Deuteronomy 28

1 “And it has been, if you listen diligently to the voice of your God YHWH, to observe to do all His commands which I am commanding you today, that your God YHWH has made you highest above all the nations of the earth,

Now if you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep with care all these orders which I have given you today, then the Lord your God will put you high over all the nations of the earth:

2 and all these blessings have come on you and overtaken you, because you listen to the voice of your God YHWH:

And all these blessings will come on you and overtake you, if your ears are open to the voice of the Lord your God.

3 Blessed [are] you in the city, and blessed [are] you in the field.

A blessing will be on you in the town, and a blessing in the field.

4 Blessed [is] the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, the increase of your oxen, and the wealth of your flock.

A blessing will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock.

5 Blessed [is] your basket and your kneading-trough.

A blessing will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.

6 Blessed [are] you in your coming in, and blessed [are] you in your going out.

A blessing will be on your coming in and on your going out.

7 YHWH makes your enemies, who are rising up against you, to be struck before your face; in one way they come out to you, and in seven ways they flee before you.

By the power of the Lord, those who take arms against you will be overcome before you: they will come out against you one way, and will go in flight from you seven ways.

8 YHWH commands the blessing with you in your storehouses, and in every putting forth of your hand, and has blessed you in the land which your God YHWH is giving to you.

The Lord will send his blessing on your store-houses and on everything to which you put your hand: his blessing will be on you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

9 YHWH establishes you to Himself for a holy people, as He has sworn to you, when you keep the commands of your God YHWH and have walked in His ways;

The Lord will keep you as a people holy to himself, as he has said to you in his oath, if you keep the orders of the Lord your God and go on walking in his ways.

10 and all the peoples of the land have seen that the Name of YHWH is called by you, and they have been afraid of you.

And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is on you, and they will go in fear of you.

11 And YHWH has made you abundant in good, in the fruit of the womb, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, on the ground which YHWH has sworn to your fathers to give to you.

And the Lord will make you fertile in every good thing, in the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your fields, in the land which the Lord, by his oath to your fathers, said he would give you.

12 YHWH opens his good treasure to you—the heavens—to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand, and you have lent to many nations, and you do not borrow.

Opening his store-house in heaven, the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time, blessing all the work of your hands: other nations will make use of your wealth, and you will have no need of theirs.

13 And YHWH has set you for head and not for tail; and you have been only above, and are not beneath, for you listen to the commands of your God YHWH, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do,

The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; and you will ever have the highest place, if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God which I give you today, to keep and to do them;

14 and you do not turn aside from all the words which I am commanding you today [to] the right or left, to go after other gods, to serve them.

Not turning away from any of the orders which I give you today, to the right hand or to the left, or going after any other gods to give them worship.

15 And it has been, if you do not listen to the voice of your God YHWH, to observe to do all His commands and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these revilings have come on you and overtaken you:

But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to do all his orders and his laws which I give you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

16 Cursed [are] you in the city, and cursed [are] you in the field.

You will be cursed in the town and cursed in the field.

17 Cursed [is] your basket and your kneading-trough.

A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.

18 Cursed [is] the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your oxen, and the wealth of your flock.

A curse will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

19 Cursed [are] you in your coming in, and cursed [are] you in your going out.

You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 YHWH sends the curse, the trouble, and the rebuke on you, in every putting forth of your hand which you do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings [by] which you have forsaken Me.

The Lord will send on you cursing and trouble and punishment in everything to which you put your hand, till sudden destruction overtakes you; because of your evil ways in which you have been false to me.

21 YHWH causes the pestilence to cleave to you until He consumes you from off the ground to where you are going in to possess it.

The Lord will send disease after disease on you, till you have been cut off by death from the land to which you are going.

22 YHWH strikes you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with extreme burning, and with sword, and with blasting, and with mildew, and they have pursued you until you perish

The Lord will send wasting disease, and burning pain, and flaming heat against you, keeping back the rain till your land is waste and dead; so will it be till your destruction is complete.

23 And your heavens which [are] over your head have been bronze, and the earth which [is] under you iron;

And the heaven over your heads will be brass, and the earth under you hard as iron.

24 YHWH gives dust and ashes [for] the rain of your land; it comes down on you from the heavens until you are destroyed.

The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust, sending it down on you from heaven till your destruction is complete.

25 YHWH makes you struck before your enemies; in one way you go out to them, and in seven ways you flee before them, and you have been for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth;

The Lord will let you be overcome by your haters: you will go out against them one way, and you will go in flight before them seven ways: you will be the cause of fear among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 and your carcass has been for food for every bird of the heavens and for the beast of the earth, and there is none causing [them] to tremble.

Your bodies will be meat for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth; there will be no one to send them away.

