Deuteronomy 28

1 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.

If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God so as to keep all his commandments that I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you above all the other nations of the earth.

2 And all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee; because thou wilt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

All these blessings will come on you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the field.

4 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.

Blessed will be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-through.

Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

6 Blessed shalt thou be at thy coming in, and blessed shalt thou be at thy going out.

Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

7 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.

Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck down before you; they will come out against you one way but will flee before you seven ways.

8 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.

Yahweh will command the blessing to come on you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to; he will bless you in the land that he is giving you.

9 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.

Yahweh will establish you as a people that is set apart for himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.

10 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.

All the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you.

11 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.

Yahweh will make you very prosperous in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, in the fruit of your ground, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

12 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.

Yahweh will open to you his storehouse of the heavens to give the rain for your land at the right time, and to bless all the work of your hand; you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.

13 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;

Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; you will be only above, and you will never be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today, so as to observe and to do them,

14 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.

and if you do not turn away from any of the words that I am commanding you today, to the right hand or to the left, so as to go after other gods to serve them.

15 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.

But if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, so as to keep all his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you.

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the field.

17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.

Cursed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

18 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.

Cursed will be the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

19 Cursed shalt thou be at thy coming in, and cursed shalt thou be at thy going out.

Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

20 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.

Yahweh will send on you curses, confusion, and rebukes in all that you put your hand to, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly because of your wicked actions by which you will have forsaken me.

21 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.

Yahweh will make the plague cling to you until he destroys you from off the land that you are going in to possess.

22 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.

Yahweh will attack you with infectious diseases, with fever, with inflammation, and with drought and blistering heat, and with scorching winds and mildew. These will pursue you until you perish.

23 And thy heavens that are over thy head shall be copper, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

Your skies that are over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron.

24 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.

Yahweh will make the rain of your land into powder and dust; from the heavens will it come down on you, until you are destroyed.

25 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.

Yahweh will cause you to be struck down before your enemies; you will go out one way against them but will flee before them seven ways. You will be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 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.

Your dead body will be food to all the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth; there will be no one to frighten them away.

27 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.

Yahweh will attack you with the boils of Egypt and with ulcers, scurvy, and itch, from which you cannot be healed.

28 The Lord will sinite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with confusion of heart;

Yahweh will attack you with madness, with blindness, and with mental confusion.

29 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.

You will grope about at noonday like the blind grope in the darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; you will be always oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to save you.

30 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.

You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will seize her and rape her. You will build a house but not live in it; you will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit.

31 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.

Your ox will be slain before your eyes, but you will not eat its meat; your donkey will be forcibly taken away from before you and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to aid you.

32 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.

Your sons and your daughters will be given to other peoples; your eyes will look for them the entire day, but will fail with longing for them. There will be no strength in your hand.

33 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.

The harvest of your land and of all your labors—a nation that you do not know will eat it up; you will always be oppressed and crushed,

34 And thou shalt become mad from the sight of thy eyes which thou wilt see.

so that you will become insane by what you have to see happen.

35 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.

Yahweh will attack you in the knees and legs with severe boils from which you cannot be cured, from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head.

36 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.

Yahweh will take you and the king whom you will place over yourself to a nation that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; there you will worship other gods of wood and stone.

37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all the nations whither the Lord will lead thee.

You will become a source of horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.

38 Much seed wilt thou carry out into the field, yet but little shalt thou gather in; for the locust shall consume it.

You will take much seed out into the field, but will gather little seed in, for the locusts will consume it.

39 Vineyards wilt thou plant and dress; but wine shalt thou not drink nor lay up; for the worms shall eat them.

You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will neither drink any of the wine, nor even gather in the grapes, for worms will eat them.

40 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.

You will have olive trees within all your territory, but you will not rub any of the oil on yourself, for your olive trees will drop their fruit.

41 Sons and daughters wilt thou beget; but they shall not remain thine: for they shall go into captivity.

You will have sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, for they will go into captivity.

42 All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the cricket strip bare.

All your trees and the fruit of your ground—the locusts will take them over.

43 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;

The foreigner who is among you will rise up above you higher and higher; you yourself will come down lower and lower.

44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall become the head, and thou shalt become the tail.

He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45 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;

All these curses will come on you and will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed. This will happen because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, so as to keep his commandments and his regulations that he commanded you.

46 And they shall remain on thee for a sign and for a token, and on thy seed, for ever.

These curses will be on you as signs and wonders, and on your descendants forever.

47 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;

Because you did not worship Yahweh your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart when you were in prosperity,

48 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.

therefore will you serve the enemies that Yahweh will send against you; you will serve them in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in poverty. He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you.

49 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;

Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle flies to its victim, a nation whose language you do not understand;

50 A nation of a fierce countenance, that will not have respect for the old, nor show favor to the young;

a nation with a fierce face that does not respect the aged and does not show favor to the young.

51 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.

They will eat the young of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave for you no grain, new wine, or oil, no young of your cattle or of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52 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.

They will besiege you in all your city gates, until your high and fortified walls come down everywhere in your land, walls in which you had trusted. They will besiege you within all your city gates throughout all the land that Yahweh your God had given you.

53 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.

You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will put upon you.

54 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;

The man who is tender and very delicate among you—he will be envious of his brother and his own dear wife, and of whatever children he has left.

55 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.

So he will not give to any of them the flesh of his own children that he is going to eat, because he will have nothing left for himself in the siege and in the distress which your enemy will put upon you within all your city gates.

56 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,

The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to put the bottom of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness—she will be envious of her own dear husband, of her son, and of her daughter,

57 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.

and of her own newborn that comes out from between her legs, and of the children whom she will bear. She will eat them in private for lack of anything else, during the siege and in the distress which your enemy will put upon you within your city gates.

58 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:

If you do not keep all the words of this law that are written in this book, so as to honor this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh your God,

59 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.

then Yahweh will make your plagues terrible, and those of your descendants; they will be great plagues, of long duration, and severe diseases, of long duration.

60 And he will bring back upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, of which thou wast afraid; and they shall cleave unto thee.

He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt that you were afraid of; they will cling to you.

61 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.

Also every sickness and plague that is not written in the book of this law, those also Yahweh will bring on you until you are destroyed.

62 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.

You will be left few in number, although you were like the stars of the heavens in number, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

63 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.

As Yahweh once rejoiced over you in doing you good, and in multiplying you, so he will rejoice over you in making you perish and in destroying you. You will be plucked off the land that you are going into to possess.

64 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.

Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; there you will worship other gods that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors, gods of wood and stone.

65 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.

Among these nations will you find no ease, and there will be no rest for the bottoms of your feet; instead, Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a soul that mourns.

66 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;

Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will fear every night and day and will have no certainty at all in your life.

67 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.

In the morning you will say, 'I wish it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'I wish it were morning!' because of the fear in your hearts and the things your eyes will have to see.

68 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.

Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again by ships, by the route about which I had said to you, 'You will not see Egypt again.' There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will purchase you.”