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Future blessing

28 Now if you really obey the Lord your God’s voice, by carefully keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, then the Lord your God will set you high above all nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and find you if you obey the Lord your God’s voice: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Your own fertility, your soil’s produce, and your livestock’s offspring—the young of both cattle and flocks—will be blessed. Your basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you are out and about and blessed when you come back. The Lord will defeat any enemies who attack you. They will come against you from one direction but will run for their lives away from you in seven different directions. The Lord will command the blessing to be with you—in your barns and on all the work you do—and he will bless you on the land the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his own, a holy nation, just as he swore to you, if you keep the Lord your God’s commandments and walk in his ways. 10 All the earth’s peoples will see that you are called by the Lord’s name, and they will be in awe of you. 11 The Lord will make good things abound for you—whether the fertility of your womb, your livestock’s offspring, or your fertile soil’s produce—on the very land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to you. 12 The Lord will open up for you his own well-stocked storehouse, the heavens, providing your land with rain at just the right time and blessing all your work. You will lend to many nations, but you won’t have any need to borrow. 13 The Lord will make you the head of things, not the tail; you will be at the top of things, not the bottom, as long as you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that I’m commanding you right now, by carefully doing them. 14 Don’t deviate even a bit from any of these words that I’m commanding you right now by following other gods and serving them.

Future curses

15 But if you don’t obey the Lord your God’s voice by carefully doing all his commandments and his regulations that I am commanding you right now, all these curses will come upon you and find you. 16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. 17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. 18 Your own fertility, your soil’s produce, your cattle’s young, and your flock’s offspring will be cursed. 19 You will be cursed when you are out and about and cursed when you come back. 20 The Lord will send calamity, confusion, and frustration on you no matter what work you are doing until you are wiped out and until you disappear—it’ll be quick!—because of the evil acts by which you have abandoned him.[a] 21 The Lord will make a plague stick to you until he has totally wiped you off the fertile land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, fever, and inflammation; with scorching heat and drought;[b] with destruction and disease for your crops.[c] These things will chase you until you are dead and gone. 23 The sky over your head will be as hard as bronze; the earth under your feet will be like iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain on your land into dust. Only dirt will fall down on you from the sky until you are completely wiped out. 25 The Lord will hand you over defeated to your enemies. You will go out against them by one direction, but you will run for your life away from them in seven different directions. All the earth’s kingdoms will be horrified by you. 26 Your corpses will be food for every bird in the sky and animal on earth; no one will frighten them off. 27 The Lord will afflict you with Egyptian inflammation, hemorrhoids,[d] rash, and itch. You will be untreatable. 28 The Lord will make you go crazy, make you blind, make your mind confused. 29 You will fumble around at high noon as blind people fumble around in darkness. Your plans won’t prosper. Instead, you will be constantly oppressed and taken advantage of without any savior. 30 You might get engaged to a woman, but another man will have sex with her. You might build a house, but you won’t get to live in it. You might plant a vineyard, but you won’t enjoy it. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered while you watch, but you won’t get to eat any of it. Your donkey will be stolen right out from under you, and it won’t come back. Your flocks will be given to your enemies. No one will save you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation while you watch; you will long for them constantly, but you won’t have the power to do anything about it. 33 The produce of your land and all your hard work will be consumed by people you don’t know. You will be nothing but oppressed and mistreated constantly. 34 The sights your eyes see will drive you insane. 35 The Lord will strike you with horrible inflammation in your knees and legs, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. You will be untreatable. 36 The Lord will send you and the king that you appoint over you far away to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known. There you will worship other gods made of wood and stone. 37 You will become a horror, fit only for use in proverbs and in insults by all the nations where the Lord drives you. 38 You might scatter a lot of seed on the field, but you will gather almost nothing because the locusts will eat it all. 39 You might plant lots of vineyards and work hard in them, but you won’t drink any wine or harvest the grapes because worms will devour them. 40 You might have many olive trees throughout your territories, but you won’t cover yourself with their oil because your olive trees will fail. 41 You might have sons and daughters, but they won’t be yours for long because they will be taken away as prisoners. 42 Crickets will take over all your trees and your soil’s produce. 43 The immigrants who live among you will be promoted over you, higher and higher! But you will be demoted, lower and lower! 44 They will lend to you, but you will have nothing to lend to them. They will be the head of things; you will be the tail.

