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.
And it shall come to pass, if thou wilt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee highest above all 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 shall come upon thee, and overtake thee; because thou wilt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be 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.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flocks.
5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-through.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
Blessed shalt thou be at thy coming in, and blessed shalt thou be at thy 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.
The Lord will cause thy enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: on one way shall they come out against thee, and on seven ways shall they flee before thee.
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 command upon thee the blessing in thy storehouse, and in all the acquisitions of thy hand; and he trill bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
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 raise thee up unto himself as a holy people, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou wilt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk 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 nations of the earth shall see, that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
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 thee pre-eminent for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers to give unto thee.
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 open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.
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.
And the Lord will constitute thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt only be uppermost, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou wilt hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day to observe and to do;
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.
And thou wilt not go aside from all the words which I command thee this day, to the right, or to the left, to go after strange gods, to serve them.
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 it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day: that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
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.
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of the flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
Cursed shalt thou be at thy coming in, and cursed shalt thou be at thy going 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 out against thee misfortune, confusion, and failure, in all the occupation of thy hand which thou mayest engage in; until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, that thou hast forsaken 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 cause the pestilence to cleave unto thee, until it have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
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 smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with extreme burning, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou be lost.
23 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
And thy heavens that are over thy head shall be copper, and the earth that is under thee shall be 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 give as the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be 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 cause thee to be smitten before thy enemies: on one way shalt thou go out against them, and on seven ways shalt thou flee before them; and thou shalt become a horror unto 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.
And thy carcass shall become food unto all the fowls of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth, but with no one 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 smite thee with the inflammatory disease of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou shalt not be able to be healed.
28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
The Lord will sinite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with confusion of heart;
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.
And thou shalt grope about at noonday, as the blind gropeth about in the darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed all the days, but with no one to help.
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.
A wife wilt thou betroth, and another man shall lie with her; a house wilt thou build, and thou shalt not dwell therein; a vineyard wilt thou plant, and thou shalt not redeem 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.
Thy ox shall be slain before thy eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thy ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be brought back to thee; thy sheep shall be given unto thy enemies, without any one to help thee.
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.
Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thy eyes shall look on, and fail with longing for them all the day long; but without any power in thy hand.
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 thy soil, and all thy exertion, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt only be oppressed and crushed all the days.
34 You will be driven mad by the sights you see.
And thou shalt become mad from the sight of thy eyes which thou wilt see.
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 smite thee with a sore inflammation upon the knees, and upon the legs, of which thou shalt not be able to be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
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 drive thee, and thy king whom thou wilt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and thou wilt serve there strange 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 thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all the nations whither the Lord will lead thee.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
Much seed wilt thou carry out into the field, yet but little shalt thou gather in; for the locust shall consume it.
39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
Vineyards wilt thou plant and dress; but wine shalt thou not drink nor lay up; for the worms shall eat them.
40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
Olive-trees wilt thou have throughout all thy borders; but with the oil shalt thou not anoint thyself; for thy olive shall cast the fruit.
41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
Sons and daughters wilt thou beget; but they shall not remain thine: for they shall go into captivity.
42 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the cricket strip bare.
43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
The stranger that is in the midst of thee shall get up above thee higher and higher; but thou shalt come 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 shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall become the head, and thou shalt become 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 there shall come upon thee all these curses, and they shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he hath commanded thee;
46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever.
And they shall remain on thee for a sign and for a token, and on thy seed, for ever.
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
For the reason that thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, while there was an abundance of all 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.
Therefore shalt thou serve thy enemies whom the Lord will send out against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of every thing; and they will put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until they have destroyed thee.
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 up against thee a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle rusheth down; a nation whose tongue thou wilt not understand;
50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
A nation of a fierce countenance, that will not have respect for the old, nor show favor to 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.
And it will eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy soil, until thou be destroyed; so that it will not leave unto thee corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flocks, until it have ruined thee.
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.
And it will besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and strong walls come down, wherein thou trustest, throughout all thy land; and it will besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
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 thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thy enemy will distress thee.
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 man that is the most tender among thee, and who is very delicate, —his eye shall look enviously toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he may spare;
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.
So as not to give to any of them of the flesh of his children which he may eat; because there is nothing left unto him, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thy enemy will distress thee in all thy gates.
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 woman, the most tender among thee, and the most delicate, who hath never adventured to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, —her eye shall look enviously toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward 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 toward her young one that is come from between her feet, and toward her children which she hath born; for she shall eat them for want of every thing secretly, in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thy enemy will distress thee in thy gates.
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 thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law which are written in this book; to fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God:
59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
Then will the Lord render peculiar thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great, and of long continuance, and sicknesses sore, and of long continuance.
60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.
And he will bring back upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, of which thou wast afraid; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be 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.
And ye shall be left but few in number, instead of that ye once were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy 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 it shall come to pass, that, as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so will the Lord rejoice over you to bring you to nought, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
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 scatter thee among all the nations, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there wilt thou serve strange gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
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 among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall not be any rest for the sole of thy foot: and the Lord will give thee there a trembling heart, and a failing of eyes, and a faintness of soul.
66 So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt be in dread day and night, and thou shalt have no confidence of thy life;
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 thou wilt say, Who would but grant that it were only evening! and at evening thou wilt say, Who would but grant that it were only morning! from the dread of thy heart which thou wilt experience, and from the sight of thy eyes which thou wilt 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 bring thee back to Egypt in ships, by the way whereof I have spoken unto thee, Thou shalt no more see it again: and there will ye offer yourselves for sale unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women, without any one to buy you.
