Deuteronomy 28-30
Complete Jewish Bible
28 “If you listen closely to what Adonai your God says, observing and obeying all his mitzvot which I am giving you today, Adonai your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth; 2 and all the following blessings will be yours in abundance — if you will do what Adonai your God says:
3 “A blessing on you in the city, and a blessing on you in the countryside.
4 “A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock — the young of your cattle and flocks.
5 “A blessing on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.
6 “A blessing on you when you go out, and a blessing on you when you come in.
(vi) 7 “Adonai will cause your enemies attacking you to be defeated before you; they will advance on you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “Adonai will order a blessing to be with you in your barns and in everything you undertake; he will bless you in the land Adonai your God is giving you.
9 “Adonai will establish you as a people separated out for himself, as he has sworn to you — if you will observe the mitzvot of Adonai your God and follow his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that Adonai’s name, his presence, is with you; so that they will be afraid of you.
11 “Adonai will give you great abundance of good things — of the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land in the land Adonai swore to your ancestors to give you. 12 Adonai will open for you his good treasure, the sky, to give your land its rain at the right seasons and to bless everything you undertake. You will lend to many nations and not borrow; 13 Adonai will make you the head and not the tail; and you will be only above, never below — if you will listen to, observe and obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God 14 and not turn away from any of the words I am ordering you today, neither to the right nor to the left, to follow after other gods and serve them.
15 “But if you refuse to pay attention to what Adonai your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:
16 “A curse on you in the city, and a curse on you in the countryside.
17 “A curse on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.
18 “A curse on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the young of your cattle and flocks.
19 “A curse on you when you come in, and a curse on you when you go out.
20 “Adonai will send on you curses, disasters and frustration in everything you set out to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of your evil actions in abandoning me.
21 “Adonai will bring on you a plague that will stay with you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 22 Adonai will strike you down with wasting diseases, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, drought, blasting winds and mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish.
23 “The sky over your head will be brass and the earth under you iron. 24 Adonai will turn the rain your land needs into powder and dust that will fall on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
25 “Adonai your God will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will advance on them one way and flee before them seven. You will become an object of horror to every kingdom on earth. 26 Your carcasses will become food for all the birds in the air and the wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them away.
27 Adonai will strike you down with the boils that broke out on the Egyptians, tumors, skin lesions and itching, all incurable. 28 Adonai will strike you with insanity, blindness and utter confusion. 29 You will grope about at noon like a blind person groping in the dark, unable to find your way.
“You will be continually oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to save you. 30 You will get engaged to a woman, but another man will marry her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not use its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won’t eat any of its meat. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force as you watch, and you won’t get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people; you will watch for them longingly all day but not see them; and there will be nothing you can do about it. 33 A nation unknown to you will eat the fruit of your land and labor. Yes, you will be continually oppressed and crushed, 34 till you go crazy from what your eyes have to see. 35 Adonai will strike you down in the knees and legs with painful and incurable boils; they will spread from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 Adonai will bring you and your king whom you have put over yourselves to a nation you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone. 37 You will be so devastated as to become a proverb and a laughingstock among all the peoples to which Adonai will drive you.
38 “You will carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and dress them but neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will fall off unripe. 41 You will father sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you, because they will go into captivity. 42 The bugs will inherit all your trees and the produce of your land.
43 “The foreigner living with you will rise higher and higher while you sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head and you the tail.
45 “All these curses will come on you, pursuing you and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you didn’t pay attention to what Adonai your God said, observing his mitzvot and regulations that he gave you. 46 These curses will be on you and your descendants as a sign and a wonder forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve Adonai your God with joy and gladness in your heart when you had such an abundance of everything; 48 Adonai will send your enemy against you; and you will serve him when you are hungry, thirsty, poorly clothed and lacking everything; he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you. 49 Yes, Adonai will bring against you a nation from far away that will swoop down on you from the end of the earth like a vulture, a nation whose language you don’t understand, 50 a nation grim in appearance, whose people neither respect the old nor pity the young. 51 They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you have been destroyed. They will leave you without grain, wine, olive oil, or your young cattle and sheep — until they have caused you to perish. 52 They will besiege all your towns until your high, fortified walls, in which you trusted, collapse everywhere in your land, which Adonai your God gave you. 53 Then, because of the severity of the siege and distress that your enemies are inflicting on you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom Adonai your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will be without pity for his brother, his beloved wife or his surviving children, 55 to the degree that he will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children whom he is eating; because if he did, he would have nothing left for himself — in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in all your towns. 56 The most delicate and sensitive woman among you, so sensitive and delicate that she wouldn’t think of touching the sole of her foot to the ground, will so begrudge her own beloved husband, son and daughter 57 that she will secretly eat the afterbirth that comes out of her and even her own children as she bears them — so desperately hungry will she be in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in your towns.
