Deuteronomy 28
1 'And it hath been, if thou dost hearken diligently to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all His commands which I am commanding thee to-day, that Jehovah thy God hath made thee uppermost above 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 have come upon thee, and overtaken thee, because thou dost hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God:
You will have all the following blessings and even more, if you do what the Lord your God says.
3 'Blessed [art] thou in the city, and blessed [art] thou in the field.
You will be blessed when you're in the town; you will be blessed when you're in the countryside.
4 'Blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock.
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 [is] thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
You will be blessed with plenty of bread.
6 'Blessed [art] thou in thy coming in, and blessed [art] thou in thy going out.
You will be blessed wherever you go and in everything you do.
7 'Jehovah giveth thine enemies, who are rising up against thee — smitten before thy face; in one way they come out unto thee, and in seven ways they flee before thee.
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 'Jehovah commandeth with thee the blessing in thy storehouses, and in every putting forth of thy hand, and hath blessed thee in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to 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 'Jehovah doth establish thee to Himself for a holy people, as He hath sworn to thee, when thou keepest the commands of Jehovah thy God, and hast walked in His ways;
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 and all the peoples of the land have seen that the name of Jehovah is called upon thee, and they have been afraid 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 Jehovah hath made thee abundant in good, in the fruit of the womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers to give to 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 'Jehovah doth open to thee his good treasure — the heavens — to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand, and thou hast lent to many nations, and thou — thou dost not borrow.
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 Jehovah hath given thee for head, and not for tail; and thou hast been only above, and art not beneath, for thou dost hearken unto the commands of Jehovah thy God, which I am commanding thee to-day, to keep and to do,
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 and thou dost not turn aside from all the words which I am commanding you to-day — right or left — to go after other gods, to serve them.
Don't deviate from any of my instructions today. Don't go and worship other gods.
15 'And it hath been, if thou dost not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God to observe to do all His commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken 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 [art] thou in the city, and cursed [art] thou in the field.
You will be cursed when you're in the town; you will be cursed when you're in the countryside.
17 'Cursed [is] thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
You will be cursed by not having bread.
18 'Cursed [is] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock.
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 [art] thou in thy coming in, and cursed [art] thou in thy going out.
You will be cursed wherever you go and in everything you do.
20 'Jehovah doth send on thee the curse, the trouble, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of thy hand which thou dost, till thou art destroyed, and till thou perish hastily, because of the evil of thy doings [by] which 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 'Jehovah doth cause to cleave to thee the pestilence, till He consume thee from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess it.
The Lord will give you infectious diseases until he has wiped you out from the country you are entering town.
22 'Jehovah doth smite thee 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 thee till 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 thy heavens which [are] over thy head have been brass, and the earth which [is] under thee iron;
The sky above you will be like bronze, and the earth beneath you will be like iron.
24 Jehovah giveth the rain of thy land — dust and ashes; from the heavens it cometh down on thee till thou art 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 'Jehovah giveth thee smitten before thine enemies; in one way thou goest out unto them, and in seven ways dost flee before them, and thou hast been for a trembling to all kingdoms 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 carcase hath been for food to every fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and there is none causing trembling.
Your dead bodies will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare them away.
27 'Jehovah doth smite thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and with emerods, and with scurvy, and with itch, of which thou art not able to 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 'Jehovah doth smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
The Lord will send you mad and make you blind and confused,
29 and thou hast been gropling at noon, as the blind gropeth in darkness; and thou dost not cause thy ways to prosper; and thou hast been only oppressed and plundered all the days, and there is no saviour.
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 'A woman thou dost betroth, and another man doth lie with her; a house thou dost build, and dost not dwell in it; a vineyard thou dost plant, and dost not make it common;
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 ox [is] slaughtered before thine eyes, and thou dost not eat of it; thine ass [is] taken violently away from before thee, and it is not given back to thee; thy sheep [are] given to thine enemies, and there is no saviour 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 sons and thy daughters [are] given to another people, and thine eyes are looking and consuming for them all the day, and thy hand is not to God!
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 fruit of thy ground, and all thy labour, eat up doth a people whom thou hast not known; and thou hast been only oppressed and bruised all the days;
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 and thou hast been mad, because of the sight of thine eyes which thou dost see.
What you see will drive you mad.
35 'Jehovah doth smite thee with an evil ulcer, on the knees, and on the legs (of which thou art not able to be healed), from the sole of thy foot even unto thy crown.
