Deuteronomy 28
1 If thou shalt obey diligently the voyce of the Lord thy God, and obserue and do all his commandements, which I commande thee this day, then the Lord thy God wil set thee on high aboue 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 shall come on thee, and ouertake thee, if thou shalt obey the voyce of the Lord thy God.
You will have all the following blessings and even more, if you do what the Lord your God says.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the citie, and blessed also in the fielde.
You will be blessed when you're in the town; you will be blessed when you're in the countryside.
4 Blessed shalbe the fruite of thy body, and ye fruite of thy ground, and the fruite of thy cattel, the increase of thy kine, and ye flocks of thy sheepe.
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 Blessed shalbe thy basket and thy dough.
You will be blessed with plenty of bread.
6 Blessed shalt thou be, whe thou commest in, and blessed also when thou goest out.
You will be blessed wherever you go and in everything you do.
7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise against thee, to fall before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee leuen wayes.
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 shall command the blessing to be with thee in thy store houses, and in all that thou settest thine hande to, and wil blesse thee in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee.
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 shall make thee an holy people vnto himself, as he hath sworne vnto thee, if thou shalt keepe the commandements of the Lord thy God, and walke in his wayes.
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 people of the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord is called vpon ouer thee, and they shalbe afrayde of thee.
Then everyone on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his, and they will be afraid of you.
11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruite of thy body, and in the fruite of thy cattell, and in the fruite of thy grounde, in the land which the Lord sware vnto thy fathers, to giue thee.
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 shall open vnto thee his good treasure, euen the heauen to giue rayne vnto thy kind in due season, and to blesse all the worke of thine handes: and thou shalt lende vnto many nations, but shalt not borow thy selfe.
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 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tayle, and thou shalt be aboue onely, and shalt not bee beneath, if thou obey the commandements of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to keepe and to do them.
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 But thou shalt not decline from any of the wordes, which I command you this day, either to the right hand or to the left, to goe after other gods to serue them.
Don't deviate from any of my instructions today. Don't go and worship other gods.
15 But if thou wilt not obey the voyce of the Lord thy God, to keepe and to do all his commandementes and his ordinances, which I command thee this day, then al these curses shall come vpon thee, and ouertake thee.
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 Cursed shalt thou bee in the towne, and cursed also in the fielde.
You will be cursed when you're in the town; you will be cursed when you're in the countryside.
17 Cursed shall thy basket be, and thy dough.
You will be cursed by not having bread.
18 Cursed shall be the fruite of thy body, and the fruite of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flockes of thy sheepe.
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 Cursed shalt thou be when thou commest in, and cursed also when thou goest out.
You will be cursed wherever you go and in everything you do.
20 The Lord shall sende vpon thee cursing, trouble, and shame, in all that which thou settest thine hand to do, vntil thou be destroyed, and perish quickely, because of the wickednesse of thy workes whereby thou hast forsaken me.
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 shall make the pestilence cleaue vnto thee, vntill he hath consumed thee from the land, whither thou goest to possesse it.
The Lord will give you infectious diseases until he has wiped you out from the country you are entering town.
22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with the feuer, and with a burning ague, and with feruent heate, and with the sworde, and with blasting, and with the mildew, and they shall pursue thee vntill thou 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 And thine heauen that is ouer thine head, shall be brasse, and the earth that is vnder thee, yron.
The sky above you will be like bronze, and the earth beneath you will be like iron.
24 The Lord shall giue thee for the rayne of thy land, dust and ashes: euen from heauen shall it come downe vpon thee, vntil thou be 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 And the Lord shall cause thee to fall before thine enemies: thou shalt come out one way against them, and shalt flee seuen wayes before them, and shalt be scattered through all the kingdomes 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 And thy carkeis shall be meate vnto all foules of the ayre, and vnto the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray 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 wil smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emeroids, and with the skab, and with the itche, that thou canst not be healed.
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 And ye Lord shall smite thee with madnes, and with blindnes, and with astonying of heart.
The Lord will send you mad and make you blind and confused,
29 Thou shalt also grope at noone daies, as the blinde gropeth in darknes, and shalt not prosper in thy wayes: thou shalt neuer but bee oppressed with wrong and be powled euermore, and no man shall succour thee.
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 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lye with her: thou shalt builde an house, and shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not eate the fruite.
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 Thine oxe shalbe slayne before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eate thereof: thine asse shall be violently taken away before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheepe shalbe giuen vnto thine enemies, and no man shall rescue them for thee.
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 Thy sonnes and thy daughters shalbe giuen vnto another people, and thine eyes shall still looke for them, euen till they fall out, and there shalbe no power in thine 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 The fruite of thy land and all thy labours shall a people, which thou knowest not, eate, and thou shalt neuer but suffer wrong, and violence alway:
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 So that thou shalt be madde for the sight which thine eyes shall see.
What you see will drive you mad.
35 The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the thighes, with a sore botche, that thou canst not be healed: euen from the sole of thy foote vnto the top of thine 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 shall bring thee and thy King (which thou shalt set ouer thee) vnto a nation, which neither thou nor thy fathers haue knowen, and there thou shalt serue other gods: euen 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 And thou shalt be a wonder, a prouerbe and a common talke among all people, whither the Lord shall carie thee.
