32 (A)Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, (B)but you shall be helpless. 33 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34 so that you are driven mad (C)by the sights that your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs (D)with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 “The Lord will (E)bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you (F)nor your fathers have known. And (G)there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become (H)a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38 (I)You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for (J)the locust shall consume it. 39 (K)You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you (L)shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for (M)they shall go into captivity. 42 (N)The cricket[a] shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 (O)The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 (P)He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. (Q)He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 (R)“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 They shall be (S)a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47 (T)Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he (U)will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 (V)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, (W)swooping down like the eagle, a nation (X)whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation (Y)who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall (Z)eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52 “They shall (AA)besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you. 53 And (AB)you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, (AC)in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is the most tender and refined among you will (AD)begrudge food to his brother, to (AE)the wife he embraces,[b] and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, (AF)in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 (AG)The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,[c] to her son and to her daughter, 57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, (AH)in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.

58 “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, (AI)the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60 And he will bring upon you again all (AJ)the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62 Whereas (AK)you were as numerous (AL)as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:42 Identity uncertain
  2. Deuteronomy 28:54 Hebrew the wife of his bosom
  3. Deuteronomy 28:56 Hebrew the husband of her bosom

32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,(A) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression(B) all your days.(C) 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.(D) 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils(E) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.(F)

36 The Lord will drive you and the king(G) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.(H) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.(I) 37 You will become a thing of horror,(J) a byword(K) and an object of ridicule(L) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(M)

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,(N) because locusts(O) will devour(P) it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine(Q) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat(R) them.(S) 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.(T) 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.(U) 42 Swarms of locusts(V) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.(W) 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.(X) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.(Y)

45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you(Z) until you are destroyed,(AA) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.(AB) 47 Because you did not serve(AC) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly(AD) in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst,(AE) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke(AF) on your neck(AG) until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you(AH) from far away, from the ends of the earth,(AI) like an eagle(AJ) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,(AK) 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old(AL) or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine(AM) or olive oil,(AN) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.(AO) 52 They will lay siege(AP) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.(AQ)

53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.(AR) 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.(AS) 56 The most gentle and sensitive(AT) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter(AU) 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them(AV) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,(AW) which are written in this book, and do not revere(AX) this glorious and awesome name(AY)—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt(AZ) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,(BA) until you are destroyed.(BB) 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky(BC) will be left but few(BD) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

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