45 That’s how all these curses will come over you, pursuing you, reaching you until you are completely wiped out, because you didn’t obey the Lord your God’s voice by keeping his commandments and his regulations that he gave you. 46 These things will be a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly above all else,[e] 48 you will serve your enemies—the ones the Lord will send against you—during famine, drought, nakedness, and total deprivation. God will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has wiped you out. 49 The Lord will bring a distant nation—one from the far ends of the earth—against you as fast as the eagle flies: a nation that speaks a language you can’t understand, 50 a stern nation that doesn’t go easy on the very old or show pity to the very young. 51 That nation will devour your livestock’s offspring and your soil’s produce until you yourselves are destroyed because you will have no grain, wine, or oil left—nor any young from your cattle or offspring from your flocks—that is, until that nation annihilates you. 52 That nation will attack you in all your cities until your high, reinforced walls that you thought were so safe fall down across your entire countryside. That nation will attack you in all your cities throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. 53 You will eat the offspring of your own womb—the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God gave you—because of the desperate and dire circumstances that your enemy has brought on you.

54 Even the most gentle and refined man among you will scowl at his brother or his own dear wife, or the last of his surviving children. 55 He won’t want to give them any of his children’s flesh that he will be eating because he has no other food due to the desperate and dire circumstances that your enemy has brought on you in all your cities. 56 Even the most gentle and refined woman among you, who is so refined and gentle she wouldn’t stomp her foot on the ground, will scowl at her own dear husband, her son, or her daughter— 57 not wanting to give them any of the afterbirth she pushed out or the babies she bore, because she will be eating them secretly while starving due to the desperate and dire circumstances that your enemy will bring on you in your cities.

58 If you don’t carefully keep all the words of this Instruction that are written in this scroll, by fearing the awesome and glorious name of the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will overwhelm you and your descendants with severe and chronic afflictions, and with terrible and untreatable sicknesses. 60 He’ll put on you all the Egyptian diseases about which you were so afraid; they will stick to you! 61 What’s more, the Lord will bring on you all the other diseases and plagues that aren’t written in this Instruction scroll until you are completely wiped out. 62 Once as countless as the stars in the night sky, only a few of you will be left alive—all because you didn’t obey the Lord your God’s voice. 63 And just as before, the Lord enjoyed doing good things for you and increasing your numbers, now the Lord will enjoy annihilating and destroying you. You will be torn off the very fertile land you are entering to possess. 64 The Lord will scatter you among every nation, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known—gods of wood and stone. 65 Among those nations you will have no rest and no place to call your own.[f] There the Lord will give you an agitated mind, failing eyes, and a depressed spirit. 66 Your life will seem to dangle before your very eyes. You will be afraid night and day. You won’t be able to count on surviving for long. 67 In the morning you will say: “I wish it was nighttime,” but at nighttime you will say, “I wish it was morning”—on account of your tortured mind, which will be terrified, and because of the horrible sights that your eyes will see. 68 Finally, the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the route I promised you would never see again. There you will try to sell yourselves as slaves—both male and female—but no one will want to buy you.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:20 Or me, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse.
  2. Deuteronomy 28:22 Heb uncertain
  3. Deuteronomy 28:22 Or blight and mildew
  4. Deuteronomy 28:27 Qere; Kethib tumors
  5. Deuteronomy 28:47 Heb uncertain
  6. Deuteronomy 28:65 Or resting place for the sole of your foot

遵守诫命蒙祝福

28 “你们若全心顺服你们的上帝耶和华,谨遵祂今天借我吩咐你们的一切诫命,祂必使你们超越天下万国。 你们若听从你们的上帝耶和华的话,以下的福气必临到你们,追随你们。

“无论你们住在城里还是乡村,都必蒙福。

“你们必子孙昌盛,五谷丰登,牛羊成群。

“你们的篮子和揉面盆都必蒙福。

“你们必出入平安。

“耶和华必使来犯之敌败在你们面前、溃不成军、四散逃命。

“耶和华必使你们凡事蒙福、五谷满仓。你们的上帝耶和华必在祂赐给你们的土地上赐福你们。

“你们若遵守你们上帝耶和华的诫命,遵行祂的旨意,祂必按自己的誓言使你们成为祂圣洁的子民。 10 天下万民将看出你们是耶和华的子民,并惧怕你们。

11 “在耶和华向你们祖先起誓要赐给你们的土地上,祂必使你们子孙昌盛、牛羊成群、五谷丰登。 12 耶和华要为你们打开天上美好的仓库,使你们风调雨顺、凡事蒙福。你们必借贷给多国,却无需向别国借贷。 13-14 你们若听从你们的上帝耶和华借我今天吩咐你们的诫命,谨慎遵行,毫不偏离,也不随从、供奉别的神明,祂必使你们做首不做尾,居上不居下。