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 Thou shalt carie out much seede into the fielde, and shalt gather but litle in: for the grashoppers shall destroy it.
You will sow a lot of seed in the field, but harvest very little because the locusts will destroy it.
39 Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dresse it, but shalt neither drinke of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the wormes shall eate it.
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 Thou shalt haue Oliue trees in all thy coastes, but shalt not anoynt thy selfe with the oyle: for thine oliues shall fall.
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 Thou shalt beget sonnes, and daughters, but shalt not haue them: for they shall goe into captiuitie.
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 All thy trees and fruite of thy land shall the grashopper consume.
Locust swarms will destroy all your trees and crops.
43 The straunger that is among you, shall clime aboue thee vp on hie, and thou shalt come downe beneath alow.
Foreigners who live with you will rise higher and higher in status above you, while you sink lower and lower.
44 He shall lend thee, and thou shalt not lend him: he shalbe the head, and thou shalt be ye tayle.
They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the first, and you will be the last.
45 Moreouer, all these curses shall come vpon thee, and shall pursue thee and ouertake thee, till thou be destroyed, because thou obeyedst not the voyce of the Lord thy God, to keepe his commandements, and his ordinances, which he commanded thee:
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 And they shalbe vpon thee for signes and wonders, and vpon thy seede for euer,
They will be lasting evidence, visible signs of what happened to you and your descendants.
47 Because thou seruedst not the Lord thy God with ioyfulnesse and with a good heart for the abundance of all things.
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with happiness and with a joyful attitude,
48 Therefore thou shalt serue thine enemies which the Lord shall send vpon thee, in hunger and in thirst, and in nakednesse, and in neede of all things? and he shall put a yoke of yron vpon thy necke vntill he haue destroyed thee.
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 shall bring a nation vpon thee from farre, euen from the ende of the world, flying swift as an Egle: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not vnderstand:
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 nation of a fierce countenance, which will not regarde the person of the olde, nor haue compassion of the yong.
They are a ruthless nation who don't respect for the old and have no mercy on the young.
51 The same shall eate the fruit of thy cattell, and the fruite of thy land vntill thou be destroyed, and he shall leaue thee neyther wheate, wine, nor oyle, neither the increase of thy kyne, nor the flockes of thy sheepe, vntill he haue brought thee to nought.
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 And he shall besiege thee in all thy cities, vntill thine hie and strong walles fall downe, wherein thou trustedst in all the lande: and hee shall besiege thee in all thy cities throughout all thy lande, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee.
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 And thou shalt eate the fruite of thy bodie: euen the flesh of thy sonnes and thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee, during the siege and straitnesse wherein thine enemie shall inclose thee:
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 So that the man (that is tender and exceeding deintie among you) shalbe grieued at his brother, and at his wife, that lieth in his bosome, and at the remnant of his children, which hee hath yet left,
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 For feare of giuing vnto any of them of the flesh of his children, whom he shall eate, because he hath nothing left him in that siege, and straitnesse, wherewith thine enemie shall besiege thee in all thy cities.
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 tender and deintie woman among you, which neuer woulde venture to set the sole of her foote vpon the grounde (for her softnesse and tendernesse) shalbe grieued at her husband that lieth in her bosome, and at her sonne, and at her 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 And at her afterbirth (that shall come out from betweene her feete) and at her childre, which she shall beare: for when all things lacke, she shall eate them secretly, during the siege and straitnesse, wherewith thine enemie shall besiege thee in thy cities.
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 thou wilt not keepe and doe all the wordes of the Lawe (that are written in this booke) and feare this glorious and feareful name The Lord Thy 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 The the Lord wil make thy plagues wonderfull, and the plagues of thy seede, euen great plagues and of long continuance, and sore diseases, and of long durance.
he will bring down on you and your descendants unbelievable disasters, intense and long-lasting diseases, and terrible and incurable sicknesses.
60 Moreouer, he will bring vpon thee all the diseases of Egypt, whereof thou wast afraide, and they shall cleaue vnto thee.
He will give you all the diseases you were terrified of in Egypt, and they will stay with you.
61 And euery sickenesse, and euery plague, which is not written in the booke of this Lawe, will the Lord heape vpon thee, vntill thou be 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 And ye shall be left few in nomber, where ye were as the starres of heauen in multitude, because thou wouldest not obey the voyce of the Lord thy 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 And as the Lord hath reioyced ouer you, to doe you good, and to multiply you, so he will reioyce ouer you, to destroy you, and bring you to nought, and ye shalbe rooted out of the land, whither thou goest to possesse it.
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 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one ende of the worlde vnto the other, and there thou shalt serue other gods, which thou hast not knowen nor thy fathers, euen wood and stone.
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 Also among these nations thou shalt finde no rest, neither shall the sole of thy foote haue rest: for the Lord shall giue thee there a trembling heart, and looking to returne till thine eyes fall out, and a sorowfull minde.
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 And thy life shall hang before thee, and thou shalt feare both night and day, and shalt haue none assurance of thy life.
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 thou shalt say, Woulde God it were euening, and at the euening thou shalt say, Would God it were morning, for ye feare of thine heart, which thou shalt feare, and for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt 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 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt againe with shippes by the way, whereof I saide vnto thee, Thou shalt see it no more againe: and there yee shall sell your selues vnto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and there shalbe no byer.
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.