58 “If you will not observe and obey all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, so that you will fear this glorious and awesome name, Adonai your God; 59 then Adonai will strike down you and your descendants with extraordinary plagues and severe sicknesses that go on and on. 60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases the Egyptians had, which you were in dread of; and they will cling to you. 61 Not only that, but Adonai will bring upon you all the sicknesses and plagues that are not written in this book of the Torah — until you are destroyed. 62 You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky — because you did not pay attention to the voice of Adonai your God.
63 “Thus it will come about that just as once Adonai took joy in seeking to do you good and increase your numbers, so now Adonai will take joy in causing you to perish and be destroyed, and you will be plucked off the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 64 Adonai will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among these nations you will not find repose, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; rather Adonai will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be afraid night and day and have no assurance that you will stay alive. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘Oh, how I wish it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘Oh, how I wish it were morning!’ — because of the fear overwhelming your heart and the sights your eyes will see. 68 Finally, Adonai will bring you back in ships to Egypt, the place of which I said to you, ‘You will never ever see it again’; and there you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.”
69 (29:1) These are the words of the covenant which Adonai ordered Moshe to make with the people of Isra’el in the land of Mo’av, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horev.
29 (vii) (2) Then Moshe summoned all Isra’el and said to them, “You saw everything Adonai did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants and to all his land; 2 (3) the great testings which you saw with your own eyes, and the signs and those great wonders. 3 (4) Nevertheless, to this day Adonai has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see or ears to hear! 4 (5) I led you forty years in the desert. Neither the clothes on your body nor the shoes on your feet wore out. 5 (6) You didn’t eat bread, and you didn’t drink wine or other intoxicating liquor; this was so that you would know that ‘I am Adonai your God.’ (Maftir) 6 (7) When you arrived at this place, Sichon the king of Heshbon and ‘Og the king of Bashan advanced against us in battle, and we defeated them, 7 (8) took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the M’nashi. 8 (9) Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and obey them; so that you can make everything you do prosper.
Haftarah Ki Tavo: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 60:1–22
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Ki Tavo: Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:1–23; Luke 21:1–4; Acts 28:17–31; Romans 11:1–15
Parashah 51: Nitzavim (Standing) 29:9(10)–30:20
[In regular years read with Parashah 52, in leap years read separately]
9 (10) “Today you are standing, all of you, before Adonai your God — your heads, your tribes, your leaders and your officers — all the men of Isra’el, 10 (11) along with your little ones, your wives and your foreigners here with you in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water. 11 (12) The purpose is that you should enter into the covenant of Adonai your God and into his oath which Adonai your God is making with you today, (LY: ii) 12 (13) so that he can establish you today for himself as a people, and so that for you he will be God — as he said to you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.
13 (14) “But I am not making this covenant and this oath only with you. 14 (15) Rather, I am making it both with him who is standing here with us today before Adonai our God and also with him who is not here with us today. (LY: iii) 15 (16) For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came directly through the nations you passed through; 16 (17) and you saw their detestable things and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold that they had with them. 17 (18) So let there not be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today from Adonai our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there not be among you a root bearing such bitter poison and wormwood. 18 (19) If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, ‘I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although “dry,” [sinful,] will be added to the “watered” [righteous].’ 19 (20) But Adonai will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of Adonai will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. Adonai will blot out his name from under heaven. 20 (21) Adonai will single him out from all the tribes of Isra’el to experience what is bad in all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah.
21 (22) “When the next generation, your children who will grow up after you, and the foreigner who arrives from a distant land, see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which Adonai has made it sick, 22 (23) and that the whole land has become burning sulfur and salt, that it isn’t being sown or bearing crops or even producing grass — like the overthrow of S’dom, ‘Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, which Adonai overthrew in his furious anger — 23 (24) then all the nations will ask, ‘Why did Adonai do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?’ 24 (25) People will answer, ‘It’s because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 25 (26) They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them. 26 (27) For this reason, the anger of Adonai blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book; 27 (28) and Adonai, in anger, fury and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land — as it is today.’
28 (29) “Things which are hidden belong to Adonai our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.
30 (RY: ii, LY: iv) “When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which Adonai your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you; 2 and you will return to Adonai your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today — you and your children, with all your heart and all your being. 3 At that point, Adonai your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which Adonai your God scattered you. 4 If one of yours was scattered to the far end of the sky, Adonai your God will gather you even from there; he will go there and get you. 5 Adonai your God will bring you back into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you prosper there, and you will become even more numerous than your ancestors. 6 Then Adonai your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live. (RY: iii, LY: v) 7 Adonai your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hated and persecuted you; 8 but you will return and pay attention to what Adonai says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today. 9 Then Adonai your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do — the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for Adonai will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors.
10 “However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what Adonai your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being. (LY: vi) 11 For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach. 12 It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ 13 Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’ 14 On the contrary, the word is very close to you — in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!
(RY: iv, LY: vii) 15 “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — 16 in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; (LY: Maftir) 18 I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.
19 “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20 loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”
Haftarah Nitzavim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 61:10–63:9
B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Nitzavim: Romans 9:30–10:13; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 12:14 –15
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.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International