Deuteronomy 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:

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 shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

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 You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

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

4 You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young 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 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

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

6 You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

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

7 The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

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 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

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

17 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed.

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

18 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed.

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 You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

You will be cursed when you come in and cursed 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.

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 The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go 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 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.

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 Your sky that is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

28 The LORD will strike 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 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.

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 shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell in it: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.

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 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.

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 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.

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 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you do not know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;

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 so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

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

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.

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 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 you shall serve other gods, 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 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the LORD shall lead you away.

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

38 You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

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

39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them.

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 You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop 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 shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall 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 All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.

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

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.

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 shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the 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 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he 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 shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

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

47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason 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 therefore you shall 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 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 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from a distant land, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;

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 facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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;

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 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.

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 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,

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 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.

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 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;

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 the LORD will make your plagues extraordinary, and the plagues of your descendants, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

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 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling 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 plague, which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them 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 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

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 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.

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 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.

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 Among these nations you shall 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;

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 shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of 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 shall say, "I wish it were evening." and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning." for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall 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 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.

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.