违背诫命受咒诅

15 “你们若不听从你们的上帝耶和华,不谨遵祂今天借我吩咐你们的一切诫命和律例,祂必使以下的咒诅临到你们。

16 “无论你们住在城里还是乡村,都必受咒诅。

17 “你们的篮子和揉面盆都必受咒诅。

18 “妇女所生的,土地所产的,牛羊所生的都必受咒诅。

19 “你们出入都必受咒诅。

20 “因为你们背弃耶和华,祂要使你们凡事受咒诅、混乱不堪、饱受责罚,直到你们被毁灭,迅速灭亡。

21 “祂要使瘟疫紧紧跟随你们,直到你们在将要占领的土地上被灭绝。

22 “祂要使你们遭受痨病、热症、疟疾、炙热、刀剑、干旱和霉烂之灾,直到你们灭亡。

23 “祂要使你们头顶的天如铜,脚下的地如铁。

24 “祂要使雨水变为尘土,降在你们身上,直到你们灭亡。

25 “祂要使你们被敌人击败、溃不成军、四散逃命,下场令天下万国惊惧。 26 你们的尸体要成为飞禽走兽的食物,必无人赶走它们。

27 “祂要使你们患埃及的脓疮、肿瘤和癣疥,无药可治。

28 “祂要使你们发疯、失明、心智错乱。

29 “你们必在大白天摸索,就像盲人在黑暗中摸索一样,你们的道路必不得亨通,你们要终日受人欺压抢掠,无人搭救。

30 “你们聘了妻子,别人必占有她;你们盖了房屋,必不能住在里面;你们栽种葡萄园,必吃不到园中的出产。

31 “你们必看着自己的牛被宰杀却吃不到肉,自己的驴被抢走后一去不还,自己的羊被敌人掳走却无人搭救, 32 自己的儿女被外族人掳走,你们终日望眼欲穿,却无能为力。

33 “与你们素不相识的民族必吃光你们土地的出产和劳碌所得,你们必常受欺压, 34 以致眼前的一切令你们发疯。

35 “耶和华要使你们从头到脚长满毒疮,无药可治。

36 “耶和华要带你们和你们的王到一个你们和你们祖先都不知道的国家,你们要在那里供奉木石神像。

37 “在耶和华驱逐你们去的列国,你们的下场将很可怕,受尽嘲笑和讥讽。

38 “你们种的多,却收的少,因为庄稼必被蝗虫吃掉。

39 “你们栽种、修剪葡萄园,却吃不到葡萄,也喝不到葡萄酒,因为葡萄必被虫子吃掉。

40 “你们境内长满橄榄树,却没有橄榄油抹身,因为橄榄必未熟先落。

41 “你们生儿育女,却留不住一个,因为他们必被掳走。

42 “蝗虫要吃光你们的树木和地上的出产。

43 “你们中间的外族人要日益兴旺,你们却要日渐衰微。

44 “他们要借贷给你们,你们却不能借贷给他们。他们要做首,你们要做尾。

45 “如果你们不听你们上帝耶和华的话,不遵守祂吩咐你们的诫命和律例,这些咒诅都必临到你们、追赶你们,直到毁灭你们。 46 这些咒诅要永远成为你们和你们子孙的警戒和征兆。 47 如果你们在富足时不心甘情愿地事奉你们的上帝耶和华, 48 你们必失去所有,饥饿干渴、赤身裸体地侍奉耶和华派来攻击你们的敌人。祂要把铁轭加在你们的颈上,直到消灭你们。

49 “耶和华要使一国从遥远的地极兴起,他们要如鹰飞来袭击你们。你们不懂他们的语言。 50 他们面目狰狞,不尊重年老的,也不怜悯年少的。 51 他们要吃光你们的牛羊、五谷、新酒和油,直到消灭你们。 52 在你们的上帝耶和华所赐给你们的土地上,他们要把你们围困在各个城邑中,直到你们所依赖的高大坚固的城墙都倒塌。

53 “当你们被敌人围困、陷入绝境时,你们必吃自己的亲生骨肉——你们的上帝耶和华赐给你们的儿女。 54-55 因为被敌人困在城中,饥饿难熬,连你们中间最温柔体贴的男人也要独自吞吃子女的肉,不肯分给自己的兄弟、爱妻和剩下的儿女。 56-57 因为被敌人困在城中,饥饿难熬,连你们中间最温柔、娇嫩得连脚也不肯踏在地上的妇女,都要偷偷吃掉自己生的婴儿和胎胞,不肯分给所爱的丈夫和子女。

