Deuteronomy 28

1 It shall happen, if you shall sh'ma ·hear obey· sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice, to observe to do all his mitzvot ·instructions· which I enjoin you today, that Adonai your God will set you 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 All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice.

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 Adonai 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 Adonai will enjoin the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Adonai 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 Adonai will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the mitzvot ·instructions· of Adonai 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 Adonai’s name, and they will 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 Adonai will grant you abundant prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Adonai 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 Adonai 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. You will lend to many nations, and you will 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 Adonai will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if you sh'ma ·hear obey· the mitzvot ·instructions· of Adonai your God, which I enjoin you today, 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 enjoin you today, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other deities to abad ·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 sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice, to observe to do all his mitzvot ·instructions· and his statutes which I enjoin you today, that all these curses will 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 will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field.

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

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will 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 will 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 will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out.

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

20 Adonai 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 Adonai 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 Adonai will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with tzara'at mildew. They will 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 will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron.

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

24 Adonai will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, 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 Adonai will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will 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 will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one 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 Adonai will strike you with the boils of Egypt [Abode of slavery], with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you cannot be healed.

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

28 Adonai will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart.

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

29 You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one 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 will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and 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 will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one 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 will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in 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 A nation which you don’t know eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be 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 the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad.

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

35 Adonai will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot 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 Adonai will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will abad ·serve· other deities of 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 will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Adonai will 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 will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in; for the locust will consume it.

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

39 You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will 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 will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives will 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 will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will 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 Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground.

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

43 The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will 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 will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will 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 will come on you, and will pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice, to keep his mitzvot ·instructions· and his statutes which he enjoined 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 They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever.

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

47 Because you didn’t abad ·serve· Adonai 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 will abad ·serve· your enemies whom Adonai sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke 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 Adonai will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not sh'ma ·hear understand obey·;

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 does not respect the elderly, 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 they will eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t 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 will besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Adonai 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 will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Adonai your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will 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 will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, 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 will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will 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 venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, 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 toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will 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 Torah ·Teaching· that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh Eloheinu ·He sustains breathing 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 Adonai will make your plagues fearful, and the plagues of your offspring, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration.

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 [Abode of slavery], which you were afraid of; and they will 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 Torah ·Teaching·, Adonai 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 will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t sh'ma ·hear obey· Adonai your God’s voice.

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 will happen that as Adonai rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Adonai will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you. You will be plucked from off of 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 Adonai will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will abad ·serve· other deities, 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 will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Adonai will give you there a trembling heart, 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 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will 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 will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will 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 Adonai will bring you into Egypt [Abode of slavery] again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will 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.