Devarim 28-30

Orthodox Jewish Bible

28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt give heed diligently unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer and to do all His mitzvot which I command thee today, that Hashem Eloheicha will set thee on high above kol Goyei Ha’Aretz;

² And all these berakhot shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha.

³ Baruch atah baIr (blessed shalt thou be in the town), and baruch atah basadeh (blessed shalt thou be in the field, country).

⁴ Baruch shall be the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy adamah, and the pri of thy animals, the increase of thy livestock, and the flocks of thy sheep.

⁵ Baruch shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.

⁶ Baruch atah when thou comest in, and baruch atah when thou goest out.

⁷ Hashem shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be defeated before thy face; they shall come out against thee derech echad, and flee before thee shivah derakhim.

⁸ Hashem shall command the brocha upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee.

⁹ Hashem shall establish thee an Am Kadosh unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt be shomer over the mitzvot of Hashem Eloheicha, and walk in His ways.

¹⁰ And all people of ha’aretz shall see that thou art called by the Shem of Hashem; and they shall be afraid of thee.

¹¹ And Hashem shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the pri of thy womb, and in the pri of thy livestock, and in the pri of thy ground, in ha’adamah which Hashem swore unto Avotecha to give thee.

¹² Hashem shall open unto thee His otzar hatov, the Shomayim, to give the matar unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand; and thou shalt lend unto Goyim rabbim, and thou shalt not borrow.

¹³ And Hashem shall make thee the rosh, and not the zanav (tail); and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou give heed unto the mitzvot Hashem Eloheicha, which I command thee today, to be shomer to do them;

¹⁴ And thou shalt not turn aside from any of the devarim which I command thee today, to the right, or to the left, to go after elohim acherim to serve them.

¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer to do all His mitzvot and His chukkot which I command thee today, that all these kelalot (curses) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

¹⁶ Arur shalt thou be in the town, and Arur shalt thou be in the sadeh.

¹⁷ Arur shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.

¹⁸ Arur shall be the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy adamah, the increase of thy livestock, and the flocks of thy sheep.

¹⁹ Arur shalt thou be when thou comest in, and Arur shalt thou be when thou goest out.

²⁰ Hashem shall send upon thee me’erah (curse), mehumah (confusion), and migeret (rebuke), in all that thou settest thine hand unto to do, until thou be shmad, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken Me.

²¹ Hashem shall make the dever (plague, pestilence) have deveykus with thee, until He have consumed thee from off ha’adamah, whither thou goest to possess it.

²² Hashem shall strike thee with a shachefet (consumption), and with a kaddachat (fever, Mk 1:31), and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the cherev, and with scorching, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

²³ And thy Shomayim that is over thy head shall be nechoshet, and Ha’Aretz that is under thee shall be barzel.

²⁴ Hashem shall make the matar of thy land powder and dust; from Shomayim shall it come down upon thee, until thou be shmad.

²⁵ Hashem shall cause thee to be defeated before thine enemies; thou shalt go out derech echad against them, and flee shivah derakhim before them; and shalt be an object of horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶ And thy nevelah shall be okhel unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of ha’aretz, and no ish shall frighten them away.

²⁷ Hashem will strike thee with the shekhin (boils) of Mitzrayim, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

²⁸ Hashem shall strike thee with shiga’on (insanity), and ivvaron (blindness), and timhon levav (confusion of heart);

²⁹ And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the ivver gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and plundered evermore, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.

³⁰ Thou shalt betroth an isha, and another ish shall lie with her; thou shalt build a bais, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a kerem, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

³¹ Thine shor shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thine chamor shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee; thy tzon shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.

³² Thy banim and thy banot shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them kol hayom; and there shall be nothing you can do.