The Lord will give you painful boils that can't be cured on your knees and thighs, in fact from head to toe.
36 'Jehovah doth cause thee to go, and thy king whom thou raisest up over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers, and thou hast served there other gods, 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 hast been for an astonishment, for a simile, and for a byword among all the peoples whither Jehovah doth lead 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 'Much seed thou dost take out into the field, and little thou dost gather in, for the locust doth consume it;
You will sow a lot of seed in the field, but harvest very little because the locusts will destroy it.
39 vineyards thou dost plant, and hast laboured, and wine thou dost not drink nor gather, for the worm doth consume 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 olives are to thee in all thy border, and oil thou dost not pour out, for thine olive doth fall off.
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 'Sons and daughters thou dost beget, and they are not with thee, for they go into captivity;
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 the fruit of thy ground doth the locust possess;
Locust swarms will destroy all your trees and crops.
43 the sojourner who [is] in thy midst goeth up above thee very high, and thou goest down very low;
Foreigners who live with you will rise higher and higher in status above you, while you sink lower and lower.
44 he doth lend [to] thee, and thou dost not lend [to] him; he is for head, and thou art for tail.
They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the first, and you will be the last.
45 'And come upon thee have all these curses, and they have pursued thee, and overtaken thee, till thou art destroyed, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep His commands, and His statutes, which he hath 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 have been on thee for a sign and for a wonder, also on thy seed — to the age.
They will be lasting evidence, visible signs of what happened to you and your descendants.
47 'Because that thou hast not served Jehovah thy God with joy, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things —
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with happiness and with a joyful attitude,
48 thou hast served thine enemies, whom Jehovah sendeth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things; and he hath put a yoke of iron on thy neck, till He hath 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 'Jehovah doth lift up against thee a nation, from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle it flieth; a nation whose tongue thou hast not heard,
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 — fierce of countenance — which accepteth not the face of the aged, and the young doth not favour;
They are a ruthless nation who don't respect for the old and have no mercy on the young.
51 and it hath eaten the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, till thou art destroyed; which leaveth not to thee corn, new wine, and oil, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock, till it hath destroyed thee.
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 it hath laid siege to thee in all thy gates, till thy walls come down, the high and the fenced ones in which thou art trusting, in all thy land; yea, it hath laid siege to thee in all thy gates, in all thy land, which Jehovah thy God hath given to 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 hast eaten the fruit of thy body, flesh of thy sons and thy daughters (whom Jehovah thy God hath given to thee), in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemies do straiten 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 'The man who is tender in thee, 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 leaveth,
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 against giving to one of them of the flesh of his sons whom he eateth, because he hath nothing left to him, in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee in all thy gates.
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 woman in thee, and the delicate, who hath 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 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 against her seed which cometh out from between her feet, even against her sons whom she doth bear, for she doth eat them for the lacking of all things in secret, in the siege and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee within thy gates.
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 dost not observe to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honoured and fearful name — Jehovah 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 then hath Jehovah made wonderful thy strokes, and the strokes of thy seed — great strokes, and stedfast, and evil sicknesses, and stedfast.
he will bring down on you and your descendants unbelievable disasters, intense and long-lasting diseases, and terrible and incurable sicknesses.
60 'And He hath brought back on thee all the diseases of Egypt, of the presence of which thou hast been afraid, and they have cleaved to thee;
He will give you all the diseases you were terrified of in Egypt, and they will stay with you.
61 also every sickness and every stroke which is not written in the book of this law; Jehovah doth cause them to go up upon thee till thou art 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 have been left with few men, instead of which ye have been as stars of the heavens for multitude, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah 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 it hath been, as Jehovah hath rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so doth Jehovah rejoice over you to destroy you, and to lay you waste; and ye have been pulled away from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess 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 Jehovah hath scattered thee among all the peoples, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth; and thou hast served there other gods which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers — 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 'And among those nations thou dost not rest, yea, there is no resting-place for the sole of thy foot, and Jehovah hath given to thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and grief of soul;
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 hath been hanging in suspense before thee, and thou hast been afraid by night and by day, and dost not believe in 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 sayest, O that it were evening! and in the evening thou sayest, O that it were morning! from the fear of thy heart, with which thou art afraid, and from the sight of thine eyes which thou seest.
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 Jehovah hath brought thee back to Egypt with ships, by a way of which I said to thee, Thou dost not add any more to see it, and ye have sold yourselves there to thine enemies, for men-servants and for maid-servants, and there is no buyer.'
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.
