< 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 be, if thou wilt, hearken, unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I am commanding thee to-day, then will Yahweh thy God set thee on 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:
and all these blessings shall come in upon thee, and reach thee, —because thou dost hearken unto the voice of Yahweh 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 young of thy kine, and the ewes of thy flock:
5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
Blessed, shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough:
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
Blessed, shalt thou be when thou comest in, —and, blessed, shalt thou be when thou goest 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.
Yahweh will deliver thine enemies who rise up against thee, to be routed before thee, —one way, shall they come out against thee, and 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.
Yahweh will command to be with thee the blessing, in thy storehouses and in all whereunto thou settest thy hand, —and will bless thee in the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto 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.
Yahweh will confirm thee unto himself for a holy people, as he sware unto thee, —because thou dost keep the commandments of Yahweh thy God, and dost 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 peoples of the earth shall see that, the name of Yahweh, hath been called upon thee, —and 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 Yahweh will cause thee to abound in that which is good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle and in the fruit of thy soil, —upon the soil which Yahweh sware 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.
Yahweh will open unto thee his rich storehouse—the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless every work of thy hand, so shalt thou 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 Yahweh, will give thee, to be the head, and not the tail, and thou shalt be only above, and shalt not be beneath, —because thou dost hearken unto the commandments of Yahweh thy God, which I am commanding thee, to-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 dost not turn side from any of the words which I am commanding you to-day, to the right hand or to the left, —to go after other 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 be, if thou do not hearken unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I am commanding thee to-day, then shall come in upon thee all these curses and shall reach 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 ground—the young of thy kine and the ewes of thy flock:
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
Cursed, shalt thou be, when thou comest in, —and, cursed, shalt thou be, when thou goest 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.
Yahweh will send upon thee cursing, confusion and rebuke, in all whereunto thou settest thy hand that thou mayest do it, —until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby 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.
Yahweh will cause to cleave unto thee—the pestilence, —until he hath consumed thee from off the soil which thou art entering to possess.
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.
Yahweh, will smite thee, with consumption and with fever, and with inflammation and with violent heat and with the sword, and with blight and with mildew, —and they shall pursue thee, until thou perish.
23 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
And thy heavens which are over thy head shall become bronze, —and the earth which is under thee 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.
Yahweh will cause the rain of thy land to be powder and dust, —out of the heavens, 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.
Yahweh will give thee up to be routed before thine enemies, one way, shalt thou go out against them, and, seven ways, shalt thou flee before them, —and thou shalt become a terror 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 dead body shall become food for every bird of the heavens, and for the beast of the earth, —with none to fright 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.
Yahweh, will smite thee, with the burning sores of Egypt and with the hemorrhoids, and with scab, and with itch, —of which thou canst not be healed.
28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
Yahweh, will smite thee, with madness and with blindness, —and with terror 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 he groping about in noonday brightness, as the blind man gropeth in thick darkness, and thou shalt not make thy ways prosper, —but shalt be only oppressed and spoiled all the days with none to save.
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, shalt thou betroth, and, another man shall lie with her. A house, shalt thou build, and shalt not dwell therein, —A vineyard, shalt thou plant, and shalt not throw it open;
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.
Thine ox slaughtered before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof, Thine ass stolen from before thee, and shall not be restored to thee, —Thy flock given to thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save.
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 given to another people, thine eyes looking on, and failing for them all the day, thine own hand being powerless.
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 toilsome produce, shall a people whom thou knowest not, eat up, —and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed, all the days;
34 You will be driven mad by the sights you see.
so that thou shalt be mad, —for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt 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.
Yahweh, will smite thee, with a grievous boil, upon the knees and upon the legs, of which thou canst not be healed, —from the sole of thy foot even unto the crown 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.
Yahweh will bring thee and thy king whom thou wilt set up over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, —and thou shalt serve there other gods of wood and of stone.
37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Thus shalt thou become a horror, a byword, and a mockery, among all the peoples whither Yahweh thy God will drive thee.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
Much seed, shalt thou take out into the field, —and 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, shalt thou plant, and dress, —but wine, shalt thou not drink, neither shalt thou gather the grapes, for the worm 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, shalt thou have in all thy bounds, —but with oil, shalt thou not anoint thyself, for thine olives, shall drop off.
41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
Sons and daughters, shalt thou beget, and they shall not be 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 ground, shall the grasshopper, devour.
43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
The sojourner who is in thy midst, shall mount up above thee higher and higher, —whereas, 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, but, thou, shalt not lend to him, —he, shall become head, and, thou, shalt become 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.
Moreover, all these curses, shall come in upon thee, and pursue thee and overtake thee, until thou be destroyed, —because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Yahweh 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 be upon thee, for a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed, unto times age-abiding.
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
Because thou servedst not Yahweh thy God, with rejoicing, and with gladness of heart, for 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 thine enemies, whom Yahweh will send against thee, with hunger and with thirst and with nakedness, and with want of all things, —and he, will put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath 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,
Yahweh will bring against thee a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as darteth a bird of prey, —a nation whose tongue thou canst not understand;
50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
a nation of fierce countenance, —who wilt not respect an elder nor to the young, show favour;
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.
then shall he eat the young of thy cattle and the fruit of thy ground until thou art destroyed, who will not leave for thee corn, new wine or oil, the young of thy kine, or the ewes of thy flock, —until he hath caused thee to perish.
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 he shall lay siege to thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down wherein thou wast trusting, in all thy land, —yea he will lay siege to thee in all thy gates, in all thy land which Yahweh thy God, hath given, unto 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 wilt eat the fruit of thy body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Yahweh thy God hath given unto thee—in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemy will straiten 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 tender among you, and exceedingly delicate, his eye will be jealous of his brother and of the wife of his bosom, and of the remnant of his sons, whom be might leave behind;
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 that he will not give to any one of them, of the flesh of his sons which he will eat, because he hath nothing at all left him, —in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemy will straiten thee within 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 tender and delicate woman among you who hath never adventured the sole of her foot to set it upon the ground, through delicateness and through tenderness, her eye shall be jealous of the husband of her bosom, and of her own son, and of her own 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.
both as to her afterbirth that cometh forth from between her feet and as to her children which she shall bear, for she will eat them for want of all things secretly, —in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemy will straiten thee within thine own 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 take heed to do all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, —to revere this glorious and reverend name, Yahweh thy God,
59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
then will Yahweh make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, —plagues great and lasting, and diseases grievous and lasting;
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 on thee all the sickness of Egypt, because 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.
even every disease and, every plague, which are not written in this scroll of the law, will Yahweh bring up against thee, until thou art 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 men few in number, whereas ye had become as the stars of the heavens for multitude, —because thou hast not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh 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 Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so, will Yahweh rejoice over you, to cause you to perish and to destroy you, —and ye shall be torn away, from off the soil, whither thou art going in 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 Yahweh will scatter thee among all the peoples, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth, —and thou wilt serve there other gods whom thou hast not known—thou nor thy fathers, —of wood and of 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 those nations, shalt thou find no ease, neither shall there be a place of rest for the sole of thy foot, —but Yahweh will give unto thee there a trembling heart, and a failing of eyes and 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 will be hung up for thee in front, —and thou wilt be in dread by night and by day, and wilt not trust in 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—Oh that it were evening! and in the evening, thou wilt say—Oh that it were morning! because of the dread of thy heart which thou wilt dread, and because of the sight of thine 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 Yahweh will take thee back again to Egypt in ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt not again any more see it. And ye will offer yourselves there for sale unto thine enemies as servants and as handmaids with no one to buy.