Deuteronomy 28

1 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;

“If you do what Yahweh our God tells you to do and faithfully obey everything that I am today commanding you to do, he will cause you to become greater than any other nation on the earth.

2 and all these blessings shall come in upon thee, and reach thee, —because thou dost hearken unto the voice of Yahweh thy God: —

If you obey Yahweh, this is what he will do to bless you:

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

He will bless everything that you do when you are in the cities and he will bless everything that you do when you are [working] in the fields.

4 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:

He will bless you by giving you many children [IDM] and by giving you abundant crops, and plenty of cattle and sheep.

5 Blessed, shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough:

He will bless you by causing you to have good harvests with plenty of grain [MTY] to make bread.

6 Blessed, shalt thou be when thou comest in, —and, blessed, shalt thou be when thou goest out:

He will bless you [everywhere]—when you go out [of your houses] and when you come into [your houses].

7 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:

Yahweh will enable you to defeat [the armies of] your enemies; they will attack you from one direction, but they will run away from you in seven/many directions.

8 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:

Yahweh will bless you [by filling] your barns [with grain], and he will bless all the work that you do; he will bless you in the land that he is giving to you.

9 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.

“If you obey all the commandments that Yahweh our God [has given to you] and if you conduct your lives as he wants you to do, you will continue to be his people, which is what he promised.

10 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.

“When all the people-groups on the earth will realize that you belong to [MTY] Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you.

11 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:

“And Yahweh will cause you to prosper very much. He will give you many children [IDM], many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he vowed to our ancestors that he would give to you.

12 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:

“When rain is needed, Yahweh will send it from where he stores it in the sky, and he will bless all your work, with the result that you [will be able to] lend money to many other nations, but you will not need to borrow [money from them].

13 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;

If you faithfully obey all of the commands of Yahweh our God that I am giving you today, Yahweh will cause your nation to be a leader among the nations, not inferior to them; you will always be prosperous and never be needy/poor [IDM].

14 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,

[Yahweh will do all these things for you] if you do not turn away from [obeying] what I am commanding you today, and if you never worship or serve other gods.

15 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: —

But if you do not do what Yahweh our God is telling you to do, and if you do not faithfully obey all his rules and regulations that I am giving to you today, this is what he will do to curse you:

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

He will curse you when you are in the cities and he will curse you when you are [working] in the fields.

17 Cursed, shall be thy basket, and thy kneading-trough:

He will curse you by not allowing you to have good harvests with plenty of grain [MTY] to make bread.

18 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:

He will curse you by giving you only a few children [IDM], by causing you to have poor crops, and by not enabling you to have many cattle and sheep.

19 Cursed, shalt thou be, when thou comest in, —and, cursed, shalt thou be, when thou goest out:

He will curse you [everywhere]—when you go out [of your houses] and when you come into [your houses].

20 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.

If you do evil things and reject Yahweh, he will curse you by causing you to (be confused/not know what to do), and to be frustrated in everything that you do, until [your enemies] quickly and completely destroy you {you will be quickly and completely destroyed}.

21 Yahweh will cause to cleave unto thee—the pestilence, —until he hath consumed thee from off the soil which thou art entering to possess.

Yahweh will cause you to experience terrible diseases, until not one of you remains alive in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

22 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.

Yahweh will strike/afflict you with diseases that shrivel your bodies, with fever, with inflammation/swelling. It will be extremely hot, and it will not rain. There will be scorching winds, and [Yahweh will cause] your crops to rot. All these things will strike you until you die.

23 And thy heavens which are over thy head shall become bronze, —and the earth which is under thee iron.

There will be no rain [MET], [with the result that] the ground will be [as hard as] iron [MET].

24 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.

Instead of sending rain, Yahweh will send strong winds to blow sand and dust over your land, until your land is ruined.

25 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.

Yahweh will enable your enemies to defeat you; your soldiers will attack your enemies from one direction, but they will run away from your enemies in seven/many directions, and when the people of other nations see what is happening to you, they will say that it is horrible.

