Blessings for Obedience

28 “Now(A) if you faithfully obey the Lord your God(B) and are careful to follow all his commands I am giving you today,(C) the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth.(D) All these blessings will come and overtake(E) you, because you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city
and blessed in the country.(F)
Your offspring[a] will be blessed,
and your land’s produce,
and the offspring of your livestock,
including the young of your herds
and the newborn of your flocks.(G)
Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in
and blessed when you go out.(H)

“The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you from one direction but flee from you in seven directions. The Lord will grant you a blessing on your barns and on everything you do;[b](I) he will bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.(J) The Lord will establish you as his holy people,(K) as he swore to you, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you bear the Lord’s name,(L) and they will stand in awe of you.(M) 11 The Lord will make you prosper abundantly with offspring,[c] the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open for you his abundant storehouse,(N) the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.(O) You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail;(P) you will only move upward and never downward if you listen to the Lord your God’s commands I am giving you today and are careful to follow them. 14 Do not turn aside to the right or the left from all the things I am commanding you today,(Q) and do not follow other gods to worship them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 28:4 Lit The fruit of your womb, also in v. 18
  2. 28:8 Lit you put your hand to, also in v. 20
  3. 28:11 Lit abundantly in the fruit of your womb

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.

Read full chapter