Deuteronomy 28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Blessings for Obedience
28 “If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth;(A) 2 all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.(B)
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.(C)
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.(D) 8 The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.(E) 10 All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.(F) 11 The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you.(G) 12 The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.(H) 13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be only at the top and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today by diligently observing them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.(I)
Warnings against Disobedience
15 “But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees that I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:(J)
16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.
19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 “The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds with which you have forsaken me.(K) 21 The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess.(L) 22 The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with fiery heat and drought,[a] and with blight and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.(M) 23 The sky over your head shall be bronze and the earth under you iron.(N) 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.
25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out against them one way and flee before them seven ways. You shall become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.(O) 26 Your corpses shall be food for every bird of the air and animal of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.(P) 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, scurvy, and itch, of which you cannot be healed.(Q) 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind; 29 you shall grope about at noon as blind people grope in darkness, but you shall be unable to find your way, and you shall be continually abused and robbed, without anyone to help.(R) 30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house but not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit.(S) 31 Your ox shall be butchered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be stolen in front of you and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies without anyone to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters shall be given to another people while you look on; you will strain your eyes looking for them all day but be powerless to do anything.(T) 33 A people whom you do not know shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors; you shall be continually abused and crushed(U) 34 and driven mad by the sight that your eyes shall see. 35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.(V) 36 The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, where you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone.(W) 37 You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you.(X)
38 “You shall carry much seed into the field but shall gather little in, for the locust shall consume it.(Y) 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall have sons and daughters, but they shall not remain yours, for they shall go into captivity.(Z) 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground the cicada shall take over.(AA) 43 Aliens residing among you shall ascend above you higher and higher, while you shall descend lower and lower.(AB) 44 They shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to them; they shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.(AC)
45 “All these curses shall come upon you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God by observing the commandments and the decrees that he commanded you.(AD) 46 They shall be among you and your descendants as a sign and a portent forever.
47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything,(AE) 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.(AF) 49 The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,(AG) 50 a grim-faced nation showing no respect to the old or favor to the young. 51 It shall consume the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground until you are destroyed, leaving you neither grain, wine, and oil nor the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, until it has made you perish.(AH) 52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout your land; it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout the land that the Lord your God has given you.(AI) 53 In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you.(AJ) 54 Even the most refined and gentle of men among you will begrudge food to his own brother, to the wife whom he embraces, and to the last of his remaining children, 55 giving to none of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because nothing else remains to him, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in all your towns. 56 She who is the most refined and gentle among you, so gentle and refined that she does not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge food to the husband whom she embraces, to her own son, and to her own daughter,(AK) 57 begrudging even the afterbirth that comes out from between her thighs and the children that she bears, because she is eating them in secret for lack of anything else, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in your towns.
58 “If you do not diligently observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, fearing this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,(AL) 59 then the Lord will overwhelm both you and your offspring with severe and lasting afflictions and grievous and lasting maladies. 60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were in dread, and they shall cling to you.(AM) 61 Every other malady and affliction, even though not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will inflict on you until you are destroyed.(AN) 62 Although once you were as numerous as the stars in heaven, you shall be left few in number because you did not obey the Lord your God.(AO) 63 And just as the Lord took delight in making you prosperous and numerous, so the Lord will take delight in bringing you to ruin and destruction; you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to possess.(AP) 64 The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.(AQ) 65 Among those nations you shall find no ease, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a languishing spirit.(AR) 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, with no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread that your heart shall feel and the sights that your eyes shall see.(AS) 68 The Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, by a route that I promised you would never see again, and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
Footnotes
- 28.22 Gk Syr Tg: MT the sword
Deuteronomy 28
International Standard Version
Rewards for Obedience
28 “Indeed, if you diligently obey[a] the Lord your God to carry out all his commands that I’m giving you today, then the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 Moreover, all these blessings will come upon you in abundance,[b] if you obey the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed will you be in the city and blessed will you be in the country.
4 “Blessed will your children[c] be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.
5 “Blessed will be your grain[d] basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed will you be in your comings and goings.