26 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.

[You will die], and birds and wild animals will come and eat your corpses, and there will not be anyone to scare/shoo them away.

27 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.

Yahweh will cause you to have boils on your skin, like he caused the people of Egypt to have [many years ago]. He will cause you to have tumors, open sores, and your skin will itch, and there will be nothing that will cure those diseases.

28 Yahweh, will smite thee, with madness and with blindness, —and with terror of heart;

Yahweh will cause [some of] you to become insane; he will cause some of you to become blind, and he will cause [some of] your minds to become confused.

29 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.

[Because you will not be able to see where you are going], at midday you will (grope/feel your way) around with your hands, like people do in the darkness. You will continually be oppressed and robbed, and no one will help you.

30 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;

Some of you men will be engaged/promised to marry a young woman, but someone else will rape her. You will build houses, but you will never live in them. You will plant grapevines, but you will not eat the grapes; [someone else will eat them].

31 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.

Your enemies will butcher your cattle while you watch them, and you will not get any of the meat to eat. They will drag away your donkeys while you watch them do it, and they will not give them back to you. They will take away your sheep; and no one will help you [rescue them].

32 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.

While you watch, your sons and daughters will be given to foreigners to become their slaves. Every day you will very sadly watch for your children to return, but (you will watch in vain/they will never return).

33 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;

People from a foreign nation will take all the crops that you worked hard to produce, and they will constantly treat you harshly and cruelly [DOU].

34 so that thou shalt be mad, —for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

The result will be that all these terrible things that you see/experience will cause you to become insane.

35 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.

Yahweh will cause your legs [to be covered with] painful boils that cannot be healed, and you will have boils from the bottoms of your feet to the tops of your heads.

36 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.

Yahweh will cause your king and the rest of you to be taken to another country, to a place in which you and your ancestors have never lived before, and there you will worship and serve gods that are made of wood or stone.

37 Thus shalt thou become a horror, a byword, and a mockery, among all the peoples whither Yahweh thy God will drive thee.

When the people-groups in nearby countries see what has happened to you, they will be shocked/horrified; they will make fun [DOU] of you.

38 Much seed, shalt thou take out into the field, —and little, shalt thou gather in, for the locust shall consume it.

You will plant plenty of seeds in your fields, but you will reap only a small harvest, because locusts will eat the crops.

39 Vineyards, shalt thou plant, and dress, —but wine, shalt thou not drink, neither shalt thou gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.

You will plant grapevines and take care of them, but you will not pick any grapes to make wine, because worms will eat the vines.

40 Olive trees, shalt thou have in all thy bounds, —but with oil, shalt thou not anoint thyself, for thine olives, shall drop off.

Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not get any olive oil to rub on your skin because the olives will drop [on the ground before they are ripe].

41 Sons and daughters, shalt thou beget, and they shall not be thine, for they shall go into captivity.

You will have sons and daughters, but they will not stay with you, because they will be captured and taken away.

42 All thy trees, and the fruit of thy ground, shall the grasshopper, devour.

Swarms of locusts/insects will eat your crops and [the leaves of] all your trees.

43 The sojourner who is in thy midst, shall mount up above thee higher and higher, —whereas, thou, shalt come down lower and lower:

Foreigners who live in your land will become more and more [powerful], and you will become less and less [powerful].

44 he, shall lend to thee, but, thou, shalt not lend to him, —he, shall become head, and, thou, shalt become tail.

They will [have money to] lend to you, but you will not [have any money to] lend to them. They will be superior [IDM] to you, and you will be inferior to them [IDM].

45 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;

“You will experience all these disasters, and you will continue to experience them you until you are destroyed, if you do not do what Yahweh your God told you to do, and do not obey all the rules and regulations that he gave to you.

46 and they shall be upon thee, for a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed, unto times age-abiding.

“These disasters will warn [DOU] you and your descendants forever [about what happens to groups who disobey Yahweh].