³³ The pri of thy adamah, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed kol hayamim;

³⁴ So that thou shalt be driven meshuga because of the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

³⁵ Hashem shall strike thee in the birkayim (knees), and in the legs, with shekhin rah (foul boil) that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

³⁶ Hashem shall bring thee, and thy melech which thou shalt set over thee, unto a Goy which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known; and there shalt thou serve elohim acherim, etz va’even (wood and stone). [2Kgs 25:7]

³⁷ And thou shalt become an object of horror, a mashal, and a byword, among kol haGoyim whither Hashem shall lead thee.

³⁸ Thou shalt carry much zera out into the sadeh, and shalt gather but little in; for the arbeh shall devour it.

³⁹ Thou shalt plant kramim, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the yayin, nor gather the grapes; for the tola’at (worm) shall eat them.

⁴⁰ Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy territory, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the shemen; for thine olives shall drop off.

⁴¹ Thou shalt father banim and banot, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into shevi (captivity, the golus).

⁴² All thy trees and pri of thy adamah shall the locust consume.

⁴³ The ger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

⁴⁴ He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the rosh, and thou shalt be the zanav.

⁴⁵ Moreover all these kelalot shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be shmad; because thou gavest not heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha to be shomer over His mitzvot and His chukkot which He commanded thee;

⁴⁶ And they shall be upon thee for an ot and for a mofet, and upon thy zera ad olam.

⁴⁷ Because thou servedst not Hashem Eloheicha with simchah, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things;

⁴⁸ Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which Hashem shall send against thee, in ra’av (hunger, famine), and in tzama (thirst), and in eirom (nakedness), and in choser (want) of all things; and He shall put an ol barzel (yoke of iron) upon thy tzavvar (neck), until He hath made thee shmad.

⁴⁹ Hashem shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the ketzeh ha’aretz, as swift as the nesher flieth; a nation whose lashon thou shalt not understand;

⁵⁰ A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not respect the zaken’s person, nor show favor to the na’ar;

⁵¹ And he shall eat the pri of thy animals, and the pri of thy adamah, until thou be shmad; which also shall not leave thee either dagan, tirosh, or yitzhar, or the increase of thy livestock, or flocks of thy sheep, until it hath destroyed thee.

⁵² And it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land; and it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim throughout all thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee.

⁵³ And thou shalt eat the pri of thine own womb, the basar of thy banim and of thy banot, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee, in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee;

⁵⁴ So that the ish that is sensitive among you, and very refined, his eye shall be hostile toward his brother, and toward his eshet kheyk (wife of his bosom), and toward the remnant of his banim which he shall leave;

⁵⁵ So that he will not give to any of them of the basar of his banim whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy she’arim.

⁵⁶ The sensitive and refined woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, she shall be hostile toward her ish kheyk (husband of her bosom), and toward her ben, and toward her bat,

⁵⁷ And toward her afterbirth that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her banim which she shall bear; for she shall eat them for choser (want) of all things secretly in the matzor (siege) and desperate straits, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy she’arim.

⁵⁸ If thou wilt not be shomer to do kol divrei hatorah hazot that are written in this sefer, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Shem, HASHEM ELOHEICHA,

⁵⁹ Then Hashem will make thy makkot (plagues) extraordinary, and the makkot of thy zera, even makkot gedolot, and of long continuance, and cholayim ra’im (evil sicknesses), and of long continuance.

⁶⁰ Moreover He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Mitzrayim, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall have deveykus unto thee.

⁶¹ Also every choli (sickness), and every makkah (plague), which is not written in the sefer of this torah, them will Hashem bring upon thee, until thou be shmad.

⁶² And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the kokhavim of Shomayim for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of Hashem Eloheicha.

⁶³ And it shall come to pass, that as Hashem rejoiced over you to do you good, to multiply you, so Hashem will rejoice over you to make you shmad, to bring you to nothing; and ye shall be plucked from off the adamah whither thou goest to possess it.

⁶⁴ And Hashem shall scatter thee among kol ha’ammim, from the one end of ha’aretz even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve elohim acherim, which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known, even etz va’even.

