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28 “And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to diligently observe[a] all his commandments that I am commanding you today,[b] then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth. And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and they shall have an effect on you[c] if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

“You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.

“Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.[d]

“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

“Blessed will you be when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out.[e]

“Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you;[f] on one road[g] they shall come out against you, but on seven roads[h] they shall flee before you.[i] Yahweh will command concerning you[j] the blessing to be in your barns and in all your endeavors;[k] and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you. Yahweh will establish you for himself[l] as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways. 10 And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that by the name of Yahweh you are called,[m] and they shall fear you.[n] 11 And Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous,[o] in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors[p] to give to you. 12 Yahweh shall open for you his rich[q] storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain for[r] your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them. 13 And Yahweh shall make you[s] as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you today[t] and diligently observe them.[u] 14 And you shall not turn aside from any of[v] the words that I am commanding you today[w] to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.

15 And then[x] if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by diligently observing[y] all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you today,[z] then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

16 “You shall[aa] be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

17 “Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.

18 “The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.

19 “You shall be cursed when you come in,[ab] and you shall be cursed when you go out.[ac]

20 “Yahweh will send upon you[ad] the curse,[ae] the panic,[af] and the threat[ag] in everything that you undertake,[ah] until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly[ai] because of[aj] the evil of your deeds in that[ak] you have forsaken me. 21 Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you[al] from the land that you are going to,[am] to take possession of it. 22 Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword[an] and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish.[ao] 23 And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron. 24 Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.[ap]

25 “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before[aq] your enemies; on one road you shall go against[ar] them,[as] but you will flee on seven roads before[at] them,[au] and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be anyone to frighten them away.[av]

27 “Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with the skin rash that cannot be healed.[aw] 28 Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. 29 And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time,[ax] and there will not be anyone who will rescue you. [ay] 30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep[az] with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right before you,[ba] and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and there shall not be anyone who rescues you.[bb] 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and you will be looking on[bc] longingly[bd] for[be] them all day, but you will be powerless to do anything.[bf] 33 A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.[bg] 34 You shall become mad because of what your eyes shall see.[bh] 35 Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which you will not be able to be healed,[bi] from the sole of your foot and up to your crown. 36 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors[bj] have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.

38 “You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress[bk] them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.[bl] 40 There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives[bm] shall drop off. 41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours,[bn] for they shall go into captivity. 42 The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.

45 “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you until you are destroyed,[bo] because you did not listen[bp] to the voice of Yahweh your God, by observing[bq] his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46 And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring forever.[br]

47 Because[bs] of the fact that you did not serve Yahweh your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, 48 then you shall serve your enemies, whom Yahweh will send against you under conditions of famine, in thirst, in nakedness, and in a lack of everything; and he shall place[bt] a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.[bu] 49 Yahweh will raise up against you a nation from far off, from the end of the earth, attacking as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand,[bv] 50 a grim-faced nation[bw] who does not show respect[bx] to the old and the young and does not show pity. 51 And it[by] shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed,[bz] and who will not leave for you any grain, wine, and olive oil, calves of your herds,[ca] and lambs of[cb] your flock until it has destroyed you.[cc] 52 And it shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls fall,[cd] which you are trusting in[ce] throughout your land;[cf] and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, during the siege and during the distress[cg] your enemy inflicts upon you. 54 The most refined and the very sensitive[ch] man among you shall be mean with his brother[ci] and against his beloved wife[cj] and against the rest[ck] of his children that he has left over, 55 by refraining from giving[cl] to even one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because there is not anything that is left over for him during the siege and distress[cm] that your enemy inflicts upon you. 56 The most refined and the most delicate woman among you, who shall[cn] not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being so delicate and from such gentleness, shall be mean to her beloved husband[co] and against her son and against her daughter, 57 and even concerning her afterbirth that goes out[cp] from between her feet and also concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret during the siege and during the distress[cq] that your enemy inflicts upon her in your towns.[cr]