27 YHWH strikes you with the ulcer of Egypt, and with lumps, and with scurvy, and with itch, of which you are not able to be healed.

The Lord will send on you the disease of Egypt, and other sorts of skin diseases which nothing will make well.

28 YHWH strikes you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

He will make your minds diseased, and your eyes blind, and your hearts wasted with fear:

29 and you have been groping at noon, as the blind gropes in darkness; and you do not cause your ways to prosper; and you have been only oppressed and plundered [for] all the days, and there is no savior.

You will go feeling your way when the sun is high, like a blind man for whom all is dark, and nothing will go well for you: you will be crushed and made poor for ever, and you will have no saviour.

30 You betroth a woman, and another man lies with her; you build a house, and do not dwell in it; you plant a vineyard, and do not make it common;

You will take a wife, but another man will have the use of her: the house which your hands have made will never be your resting-place: you will make a vine-garden, and never take the fruit of it.

31 your ox [is] slaughtered before your eyes, and you do not eat of it; your donkey [is] violently taken away from before you, and it is not given back to you; your sheep [are] given to your enemies, and there is no savior for you.

Your ox will be put to death before your eyes, but its flesh will not be your food: your ass will be violently taken away before your face, and will not be given back to you: your sheep will be given to your haters, and there will be no saviour for you.

32 Your sons and your daughters [are] given to another people, and your eyes are looking and consumed for them all the day, but your hand is not to God!

Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will be wasted away with looking and weeping for them all the day: and you will have no power to do anything.

33 A people whom you have not known eat the fruit of your ground and all your labor; and you have been only oppressed and bruised [for] all the days;

The fruit of your land and all the work of your hands will be food for a nation which is strange to you and to your fathers; you will only be crushed down and kept under for ever:

34 and you have been mad because of the sight of your eyes which you see.

So that the things which your eyes have to see will send you out of your minds.

35 YHWH strikes you with a severe ulcer on the knees and on the legs (of which you are not able to be healed), from the sole of your foot even to your crown.

The Lord will send a skin disease, attacking your knees and your legs, bursting out from your feet to the top of your head, so that nothing will make you well.

36 YHWH causes you and your king whom you raise up over you to go to a nation which you have not known, you and your fathers, and you have served other gods there—wood and stone;

And you, and the king whom you have put over you, will the Lord take away to a nation strange to you and to your fathers; there you will be servants to other gods of wood and stone.

37 and you have been for an astonishment, for an allegory, and for a byword among all the peoples to where YHWH leads you.

And you will become a wonder and a name of shame among all the nations where the Lord will take you.

38 You take much seed out into the field, and you gather little in, for the locust consumes it;

You will take much seed out into the field, and get little in; for the locust will get it.

39 you plant vineyards and have labored, but you do not drink wine, nor gather [grapes], for the worm consumes it;

You will put in vines and take care of them, but you will get no wine or grapes from them; for they will be food for worms.

40 olives are yours in all your border, but you do not pour out oil, for your olive falls off.

Your land will be full of olive-trees, but there will be no oil for the comfort of your body; for your olive-tree will give no fruit.

41 You beget sons and daughters, but they are not with you, for they go into captivity;

You will have sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go away prisoners into a strange land.

42 the locust possesses all your trees and the fruit of your ground;

All your trees and the fruit of your land will be the locust's.

43 the sojourner who [is] in your midst goes up very high above you, and you go down very low;

The man from a strange land who is living among you will be lifted up higher and higher over you, while you go down lower and lower.

44 he lends [to] you, and you do not lend [to] him; he is for head and you are for tail.

He will let you have his wealth at interest, and will have no need of yours: he will be the head and you the tail.

45 And all these curses have come on you, and pursued you, and overtaken you, until you are destroyed, because you have not listened to the voice of your God YHWH, to keep His commands and His statutes which he has commanded you;

And all these curses will come after you and overtake you, till your destruction is complete; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, or keep his laws and his orders which he gave you:

46 and they have been on you for a sign and for a wonder, also on your seed—for all time.

These things will come on you and on your seed, to be a sign and a wonder for ever;

47 Because that you have not served your God YHWH with joy and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things—

Because you did not give honour to the Lord your God, worshipping him gladly, with joy in your hearts on account of all your wealth of good things;

48 you have served your enemies, whom YHWH sends against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things; and He has put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.

For this cause you will become servants to those whom the Lord your God will send against you, without food and drink and clothing, and in need of all things: and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck till he has put an end to you.

49 YHWH lifts up a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth—it flies as the eagle—a nation whose tongue you have not heard,

The Lord will send a nation against you from the farthest ends of the earth, coming with the flight of an eagle; a nation whose language is strange to you;

50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not accept the face of the aged and does not favor the young;

A hard-faced nation, who will have no respect for the old or mercy for the young:

51 and it has eaten the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; which does not leave to you grain, new wine, and oil, the increase of your oxen, and the wealth of your flock, until it has destroyed you.