⁶⁵ And among these Goyim shalt thou find no mano’ach [see Ruth], neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but Hashem shall give thee there a lev rogez (anxious heart), and failing of eyes, and da’avon nefesh (suffering of soul);

⁶⁶ And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear lailah and yomam, and shalt have none assurance of thy life;

⁶⁷ In the boker thou shalt say, Would it were erev! And at erev thou shalt say, Would it were boker! For the pachad of thine lev wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

⁶⁸ And Hashem shall bring thee into Mitzrayim again with oniyyot, by the way whereof I spoke unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again; and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for avadim and shefachot, and no ish shall buy you.

29 These are the devarei HaBrit, which Hashem commanded Moshe to cut with the Bnei Yisroel in Eretz Moav, besides the Brit which He cut with them in Chorev.

^2 (1) And Moshe called unto kol Yisroel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Hashem did before your eyes in Eretz Mitzrayim unto Pharaoh, and unto all his avadim, and unto all his land;

^3 (2) The massot hagedolot (great trials) which thine eyes have seen, the otot, and those mofetim hagedolim;

^4 (3) V’lo natan Hashem lakhem lev lada’at v’einayim lirot v’ozna’im lishmoa ad hayom hazeh (Yet Hashem hath not given you a lev for da’as, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.)

^5 (4) And I have led you arba’im shanim in the midbar; your clothes are not worn out upon you, and thy sandal is not worn out upon thy foot.

^6 (5) Ye have not eaten lechem, neither have ye drunk yayin or shekhar; that ye might have da’as that Ani Hashem Eloheicha.

^7 (6) And when ye came unto this place, Sichon Melech Cheshbon, and Og Melech HaBashan, came out against us unto milchamah, and we defeated them:

^8 (7) And we took their land, and gave it for a nachalah unto the Reuveni, and to the Gadi, and to the half tribe of Menasheh.

[NITZAVIM]

^9 (8) Therefore be shomer over the divrei HaBrit hazot, and do them, lema’an (in order that) ye may prosper in all that ye do.

^10 (9) Ye stand today all of you before Hashem Eloheichem; your rashei shvatim (heads of tribes), your zekenim, and your shoterim, with kol Ish Yisroel,

^11 (10) Your little ones, your nashim, and the ger that is in thy machaneh, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy mayim;

^12 (11) That thou shouldest enter into Brit with Hashem Eloheicha, and into His alah (oath, imprecation) which Hashem Eloheicha cuts with thee today:

^13 (12) In order that He may establish thee today for a people unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee Elohim, as He hath said unto thee, and as He hath sworn unto Avoteicha, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov.

^14 (13) Neither with you only do I cut this Brit and this alah (oath, imprecation);

^15 (14) But with him that standeth here with us today before Hashem Eloheinu, and also with him that is not here with us today;

^16 (15) For ye know how we have dwelt in Eretz Mitzrayim; and how we came through the Goyim which ye passed by;

^17 (16) And ye have seen their shikkutzim (abominations), and their gillulim (idols), etz va’even, kesef and zahav, which were among them:

^18 (17) Lest there should be among you ish, or isha, or mishpochah, or shevet, whose lev turneth away today from Hashem Eloheinu to go and serve the elohei hagoyim hahem (the g-ds of these Goyim); lest there should be among you a shoresh that beareth bitter poison and wormwood [MJ 12:15];

^19 (18) And it come to pass, when he heareth the divrei haalah (words of this oath, imprecation) that he bless himself in his lev, saying, Shalom be with me, though I walk in the stubbornness of mine lev—thus bringing disaster on both the watered and the thirsty.

^20 (19) Hashem will not spare him, but then the wrath of Hashem and His kina (jealousy) shall burn against that ish, and kol haalah (all the curses) that are written in this sefer shall fall upon him, and Hashem shall blot out shmo from under Shomayim.