58 “If you do not diligently observe[cs] all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God, 59 then Yahweh shall overwhelm you with your plagues and the plagues of your offspring, severe plagues and lasting illnesses, grievous and enduring. 60 And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt concerning which you were in dread[ct] because of them.[cu] 61 Also any illness and any plague[cv] that is not written in the scroll of this law, he shall bring them, Yahweh, upon you until you are destroyed. 62 And you shall remain only a few people[cw] in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63 And then[cx] as Yahweh delighted over you to make you prosperous[cy] to make you numerous, so Yahweh shall delight over you to exterminate you[cz] and to destroy you, and so you shall be plucked from the land that you are going there to take possession of it. 64 And Yahweh shall scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth up to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods that you have not known nor[da] your ancestors,[db] gods of wood and stone. 65 And among these nations you shall not find rest, and there shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes[dc] and a languishing of your inner self.[dd] 66 And your life shall hang in doubt before you,[de] and you shall be startled[df] night and day, and you shall not be confident of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it was evening!’[dg] and in the evening you shall say ‘If only it was morning!’[dh] because of the dread of your heart that you shall feel, and because of the sight of your eyes that you shall see. 68 And Yahweh shall bring you back to Egypt in ships by the route that I promised[di] to you thatYou shall not see it again!’[dj] And you shall sell yourself there to your enemies as slaves and as female slaves, but there will not be a buyer.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:1 Literally “to observe to do”
  2. Deuteronomy 28:1 Literally “the day”
  3. Deuteronomy 28:2 Literally “they shall overtake you”
  4. Deuteronomy 28:4 Literally “what is dropped of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks”
  5. Deuteronomy 28:6 Literally “in/at your coming and you will be blessed in/at your going out”
  6. Deuteronomy 28:7 Literally “the ones rising against you being defeated to the face of you”
  7. Deuteronomy 28:7 Or “way”
  8. Deuteronomy 28:7 Or “ways”
  9. Deuteronomy 28:7 Literally “to the face of you”
  10. Deuteronomy 28:8 Literally “with you”
  11. Deuteronomy 28:8 Literally “in all of the sending forth of your hand”
  12. Deuteronomy 28:9 Literally “to/for him”
  13. Deuteronomy 28:10 Literally “that the name of Yahweh is called/assigned upon you”
  14. Deuteronomy 28:10 Literally “they shall be afraid/fearful from you”
  15. Deuteronomy 28:11 Literally “Yahweh will cause for you goodness”
  16. Deuteronomy 28:11 Or “fathers”
  17. Deuteronomy 28:12 Literally “good”
  18. Deuteronomy 28:12 Hebrew “of”
  19. Deuteronomy 28:13 Literally “place/set you up”
  20. Deuteronomy 28:13 Literally “the day”
  21. Deuteronomy 28:13 Literally “to observe them and to do them”
  22. Deuteronomy 28:14 Literally “all of”
  23. Deuteronomy 28:14 Literally “the day”
  24. Deuteronomy 28:15 Literally “and it will happen”
  25. Deuteronomy 28:15 Literally “to observe and to do”
  26. Deuteronomy 28:15 Literally “the day”
  27. Deuteronomy 28:16 All of these curses have a future orientation that points to Israel in the land of Canaan
  28. Deuteronomy 28:19 Literally “at/in your coming”
  29. Deuteronomy 28:19 Literally “at/in your going out”
  30. Deuteronomy 28:20 Others translate as a wish: “may Yahweh send upon you …”
  31. Deuteronomy 28:20 These words are translated variously, e.g., “starvation,” “thirst,” “rebuke/dysentery” (NEB) or “curses,” “confusion,” “frustration” (NLT)
  32. Deuteronomy 28:20 Or “confusion”
  33. Deuteronomy 28:20 Or “rebuke”
  34. Deuteronomy 28:20 Literally “in all the sending out of your hand that you do”
  35. Deuteronomy 28:20 Literally “until your to be destroyed and until your to perish quickly”
  36. Deuteronomy 28:20 Literally “from the face of the evil of your deeds”
  37. Deuteronomy 28:20 Literally “which”
  38. Deuteronomy 28:21 Literally “it to consume to”
  39. Deuteronomy 28:21 Hebrew “to there”
  40. Deuteronomy 28:22 Others translate “drought” (NLT, NEB)
  41. Deuteronomy 28:22 Literally “until your/you to perish”
  42. Deuteronomy 28:24 Literally “until your being destroyed”
  43. Deuteronomy 28:25 Literally “to the face of”
  44. Deuteronomy 28:25 Literally “to/toward”
  45. Deuteronomy 28:25 Hebrew “him”
  46. Deuteronomy 28:25 Literally “to the face of”
  47. Deuteronomy 28:25 Hebrew “him”
  48. Deuteronomy 28:26 Literally “one causing fright to them
  49. Deuteronomy 28:27 Literally “the skin rash that not it is able it to be healed”
  50. Deuteronomy 28:29 Literally “all the days”
  51. Deuteronomy 28:29 Literally “one who delivers/rescues you
  52. Deuteronomy 28:30 Or “ravish/violate”
  53. Deuteronomy 28:31 Literally “to the face of you”
  54. Deuteronomy 28:31 Literally “there shall not be for you one who rescues”
  55. Deuteronomy 28:32 Literally “your eyes will see/look”
  56. Deuteronomy 28:32 Literally “wearing out”
  57. Deuteronomy 28:32 Hebrew “to”
  58. Deuteronomy 28:32 Literally “but there will not be for power of your hand”
  59. Deuteronomy 28:33 Literally “all of the days”
  60. Deuteronomy 28:34 Literally “from/by the sight of your eyes”
  61. Deuteronomy 28:35 Literally “which not you are able to heal”
  62. Deuteronomy 28:36 Or “fathers”
  63. Deuteronomy 28:39 Or “cultivate”
  64. Deuteronomy 28:39 That is, the produce
  65. Deuteronomy 28:40 Hebrew “olive”
  66. Deuteronomy 28:41 Literally “for you”
  67. Deuteronomy 28:45 Literally “until you to be destroyed”
  68. Deuteronomy 28:45 Literally “not you listened”
  69. Deuteronomy 28:45 Literally “to observe”
  70. Deuteronomy 28:46 Literally “until eternity,” but not in a timeless, philosophic sense
  71. Deuteronomy 28:47 Literally “Under”
  72. Deuteronomy 28:48 Literally “give”
  73. Deuteronomy 28:48 Literally “until his destroying of you”
  74. Deuteronomy 28:49 Literally “a nation who not you will understand its language”
  75. Deuteronomy 28:50 Literally “a nation fierce/determined of face”
  76. Deuteronomy 28:50 Literally “who not lifts up faces
  77. Deuteronomy 28:51 That is, the invading nation
  78. Deuteronomy 28:51 Literally “until your destroying”
  79. Deuteronomy 28:51 Literally “what is dropped of your herds”
  80. Deuteronomy 28:51 Literally “the offspring of small animals”
  81. Deuteronomy 28:51 Literally “until his to destroy you”
  82. Deuteronomy 28:52 Literally “until the coming down of your walls, high and fortified”
  83. Deuteronomy 28:52 Hebrew “in them,” which is redundant
  84. Deuteronomy 28:52 Literally “in all of your land”
  85. Deuteronomy 28:53 Literally “in siege and in distress”
  86. Deuteronomy 28:54 Or “kindly disposed”
  87. Deuteronomy 28:54 Literally “shall be bad/evil his eye against his brother”
  88. Deuteronomy 28:54 Literally “against the wife of his lap”
  89. Deuteronomy 28:54 Or “remainder”
  90. Deuteronomy 28:55 Literally “from giving”
  91. Deuteronomy 28:55 Literally “in the siege and distress”
  92. Deuteronomy 28:56 Or “would”
  93. Deuteronomy 28:56 Literally “shall be bad her eye against the husband of her lap”
  94. Deuteronomy 28:57 Literally “the going out”
  95. Deuteronomy 28:57 Literally “in the siege and in the distress”
  96. Deuteronomy 28:57 Literally “gates”
  97. Deuteronomy 28:58 Literally “you observe to do”
  98. Deuteronomy 28:60 Literally “you dreaded”
  99. Deuteronomy 28:60 Literally “from their presence”
  100. Deuteronomy 28:61 Or “each illness and each plague”
  101. Deuteronomy 28:62 Literally “with people of few”
  102. Deuteronomy 28:63 Literally “And it will happen”
  103. Deuteronomy 28:63 Literally “to do good with you”
  104. Deuteronomy 28:63 Or “to cause you to perish”
  105. Deuteronomy 28:64 Hebrew “and”
  106. Deuteronomy 28:64 Or “your fathers”
  107. Deuteronomy 28:65 Or “a failure of eyes”
  108. Deuteronomy 28:65 Or “soul”
  109. Deuteronomy 28:66 Literally “they shall be your life hanging for you in front”
  110. Deuteronomy 28:66 Or “in fear”
  111. Deuteronomy 28:67 Literally “Who shall give evening?”
  112. Deuteronomy 28:67 Literally “Who shall give morning?”
  113. Deuteronomy 28:68 Literally “spoke”
  114. Deuteronomy 28:68 Literally “you shall not do again further to see it/her”