58 “如果你们不谨遵这书上所写的一切律法,不敬畏你们的上帝耶和华那荣耀、可畏的名, 59 祂必使你们及子孙遭遇严重而长久的灾难和疾病, 60 使你们所惧怕的埃及人的疾病都降在你们身上,缠扰你们, 61 还使一切未记在这律法书上的疾病和灾难降在你们身上,直到消灭你们。 62 如果你们不听从你们的上帝耶和华的话,即使你们的人数多如天上的星,也将所剩无几。 63 正如耶和华喜欢赐福你们,使你们人丁兴旺,祂也同样会不惜消灭你们,使你们在将要占领的土地上灭亡。

64 “耶和华要把你们分散到天下万邦,你们要在那里供奉祖祖辈辈素不认识的木石神像。 65 你们在万邦中将不得安宁,没有落脚之地,耶和华必使你们胆战心惊、目光呆滞、精神颓废。 66 你们必惴惴不安,昼夜恐惧,生死难料。 67 你们必看见可怕之事,以致心中充满恐惧,早上盼望天黑,晚上盼望天亮。 68 耶和华必沿着我曾说你们再不会走的路线,用船把你们送回埃及。你们将在那里卖身做敌人的仆婢,却无人买。”

28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord 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 cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee 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 the Lord 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 store.

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

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

20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with 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 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

27 The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and 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 spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes 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 rescue them.

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 long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.

33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, 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 The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.

38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

43 The stranger 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 head, and thou shalt be the tail.

45 Moreover 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 the Lord 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 the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord 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 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord 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, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

54 So that 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 which he shall leave:

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 straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which 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 young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, 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, The Lord Thy God;

59 Then the Lord 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 Moreover he will bring upon thee 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 the Lord 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 wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.

63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

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

67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

Blessings for Obedience

28 “And (A)if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you (B)high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and (C)overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and (D)blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be (E)the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your (F)kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be (G)when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord (H)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. The Lord (I)will command the blessing on you in your barns and (J)in all that you undertake. (K)And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (L)The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 And (M)all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are (N)called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be (O)afraid of you. 11 And (P)the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in (Q)the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, (R)to give the rain to your land in its season and (S)to bless all the work of your hands. And (T)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you (U)the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 (V)and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 “But (W)if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and (X)overtake you. 16 Cursed shall you be (Y)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 and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20 “The Lord (Z)will send on you curses, confusion, and (AA)frustration in all that you undertake to do, (AB)until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21 The Lord will make (AC)the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 (AD)The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought[a] and with (AE)blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And (AF)the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 (AG)“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you (AH)shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And (AI)your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and (AJ)there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27 The Lord will strike you (AK)with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and (AL)scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will strike you with (AM)madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29 and you shall (AN)grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways.[b] And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30 (AO)You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. (AP)You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. (AQ)You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32 (AR)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, (AS)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 (AT)by the sights that your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs (AU)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 (AV)bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you (AW)nor your fathers have known. And (AX)there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become (AY)a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38 (AZ)You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for (BA)the locust shall consume it. 39 (BB)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 (BC)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 (BD)they shall go into captivity. 42 (BE)The cricket[c] shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 (BF)The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 (BG)He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. (BH)He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 (BI)“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 (BJ)a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47 (BK)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 (BL)will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 (BM)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, (BN)swooping down like the eagle, a nation (BO)whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation (BP)who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall (BQ)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 (BR)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 (BS)you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, (BT)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 (BU)begrudge food to his brother, to (BV)the wife he embraces,[d] 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, (BW)in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 (BX)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,[e] 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, (BY)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, (BZ)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 (CA)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 (CB)you were as numerous (CC)as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And as the Lord (CD)took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will (CE)take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

64 “And the Lord (CF)will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and (CG)there you shall serve other gods (CH)of wood and stone, (CI)which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 And (CJ)among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but (CK)the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and (CL)a languishing soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. 67 (CM)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 (CN)the sights that your eyes shall see. 68 And the Lord (CO)will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that (CP)you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:22 Or sword
  2. Deuteronomy 28:29 Or shall not succeed in finding your ways
  3. Deuteronomy 28:42 Identity uncertain
  4. Deuteronomy 28:54 Hebrew the wife of his bosom
  5. Deuteronomy 28:56 Hebrew the husband of her bosom