Deuteronomy: Chapter 28
1. It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently
to the voice of The Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments which
I command you this day, that The Lord your God will set you on high above all
the nations of the earth:
2. and all these blessings shall come on you, and
overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of The Lord your God.
3. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed
shall you be in the field.
4. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the
fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your animals, the increase of your
livestock, and the young of your flock.
5. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading
trough.
6. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and
blessed shall you be when you go out.
7. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up
against you to be struck before you: they shall come out against you one way, and
shall flee before you seven ways.
8. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your
barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land
which The Lord your God gives you.
9. The Lord will establish you for a holy people to
himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of The Lord
your God, and walk in his ways.
10. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you
are called by the name of The Lord; and they shall be afraid of you.
11. The Lord will make you plenteous for good, in the
fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of
your ground, in the land which The Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12. The Lord will open to you his good treasure in the
sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of
your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.
13. The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail;
and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen
to the commandments of The Lord your God, which I command you this day, to
observe and to do [them],
14. and shall not turn aside from any of the words
which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after
other gods to serve them.
15. But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen
to the voice of The Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and
his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on
you, and overtake you.
16. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall
you be in the field.
17. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading
trough.
18. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the
fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your
flock.
19. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed
shall you be when you go out.
20. The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and
rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until
you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have
forsaken me.
21. The Lord will make the pestilence cleave to you,
until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.
22. The Lord will strike you with consumption, and with
fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with
blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.
23. Your sky that is over your head shall be brass,
and the earth that is under you shall be iron.
24. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder
and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.
25. The Lord will cause you to be struck before your
enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before
them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the
earth.
26. Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the
sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them
away.
27. The Lord will strike you with the boil of Egypt,
and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not
be healed.
28. The Lord will strike you with madness, and with
blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
29. and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind
gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be
only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.
30. You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall
lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you
shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use the fruit of it.
31. Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you
shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before
your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your
enemies, and you shall have none to save you.
32. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to
another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the
day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.
33. The fruit of your ground, and all your labors,
shall a nation which you don't know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and
crushed always;
34. so that you shall be mad for the sight of your
eyes which you shall see.
35. The Lord will strike you in the knees, and in the
legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your
foot to the crown of your head.
36. The Lord will bring you, and your king whom you
shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and
there shall you serve other gods, wood and stone.
37. You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a
byword, among all the peoples where The Lord shall lead you away.
38. You shall carry much seed out into the field, and
shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39. You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you
shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worm shall
eat them.
40. You shall have olive trees throughout all your
borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall
cast [its fruit].
41. You shall father sons and daughters, but they
shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
42. All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall
the locust possess.
43. The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall
mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.
44. He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to
him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45. All these curses shall come on you, and shall
pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen
to the voice of The Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes
which he commanded you:
46. and they shall be on you for a sign and for a
wonder, and on your seed forever.
47. Because you didn't serve The Lord your God with
joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all
things;
48. therefore shall you serve your enemies whom The Lord
shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want
of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he have
destroyed you.
49. The Lord will bring a nation against you from far,
from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you
shall not understand;
50. a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall
not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,
51. and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the
fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you
grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your
flock, until they have caused you to perish.
52. They shall besiege you in all your gates, until
your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all
your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your
land, which The Lord your God has given you.
53. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the
flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom The Lord your God has given you,
in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
54. The man who is tender among you, and very
delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his
bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;
55. so that he will not give to any of them of the
flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in
the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all
your gates.
56. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would
not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and
tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward
her son, and toward her daughter,
57. and toward her young one who comes out from
between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat
them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with
which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.
58. If you will not observe to do all the words of
this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and
fearful name, THE LORD YOUR GOD;
59. then The Lord will make your plagues wonderful,
and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and
sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60. He will bring on you again all the diseases of
Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave to you.
61. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is
not written in the book of this law, them will The Lord bring on you, until you
are destroyed.
62. You shall be left few in number, whereas you were
as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of
The Lord your God.
63. It shall happen that as The Lord rejoiced over you
to do you good, and to multiply you, so The Lord will rejoice over you to cause
you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land
where you go in to possess it.
64. The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from
the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you
shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even
wood and stone.
65. Among these nations shall you find no ease, and
there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but The Lord will give you
there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;
66. and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and
you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.
67. In the morning you shall say, Would it were even!
and at even you shall say, Would it were morning! for the fear of your heart
which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
68. The Lord will bring you into Egypt again with
ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and
there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for
bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.