28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that Jehovah thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

Jehovah will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. Jehovah will command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto; and he will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. Jehovah will establish thee for a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 Jehovah will open unto thee his good [a]treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them, 14 and shalt 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.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

20 Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it. 22 Jehovah will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with [b]the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. 23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. 24 Jehovah will make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25 Jehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be [c]tossed to and from among all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And thy dead body shall be food unto all birds of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away. 27 Jehovah will smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the [d]emerods, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. 28 Jehovah will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; 29 and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee. 30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. 31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand. 33 The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway; 34 so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 35 Jehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.

36 Jehovah will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee away. 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit. 41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All thy trees and the fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess. 43 The sojourner that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. 45 And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46 and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

47 Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 48 therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49 Jehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50 a nation of fierce countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young, 51 and shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; that also shall not leave thee grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flock, until they have caused thee to perish. 52 And they shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and they shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Jehovah thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee. 54 The man that 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 hath remaining; 55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon 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, 57 and toward her [e]young one that cometh 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 wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, Jehovah thy God; 59 then Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 And he will bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will Jehovah bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God. 63 And it shall come to pass, that, as Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Jehovah will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it. 64 And Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot: but Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; 66 and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life. 67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And Jehovah will bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:12 Or, treasury
  2. Deuteronomy 28:22 Or, as otherwise read, drought
  3. Deuteronomy 28:25 Or, a terror unto all
  4. Deuteronomy 28:27 Or, tumors. Or, plague boils
  5. Deuteronomy 28:57 Or, after-birth