7 “The Lord will make your enemies, who rise against you and attack from one direction, to flee from you in seven directions.
8 “The Lord will send blessings for you with regard to your barns and everything you undertake. Indeed, he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you.
9 “The Lord will assign you to be a holy people[e] for himself, just as he promised you, as long as you keep his[f] commands and walk in his ways.
10 “Then all the people of the earth will observe that the name of the Lord is proclaimed[g] among you, and they will fear you.
11 “The Lord will show his abundant goodness with respect to your children,[h] the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your farmland that he[i] promised your ancestors he would give you.
12 “The Lord will open his rich[j] treasury, the heavens, to release rain upon your land in season and bless everything you undertake so that you’ll lend to many nations but won’t borrow.
13 “The Lord your God will make you the head and not the tail—placing you above and not beneath—if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I’m giving you today to keep and observe. 14 Do not deviate from any of his commands that I’m giving you today—neither to the right nor the left—to follow and serve other gods.”
Reversal of Blessings
15 “But if you don’t obey the Lord your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I’m giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you:
16 “Cursed will you be in the city and cursed will you be in the country.
17 “Cursed will be your grain[k] basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “Cursed will your children[l] be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.
19 “Cursed will you be in your comings and goings.”
Diseases and Drought
20 “The Lord will send the curse among you, will confuse you, and will rebuke you in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and perish quickly because of your evil deeds, since you will have forsaken him.[m] 21 The Lord will cause you to be ill with long-lasting diseases until you are wiped out from the land that you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will afflict you with tuberculosis, fever, inflammation, high fever, drought, blight, and mildew. These will attack you until you are completely destroyed. 23 The sky above your head will become bronze while the ground beneath you will become iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain on your land to powder and dust. It will come down from the sky until you are exterminated.”
From Defeat to Exile
25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated[n] by your enemies. You’ll go out against them in one direction, but you’ll flee from them in seven directions. Consequently, you’ll be in a state of great terror throughout all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, with no one to chase them away.
27 “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, skin disease, and festering rashes, and none of them will be curable. 28 The Lord will afflict you with insanity, blindness, and mental confusion.[o] 29 As a result, you’ll wander aimlessly in broad daylight just as a blind person wanders in darkness. You won’t prosper in life.[p] Instead, you’ll be oppressed and plundered all day long, with no deliverer.
30 “You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape[q] her. You’ll build a house, but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t harvest[r] it. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered in front of you, and you won’t be able to eat it. Your donkey will be stolen from you while you watch and won’t be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be handed to your enemies, and there will be no deliverer. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you watch. You won’t be able to approach them at all,[s] and you’ll be powerless to help.[t]
33 “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously 34 until you are driven insane from what your eyes will see.
35 “The Lord will afflict you with incurable boils on your knees and legs, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
36 “The Lord will banish you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you’ll serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 You’ll become a desolation and a proverb, and you’ll be mocked among the people where the Lord will drive you.”
Complete Reversal
38 “You’ll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it. 39 You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t drink wine or harvest any grapes because worms will consume it. 40 You’ll have olive trees throughout your territory, but you won’t be able to anoint yourself with oil because the olives will drop off the trees. 41 You’ll bear sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you because they’ll go into captivity. 42 Whirling locusts will consume every tree and the produce of your land. 43 The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little. 44 He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He’ll be the head, but you’ll be the tail. 45 All these curses will come upon you and will overwhelm you until you are exterminated, because you didn’t obey[u] the Lord your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you. 46 These curses[v] will serve as a sign and wonder for you and your descendants[w] as long as you live.”[x]
Servitude and Bondage
47 “Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly,[y] despite the abundance of everything you have, 48 you’ll serve your enemies whom the Lord your God will send against you. You will serve in famine and in drought,[z] in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll[aa] set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they[ab] have exterminated you.
49 “The Lord will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture, 50 it will be a nation whose language you don’t understand, whose[ac] stern appearance[ad] neither shows regard[ae] nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young. 51 Its army[af] will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They[ag] will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed. 52 They’ll[ah] besiege all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you have trusted collapse throughout the land. Indeed, they will besiege all your cities, which the Lord your God gave you.”