^21 (20) And Hashem shall him separate out for disaster from all the Shivtei Yisroel, according to all the curses of HaBrit that are written in Sefer HaTorah Hazeh;

^22 (21) So that the dor ha’acharon (later generation) to come of your banim that shall rise up after you, and the ger that shall come from an eretz rechokah (a far land), shall say, when they see the makkot of that land, and the diseases which Hashem hath laid upon it;

^23 (22) And that the whole land thereof is gofrit (sulfur), and melach (salt), and serefah (burning), that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any esev groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Amora, Admah, and Tzvoyim, which Hashem overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath:

^24 (23) Even Kol HaGoyim shall say, Why hath Hashem done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this af hagadol (great anger)?

^25 (24) Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the Brit Hashem Elohei Avotam, which He cut with them when He brought them forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim;

^26 (25) For they went and served elohim acherim, and worshiped them, elohim whom they knew not, and whom He had not allotted unto them;

^27 (26) And the Af Hashem was kindled against this land, to bring upon it kol hakelalah that are written in this sefer;

^28 (27) And Hashem uprooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is yom hazeh.

^29 (28) The nistarot (secret things) belong unto Hashem Eloheinu: but the niglot (those things which are revealed) belong unto us and to baneinu ad olam, that we may do all the divrei haTorah hazot.

30 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the brocha and the kelalah, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt cause them to return to thy heart among kol HaGoyim, whither Hashem Eloheicha hath driven thee,

² And shalt return unto Hashem Eloheicha, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee today, thou and thy banim, bekhol levavcha uvekhol nafshecha;

³ That then Hashem Eloheicha will bring you back from the golus, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from kol ha’amim whither Hashem Eloheicha hath dispersed thee.

⁴ If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of Shomayim, from thence will Hashem Eloheicha gather thee, and from thence will He bring thee back;

⁵ And Hashem Eloheicha will bring thee into ha’aretz which Avoteicha possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above Avoteicha.

⁶ And Hashem Eloheicha will circumcise thine lev, and the lev of thy zera, to love Hashem Eloheicha bekhol levavcha uvekhol nafshecha; that thou mayest live [Yn 3:3].

⁷ And Hashem Eloheicha will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

⁸ And thou shalt return and obey the voice of Hashem, and do all His mitzvot which I command thee today.

⁹ And Hashem Eloheicha will make thee abound in every work of thine hand, in the pri of thy womb, and in the pri of thy animals, and in the pri of thy adamah, for tovah; for Hashem will again rejoice over thee for tov, as He rejoiced over Avoteicha;

¹⁰ If thou shalt give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer over His mitzvot and His chukkot which are written in this sefer hatorah, for thou will turn unto Hashem Eloheicha bekhol levavcha uvekhol nafshecha.

¹¹ For this mitzvah which I command thee today, it is not too hidden from thee, neither is it too distant.

¹² It is not in Shomayim, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to Shomayim, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

¹³ Neither is it beyond the yam, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the yam for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

¹⁴ But the Davar is very near unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy lev, that thou mayest do it.

¹⁵ See, I have set before thee today HaChayyim and HaTov, and Mavet and Rah;

¹⁶ In that I command thee today to love Hashem Eloheicha, to walk in His ways, and to be shomer over His mitzvot and His chukkot and His mishpatim, that thou mayest live and multiply; and Hashem Eloheicha shall bless thee in ha’aretz whither thou goest to possess it.

¹⁷ But if thine lev turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship elohim acherim, and serve them;

¹⁸ I announce unto you today, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your yamim upon ha’adamah, whither thou passest over Yarden to go to possess it.

¹⁹ I call Shomayim and Ha’Aretz to record today as witnesses against you, that I have set before you HaChayyim and HaMavet, HaBerakhah and HaKelalah; therefore choose Chayyim, that both thou and thy zera may live;

²⁰ That thou mayest love Hashem Eloheicha, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest have deveykus unto Him: for He is Chayyeicha (your life, Pp 1:21; Ac 17:28), and the orech yameicha (length of your days); that thou mayest dwell in ha’adamah which Hashem swore unto Avoteicha, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya’akov, to give them.