “I wish it was evening!” and in the evening you'll say, “I wish it was morning!” because you're so frightened by the terrifying things you 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.”
The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships to a place that I said you weren't ever meant to see again. You will put yourselves on sale there to your enemies as male and female slaves, but nobody will want to buy you.