47 Because thou servedst not Yahweh thy God, with rejoicing, and with gladness of heart, for abundance of all things,

“Because Yahweh blessed you abundantly in many ways, you should have served him very joyfully [DOU], but you did not do that.

48 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.

“Therefore, you will work for the enemies whom Yahweh will send to attack you. You will be hungry and thirsty; you will not have clothes to wear; and you will lack everything else that you need. And Yahweh will cause you to become slaves [MET] and work hard until he gets rid of you.

49 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;

“Yahweh will cause an army from very far away [HYP] to attack you, whose soldiers speak a language that you do not know/understand. They will swoop down on you [quickly] like an eagle [SIM] attacks its prey.

50 a nation of fierce countenance, —who wilt not respect an elder nor to the young, show favour;

They will be fierce looking. They will not act mercifully toward anyone, not even young children and old people.

51 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.

They will [kill and] eat your livestock, and they will eat your crops, and you will (starve/die because you do not have anything to eat). They will not leave for you any grain or wine or [olive] oil or cattle or sheep; and you will all die [from hunger].

52 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.

Your enemies will surround your towns throughout the land that Yahweh your God is about to give to you, and they will break down the high and strong walls [around your towns], walls which you trusted/thought would protect you.

53 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.

“When your enemies are surrounding [your towns], you will be extremely hungry, with the result that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters that Yahweh your God has given to you.

54 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;

When your enemies have surrounded your towns, even the most gentle and sensitive men among you will want food very desperately, with the result that they will [kill their own children and] eat their flesh, because they will not have anything else to eat. They will not even share any of it with their brothers or wives whom they love very much or with any of their children who are still alive.

55 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 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;

Even the most gentle and sensitive/kind women among you, who are very refined/rich with the result that they have never had to walk anywhere [HYP], will do the same thing. When your enemies have surrounded your towns, those women will be extremely hungry, with the result that after they give birth to a baby, they will secretly [kill it and] eat its flesh and also eat its afterbirth. And they will not share any of it with their husbands whom they love very much or with any of their other children.

57 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 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,

“If you do not faithfully obey all of the laws that I am writing, and if you do not revere Yahweh our glorious God [MTY],

59 then will Yahweh make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, —plagues great and lasting, and diseases grievous and lasting;

he will [punish you by] causing you and your descendants to experience great afflictions and plagues which will last for many years.

60 and he will bring back on thee all the sickness of Egypt, because of which thou wast afraid, —and they shall cleave unto thee;

He will cause you to experience the plagues that he sent on the people of Egypt, and you will never be healed.

61 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,

He will also cause you to experience many other sicknesses and diseases that I have not talked about in these laws, until you all will die.

62 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.

You became as numerous as the stars in the sky, but only a few of you will remain alive, if you do not obey Yahweh your God.

63 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;

Yahweh was very happy to do good things for you and to cause you to become very numerous, but now he will be happy to ruin you and get rid of you. [Those of] you [who do not die from these plagues] will be snatched away from the land that you will soon be entering to possess.

64 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.

“Yahweh will scatter you among many people-groups, all over the earth, and in those areas/places you will serve other gods that are made of wood or stone, gods which you and your ancestors have never known/worshiped.

65 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.

In those places you will be restless. Yahweh will cause you to be constantly worried/anxious, feel hopeless, and discouraged.

66 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.

You will always be afraid that your enemies will kill you. You will be very fearful, all day and all night.

67 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.

Because you will be very fearful/afraid because of the [terrible] things that you see, each morning you will say ‘I wish it were evening already!’ and each evening you will say ‘I wish it were morning already!’

68 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.

Yahweh will send [some of] you back to Egypt in ships, even though he promised that you would never [be forced to] go there again. There in Egypt you will try to sell yourselves to become slaves of your enemies [in order to have food to eat], but no one will buy you. [All those things will happen to you if you do not obey the laws that Yahweh is giving to you].”