He will take the fruit of your cattle and of your land till death puts an end to you: he will let you have nothing of your grain or wine or oil or any of the increase of your cattle or the young of your flock, till he has made your destruction complete.

52 And it has laid siege to you in all your gates until your walls come down—the high and the fortified ones in which you are trusting, in all your land; indeed, it has laid siege to you in all your gates, in all your land which your God YHWH has given to you.

Your towns will be shut in by his armies, till your high walls, in which you put your faith, have come down: his armies will be round your towns, through all your land which the Lord your God has given you.

53 And you have eaten the fruit of your body, [the] flesh of your sons and your daughters (whom your God YHWH has given to you), in the siege and in the constriction with which your enemies constrict you.

And your food will be the fruit of your body, the flesh of the sons and daughters which the Lord your God has given you; because of your bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters.

54 The man who is tender in you, and who [is] very delicate—his eye is evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons whom he leaves,

That man among you who is soft and used to comfort will be hard and cruel to his brother, and to his dear wife, and to of those his children who are still living;

55 against giving to one of them of the flesh of his sons whom he eats, because he has nothing left for himself in the siege and in the constriction with which your enemy constricts you in all your gates.

And will not give to any of them the flesh of his children which will be his food because he has no other; in the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.

56 The tender woman in you, and the delicate, who has not tried the sole of her foot to place on the ground because of delicateness and because of tenderness—her eye is evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter,

The most soft and delicate of your women, who would not so much as put her foot on the earth, so delicate is she, will be hard-hearted to her husband and to her son and to her daughter;

57 and against her seed which comes out from between her feet, even against her sons whom she bears, for she eats them in secret, in the lacking of everything, in the siege and in the constriction with which your enemy constricts you within your gates.

And to her baby newly come to birth, and to the children of her body; for having no other food, she will make a meal of them secretly, because of her bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.

58 If you do not observe to do all the words of this law which are written in this scroll, to fear this honored and fearful Name—your God YHWH—

If you will not take care to do all the words of this law, recorded in this book, honouring that name of glory and of fear, THE LORD YOUR GOD;

59 then YHWH has made your strokes extraordinary, and the strokes [against] your seed [are] great strokes that are persisting and severe sicknesses that are persisting.

Then the Lord your God will make your punishment, and the punishment of your seed, a thing to be wondered at; great punishments and cruel diseases stretching on through long years.

60 And He has brought back all the diseases of Egypt on you, from the presence of which you have been afraid, and they have cleaved to you.

He will send on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which were a cause of fear to you, and they will take you in their grip.

61 Also every sickness and every stroke which is not written in the scroll of this law—YHWH causes them to go up on you until you are destroyed,

And all the diseases and the pains not recorded in the book of this law will the Lord send on you till your destruction is complete.

62 and you have been left with few men, whereas that you would have been as stars of the heavens for multitude, for you have not listened to the voice of your God YHWH.

And you will become a very small band, though your numbers were like the stars of heaven; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God.

63 And it has been, as YHWH has rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so YHWH rejoices over you to destroy you and to lay you waste; and you have been pulled away from off the ground to where you are going in to possess it;

And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and increasing you, so the Lord will take pleasure in cutting you off and causing your destruction, and you will be uprooted from the land which you are about to take as your heritage.

64 and YHWH has scattered you among all the peoples, from the end of the earth even to the [other] end of the earth; and you have served other gods there which you have not known, you and your fathers—wood and stone.

And the Lord will send you wandering among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other: there you will be servants to other gods, of wood and stone, gods of which you and your fathers had no knowledge.

65 And you do not rest among those nations, indeed, there is no resting place for the sole of your foot, and YHWH has given to you a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and grief of soul there;

And even among these nations there will be no peace for you, and no rest for your feet: but the Lord will give you there a shaking heart and wasting eyes and weariness of soul:

66 and your life has been hanging in suspense before you, and you have been afraid by night and by day, and you do not have assurance in your life;

Your very life will be hanging in doubt before you, and day and night will be dark with fears, and nothing in life will be certain:

67 in the morning you say, O that it were evening! And in the evening you say, O that it were morning! (From the fear of your heart, with which you are afraid, and from the sight of your eyes which you see.)

In the morning you will say, If only it was evening! And at evening you will say, If only morning would come! Because of the fear in your hearts and the things which your eyes will see.

68 And YHWH has brought you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You do not add to see it anymore; and you have sold yourselves to your enemies there, for menservants and for maidservants, and there is no buyer.”

And the Lord will take you back to Egypt again in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You will never see it again: there you will be offering yourselves as men-servants and women-servants to your haters for a price, and no man will take you.