Deuteronomy 28:15-68
New American Standard Bible
Consequences of Disobedience
15 “(A)But it shall come about, if you do not [a]obey the Lord your God, to be careful to [b]follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “(B)Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the [c]country.
17 “(C)Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “(D)Cursed will be the [d]children of your womb, the [e]produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.
19 “(E)Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.
20 “(F)The Lord will send against you curses, panic, and (G)rebuke, in [f]everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until (H)you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me. 21 (I)The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it. 22 (J)The Lord will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with [g]the sword, (K)with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until (L)you perish. 23 [h]The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 (M)The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25 “(N)The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will (O)be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 (P)Your dead bodies will [i]serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
27 “(Q)The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with (R)tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will strike you with insanity, blindness, and with confusion of [j]mind; 29 and you will be (S)groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be [k]oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you. 30 (T)You will [l]betroth a woman, but another man will [m]violate her; (U)you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey will be snatched away from you, and will not [n]be restored to you; your [o]sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. 32 (V)Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing [p]you can do. 33 (W)A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your ground and every product of your labor, and you will never be anything but oppressed and mistreated continually. 34 You will also be driven insane by the sight of [q]what you see. 35 (X)The Lord will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36 (Y)The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, made of (Z)wood and stone. 37 And (AA)you will become an object of horror, a song of mockery, and an object of taunting among all the peoples where the Lord drives you.
38 “(AB)You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because (AC)the locust will devour it. 39 (AD)You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it. 40 (AE)You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely. 41 (AF)You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity. 42 (AG)The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground. 43 (AH)The stranger who is among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower. 44 (AI)He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; (AJ)he will be the head, and you will be the tail.
45 “So all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you (AK)until you are destroyed, because you would not [r]obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they will become (AL)a sign and a wonder [s]against you and your [t]descendants forever.
47 “(AM)Since you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, (AN)in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He (AO)will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49 “(AP)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, (AQ)as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation [u]with a defiant attitude, who will (AR)have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 51 Furthermore, it will eat the [v]offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed; a nation that will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the newborn of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have eliminated you. 52 (AS)And it will besiege you in all your [w]towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your [x]towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you. 53 (AT)Then you will eat the [y]offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will [z]oppress you. 54 The man who is [aa]refined and very delicate among you [ab]will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife [ac]he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left, 55 so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will [ad]oppress you in all your [ae]towns. 56 (AU)The [af]refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, [ag]will be hostile toward the husband [ah]she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57 and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her [ai]legs, and toward her children to whom she gives birth, because (AV)she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the hardship with which your enemy will [aj]oppress you in your [ak]towns.
58 “If you are not careful to [al]follow all the words of this Law that are written in this book, to [am](AW)fear this honored and awesome (AX)name, [an]the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and [ao]your descendants, [ap]severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 60 (AY)And He will bring back on you every disease of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which are not written in the book of this Law, the Lord will bring on you (AZ)until you are destroyed. 62 Then you will be left few in [aq]number, (BA)whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not [ar]obey the Lord your God. 63 And it will come about that, just as the Lord (BB)rejoiced over you to be good to you, and make you numerous, so will the Lord (BC)rejoice over you to wipe you out and destroy you; and you will be (BD)torn away from the land which you are entering to possess. 64 Furthermore, the Lord will (BE)scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to [as]the other; and there you will (BF)serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known. 65 (BG)Among those nations you will find no peace, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there (BH)the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66 So your lives will be [at]hanging in doubt before you; and you will be terrified night and day, and have no assurance of your life. 67 (BI)In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And at evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68 And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit listen to the voice of
- Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 28:16 Lit field
- Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
- Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
- Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit every putting forth of your hand which you do
- Deuteronomy 28:22 Another reading is drought
- Deuteronomy 28:23 Lit Your
- Deuteronomy 28:26 Lit be for
- Deuteronomy 28:28 Lit heart
- Deuteronomy 28:29 Or exploited
- Deuteronomy 28:30 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
- Deuteronomy 28:30 Or be intimate with
- Deuteronomy 28:31 Lit return to
- Deuteronomy 28:31 Or flock
- Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit to the power of your hand
- Deuteronomy 28:34 Lit your eyes which you
- Deuteronomy 28:45 Lit listen to the voice of
- Deuteronomy 28:46 Or on
- Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit seed
- Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit defiant-faced
- Deuteronomy 28:51 Lit fruit
- Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 28:53 Lit fruit of your womb
- Deuteronomy 28:53 Or torment
- Deuteronomy 28:54 Or spoiled and pampered
- Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit his eye will be evil toward
- Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit of his breast
- Deuteronomy 28:55 Or torment
- Deuteronomy 28:55 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 28:56 Or spoiled and pampered
- Deuteronomy 28:56 Lit her eye shall be evil toward
- Deuteronomy 28:56 Lit of her breast
- Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit feet
- Deuteronomy 28:57 Or torment
- Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 28:58 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 28:58 Or revere
- Deuteronomy 28:58 Heb YHWH
- Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit plagues on your seed
- Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit great
- Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit people
- Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit listen to the voice of
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit the end of the earth
- Deuteronomy 28:66 Lit be hung for you in front
Deuteronomy 28:15-68
Christian Standard Bible
Curses for Disobedience
15 “But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all his commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake(A) you:(B)
16 You will be cursed in the city
and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
18 Your offspring will be cursed,
and your land’s produce,
the young of your herds,
and the newborn of your flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in
and cursed when you go out.
20 The Lord will send against you curses, confusion,(C) and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish,(D) because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.(E) 21 The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess.(F) 22 The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought,[a] blight, and mildew;(G) these will pursue you until you perish. 23 The sky above you will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your land into falling[b] dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions.(H) You will be an object of horror(I) to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, with no one to scare them away.(J)
27 “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt,(K) tumors, a festering rash, and scabies, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion,(L) 29 so that at noon you will grope as a blind person gropes in the dark.(M) You will not be successful in anything you do. You will only be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will help you.(N) 30 You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it.(O) You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything.(P) 33 A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually.(Q) 34 You will be driven mad by what you see. 35 The Lord will afflict you with painful and incurable boils on your knees and thighs—from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.(R)
36 “The Lord will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone.(S) 37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(T)
38 “You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not moisten your skin with oil, because your olives will drop off. 41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will be taken prisoner. 42 Buzzing insects will take possession of all your trees and your land’s produce. 43 The resident alien among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.
45 “All these curses will come, pursue, and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commands and statutes he gave you. 46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder(U) against you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart,(V) even though you had an abundance of everything, 48 you will serve your enemies that the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke(W) on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth,(X) to swoop down on you like an eagle,(Y) a nation whose language you won’t understand,(Z) 50 a ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young. 51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your land’s produce until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, fresh oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish. 52 They will besiege you within all your city gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your city gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.
53 “You will eat your offspring,[c] the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you(AA) during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you. 54 The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children, 55 refusing to share with any of them his children’s flesh that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns. 56 The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter, 57 the afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you within your city gates.
58 “If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awe-inspiring name—the Lord, your God— 59 he will bring wondrous plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. 60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt,(AB) which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also afflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed. 62 Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other,(AC) and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone,(AD) which neither you nor your ancestors have known.(AE) 65 You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place(AF) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never certain of survival. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread you will have in your heart and because of what you will see. 68 The Lord will take you back in ships to Egypt by a route that I said you would never see again.(AG) There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
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