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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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit listen to the voice of
  2. Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit perform
  3. Deuteronomy 28:16 Lit field
  4. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
  5. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
  6. Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit every putting forth of your hand which you do
  7. Deuteronomy 28:22 Another reading is drought
  8. Deuteronomy 28:23 Lit Your
  9. Deuteronomy 28:26 Lit be for
  10. Deuteronomy 28:28 Lit heart
  11. Deuteronomy 28:29 Or exploited
  12. Deuteronomy 28:30 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
  13. Deuteronomy 28:30 Or be intimate with
  14. Deuteronomy 28:31 Lit return to
  15. Deuteronomy 28:31 Or flock
  16. Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit to the power of your hand
  17. Deuteronomy 28:34 Lit your eyes which you
  18. Deuteronomy 28:45 Lit listen to the voice of
  19. Deuteronomy 28:46 Or on
  20. Deuteronomy 28:46 Lit seed
  21. Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit defiant-faced
  22. Deuteronomy 28:51 Lit fruit
  23. Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit gates
  24. Deuteronomy 28:52 Lit gates
  25. Deuteronomy 28:53 Lit fruit of your womb
  26. Deuteronomy 28:53 Or torment
  27. Deuteronomy 28:54 Or spoiled and pampered
  28. Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit his eye will be evil toward
  29. Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit of his breast
  30. Deuteronomy 28:55 Or torment
  31. Deuteronomy 28:55 Lit gates
  32. Deuteronomy 28:56 Or spoiled and pampered
  33. Deuteronomy 28:56 Lit her eye shall be evil toward
  34. Deuteronomy 28:56 Lit of her breast
  35. Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit feet
  36. Deuteronomy 28:57 Or torment
  37. Deuteronomy 28:57 Lit gates
  38. Deuteronomy 28:58 Lit perform
  39. Deuteronomy 28:58 Or revere
  40. Deuteronomy 28:58 Heb YHWH
  41. Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit plagues on your seed
  42. Deuteronomy 28:59 Lit great
  43. Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit people
  44. Deuteronomy 28:62 Lit listen to the voice of
  45. Deuteronomy 28:64 Lit the end of the earth
  46. Deuteronomy 28:66 Lit be hung for you in front
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Deuteronomy 28:15-68
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

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:(A)

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.(B) 21 The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess.(C) 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.(D) 23 The sky over your head shall be bronze and the earth under you iron.(E) 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.(F) 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.(G) 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, scurvy, and itch, of which you cannot be healed.(H) 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.(I) 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.(J) 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.(K) 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(L) 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.(M) 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.(N) 37 You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you.(O)

38 “You shall carry much seed into the field but shall gather little in, for the locust shall consume it.(P) 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.(Q) 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground the cicada shall take over.(R) 43 Aliens residing among you shall ascend above you higher and higher, while you shall descend lower and lower.(S) 44 They shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to them; they shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.(T)

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.(U) 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,(V) 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.(W) 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,(X) 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.(Y) 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.(Z) 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.(AA) 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,(AB) 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,(AC) 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.(AD) 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.(AE) 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.(AF) 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.(AG) 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.(AH) 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.(AI) 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.(AJ) 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 28.22 Gk Syr Tg: MT the sword
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