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Deuteronomy 28:15-68
English Standard Version

Curses for Disobedience

15 “But (A)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 (B)overtake you. 16 Cursed shall you be (C)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 (D)will send on you curses, confusion, and (E)frustration in all that you undertake to do, (F)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 (G)the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 (H)The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought[a] and with (I)blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And (J)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 (K)“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 (L)shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And (M)your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and (N)there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27 The Lord will strike you (O)with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and (P)scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will strike you with (Q)madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29 and you shall (R)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 (S)You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. (T)You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. (U)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 (V)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, (W)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 (X)by the sights that your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs (Y)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 (Z)bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you (AA)nor your fathers have known. And (AB)there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become (AC)a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38 (AD)You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for (AE)the locust shall consume it. 39 (AF)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 (AG)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 (AH)they shall go into captivity. 42 (AI)The cricket[c] shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 (AJ)The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 (AK)He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. (AL)He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 (AM)“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 (AN)a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47 (AO)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 (AP)will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 (AQ)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, (AR)swooping down like the eagle, a nation (AS)whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation (AT)who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall (AU)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 (AV)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 (AW)you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, (AX)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 (AY)begrudge food to his brother, to (AZ)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, (BA)in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 (BB)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, (BC)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, (BD)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 (BE)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 (BF)you were as numerous (BG)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 (BH)took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will (BI)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 (BJ)will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and (BK)there you shall serve other gods (BL)of wood and stone, (BM)which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 And (BN)among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but (BO)the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and (BP)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 (BQ)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 (BR)the sights that your eyes shall see. 68 And the Lord (BS)will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that (BT)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.”

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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
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Deuteronomy 28:15-68
International Standard Version

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[a] basket and your kneading bowl.

18 “Cursed will your children[b] 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.[c] 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[d] 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.[e] 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.[f] 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[g] her. You’ll build a house, but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t harvest[h] 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,[i] and you’ll be powerless to help.[j]

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[k] the Lord your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you. 46 These curses[l] will serve as a sign and wonder for you and your descendants[m] as long as you live.”[n]

Servitude and Bondage

47 “Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly,[o] 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,[p] in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll[q] set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they[r] 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[s] stern appearance[t] neither shows regard[u] nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young. 51 Its army[v] will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They[w] 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[x] 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[y]—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[z] and her newborn children[aa] 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[ab] to fear this glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 then he[ac] will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses. 60 He will inflict[ad] on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won’t be curable.[ae] 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[af] 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[ag] scatter you among the nations[ah] from one end of the earth to the other,[ai] 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[aj] and what you’ll see.[ak] 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:17 The Heb. lacks grain
  2. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit. shall the fruit of your womb
  3. Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit. me
  4. Deuteronomy 28:25 Lit. be struck down
  5. Deuteronomy 28:28 Lit. and confusion of the heart
  6. Deuteronomy 28:29 Lit. in your ways
  7. Deuteronomy 28:30 Lit. violate
  8. Deuteronomy 28:30 Or enjoy
  9. Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit. all the day
  10. Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit. and there will be no power in your hand
  11. Deuteronomy 28:45 Lit. listen to the voice
  12. Deuteronomy 28:46 Heb. lacks curses
  13. Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit. seed
  14. Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit. until eternity
  15. Deuteronomy 28:47 Lit. and with gladness of heart
  16. Deuteronomy 28:48 Or in hunger and thirst
  17. Deuteronomy 28:48 Lit. he
  18. Deuteronomy 28:48 Lit. he
  19. Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit. a nation
  20. Deuteronomy 28:50 Or face
  21. Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit. who does not lift faces
  22. Deuteronomy 28:51 Heb. lacks army
  23. Deuteronomy 28:51 Lit. it
  24. Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit. it
  25. Deuteronomy 28:53 Lit. eat the fruit of your womb
  26. Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit. will begrudge that which comes out from between her feet
  27. Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit. sons whom she will bear
  28. Deuteronomy 28:58 The Heb. lacks instructing you
  29. Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit. the Lord
  30. Deuteronomy 28:60 Lit. will return
  31. Deuteronomy 28:60 Lit. they will cling to you
  32. Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit. listen to the voice of
  33. Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. the Lord
  34. Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. peoples
  35. Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit. end of the earth
  36. Deuteronomy 28:67 Lit. the dread of your heart that you will dread
  37. Deuteronomy 28:67 Lit. the vision of your eyes that you will see
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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