Cannibalism
53 “You’ll eat your own children[ai]—the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God gave you—on account of the siege and the distress with which your enemy will oppress you. 54 Even the compassionate man among you—the very sensitive one—will look with evil in his eyes toward his brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving sons, whom he spared. 55 He will withhold from each of them the flesh of his sons that he is eating—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in all your cities. 56 The most tender and sensitive lady among you, who doesn’t venture to touch the soles of her feet to the ground on account of her daintiness, will look with hostility in her eyes against her beloved husband, her sons, and her daughters. 57 She will eat her afterbirth[aj] and her newborn children[ak] secretly—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.”
Reduction in Population
58 “If you aren’t careful to observe all the words of this Law that have been written in this book, instructing you[al] to fear this glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 then he[am] will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses. 60 He will inflict[an] on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won’t be curable.[ao] 61 Moreover, the Lord will inflict you with illnesses and plagues that were not written in this Book of the Law, until you are exterminated. 62 Because you will not have obeyed[ap] the Lord your God, very few of you will be left—instead of you being as numerous as the stars in the heavens. 63 Just as the Lord delighted to prosper and increase you, so now the Lord will delight to destroy, exterminate, and banish you from the land that you are about to enter to possess.”
Scattering among the Nations
64 “He’ll[aq] scatter you among the nations[ar] from one end of the earth to the other,[as] and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations you’ll have no rest. There’ll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit. 66 You’ll cling to life, being fearful by both night and day, with no assurance of survival. 67 In the morning you’ll say, ‘I wish it were evening.’ Yet in the evening you’ll say, “I wish it were morning,” on account of what you’ll dread[at] and what you’ll see.[au] 68 Finally, the Lord will bring you back to Egypt by ship, a place that I said you’ll never see again. There you’ll try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 28:1 Or listen to
- Deuteronomy 28:2 Lit. and will overtake you
- Deuteronomy 28:4 Lit. shall the fruit of your womb
- Deuteronomy 28:5 The Heb. lacks grain
- Deuteronomy 28:9 Or nation
- Deuteronomy 28:9 Lit. of the Lord your God
- Deuteronomy 28:10 Lit. called
- Deuteronomy 28:11 Lit. the fruit of your womb
- Deuteronomy 28:11 Lit. the Lord
- Deuteronomy 28:12 Or good
- Deuteronomy 28:17 The Heb. lacks grain
- Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit. shall the fruit of your womb
- Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit. me
- Deuteronomy 28:25 Lit. be struck down
- Deuteronomy 28:28 Lit. and confusion of the heart
- Deuteronomy 28:29 Lit. in your ways
- Deuteronomy 28:30 Lit. violate
- Deuteronomy 28:30 Or enjoy
- Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit. all the day
- Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit. and there will be no power in your hand
- Deuteronomy 28:45 Lit. listen to the voice
- Deuteronomy 28:46 Heb. lacks curses
- Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit. seed
- Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit. until eternity
- Deuteronomy 28:47 Lit. and with gladness of heart
- Deuteronomy 28:48 Or in hunger and thirst
- Deuteronomy 28:48 Lit. he
- Deuteronomy 28:48 Lit. he
- Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit. a nation
- Deuteronomy 28:50 Or face
- Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit. who does not lift faces
- Deuteronomy 28:51 Heb. lacks army
- Deuteronomy 28:51 Lit. it
- Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit. it
- Deuteronomy 28:53 Lit. eat the fruit of your womb
- Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit. will begrudge that which comes out from between her feet
- Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit. sons whom she will bear
- Deuteronomy 28:58 The Heb. lacks instructing you
- Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit. the Lord
- Deuteronomy 28:60 Lit. will return
- Deuteronomy 28:60 Lit. they will cling to you
- Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit. listen to the voice of
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. the Lord
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. peoples
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. end of the earth
- Deuteronomy 28:67 Lit. the dread of your heart that you will dread
- Deuteronomy 28:67 Lit. the vision of your eyes that you will see
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