28
1 It
shall happen, if
you shall listen
diligently to the
LORD your God’s
voice, to observe
to do all
his commandments
which I command
you today, that
the LORD your
God will set
you high above
all the nations
of the earth.
2 All
these blessings
will come upon you,
and overtake you,
if you listen
to the LORD
your God’s voice.
3 You
shall be blessed
in the city,
and you shall
be blessed in
the field.
4 You shall
be blessed in
the fruit of
your body, the
fruit of
your ground, the
fruit of
your animals, the
increase of
your livestock, and
the young of
your flock.
5 Your
basket and your
kneading trough shall be
blessed.
6 You shall
be blessed when
you come in,
and you shall be
blessed when you
go out.
7 The
LORD will cause
your enemies who
rise up against
you to be
struck before you.
They will come
out against you
one way, and
will flee before
you seven ways.
8 The
LORD will command
the blessing on
you in your barns,
and in all
that you put
your hand to.
He will bless
you in the land
which the LORD
your God gives
you.
9 The
LORD will
establish you for
a holy people
to himself, as
he has sworn
to you, if
you shall keep
the commandments
of the LORD
your God, and
walk in his
ways.
10 All
the peoples of
the earth shall
see that you
are called by
the LORD’s name,
and they will
be afraid of
you.
11 The
LORD will grant
you abundant prosperity
in the fruit
of your body, in
the fruit of
your livestock, and
in the fruit
of your ground, in
the land which the
LORD swore to
your fathers to
give you.
12 The
LORD will open
to you his
good treasure in
the sky, to
give the rain
of your land
in its season,
and to bless
all the work
of your hand.
You will lend
to many nations,
and you will
not borrow.
13 The
LORD will make
you the head,
and not the
tail. You will
be above only,
and you will
not be beneath,
if you listen
to the
commandments of
the LORD your
God which I
command you today,
to observe and
to do,
14 and
shall not turn
away from any
of the words
which I command
you today, to
the right hand
or to the
left, to go
after other gods
to serve them.
15 But
it shall come
to pass, if
you will not
listen to the
LORD your God’s
voice, to observe
to do all
his commandments
and his statutes
which I command
you today, that
all these curses
will come on
you and overtake
you.
16 You will
be cursed in the
city, and you will
be cursed in the
field.
17 Your basket
and your kneading trough will be
cursed.
18 The fruit
of your body, the
fruit of
your ground, the increase
of your livestock,
and the young of
your flock will be
cursed.
19 You will
be cursed when you
come in, and
you will be cursed
when you go
out.
20 The
LORD will send
on you cursing,
confusion, and
rebuke in all
that you put
your hand to
do, until you
are destroyed and
until you perish
quickly, because
of the evil
of your doings,
by which you
have forsaken me.
21 The
LORD will make
the pestilence
cling to you,
until he has
consumed you from
off the land where
you go in
to possess it.
22 The
LORD will strike
you with
consumption, with
fever, with
inflammation, with
fiery heat, with
the sword, with
blight, and with
mildew. They will
pursue you until
you perish.
23 Your
sky that is
over your head
will be bronze,
and the earth
that is under
you will be
iron.
24 The
LORD will make
the rain of
your land powder
and dust. It
will come down
on you from
the sky, until
you are destroyed.
25 The
LORD will cause
you to be
struck before
your enemies. You
will go out
one way against
them, and will
flee seven ways
before them. You
will be tossed
back and
forth among all
the kingdoms of
the earth.
26 Your
dead bodies will
be food to
all birds of
the sky, and
to the animals
of the earth;
and there will
be no one
to frighten them
away.
27 The
LORD will strike
you with the
boils of Egypt,
with the tumors,
with the scurvy,
and with the
itch, of which
you can not
be healed.
28 The
LORD will strike
you with madness,
with blindness,
and with
astonishment of
heart.
29 You
will grope at
noonday, as the
blind gropes
in darkness, and
you shall not
prosper in your
ways. You will
only be oppressed
and robbed always,
and there will
be no one
to save you.
30 You
will betroth a wife,
and another man
shall lie with her.
You will build
a house, and
you won’t dwell in
it. You will
plant a vineyard,
and not use
its fruit.
31 Your
ox will be
slain before your
eyes, and you
will not eat any
of it. Your
donkey will
be violently taken
away from before
your face, and
will not be
restored to you.
Your sheep will
be given to
your enemies, and
you will have
no one to
save you.
32 Your
sons and your
daughters will be
given to another
people. Your eyes
will look and
fail with longing
for them all
day long. There
will be no
power in your
hand.
33 A
nation which
you don’t know
will eat the fruit
of your ground and
all of your
work. You will
only be oppressed
and crushed always,
34 so
that the sights
that you see
with your eyes
will drive you mad.
35 The
LORD will strike
you in the
knees and in
the legs with
a sore boil,
of which you
cannot be healed,
from the sole
of your foot
to the crown
of your head.
36 The
LORD will bring
you, and your
king whom you will
set over
yourselves, to a
nation that you
have not known,
you nor
your fathers. There
you will
serve other gods of
wood and stone.
37 You
will become an
astonishment, a
proverb, and a
byword among all
the peoples where
the LORD will
lead you away.
38 You
will carry much
seed out into
the field, and
will gather little
in, for the locust
will consume it.
39 You
will plant
vineyards and
dress them, but
you will neither
drink of the
wine, nor harvest,
because worms
will eat them.
40 You
will have olive
trees throughout
all your borders,
but you won’t
anoint yourself with
the oil, for
your olives will
drop off.
41 You
will father sons
and daughters, but
they will not
be yours, for they
will go into
captivity.
42 Locusts
will consume all
of your trees
and the fruit
of your ground.
43 The
foreigner who is
among you will
mount up above
you higher and
higher, and you
will come down
lower and lower.
44 He
will lend to
you, and you won’t
lend to him.
He will be
the head, and
you will be
the tail.
45 All
these curses
will come on you,
and will pursue
you and overtake
you, until you
are destroyed,
because you didn’t
listen to the
LORD your God’s
voice, to keep
his commandments
and his statutes
which he commanded
you.
46 They
will be for
a sign and
for a wonder
to you and
to your offspring
forever.
47 Because
you didn’t serve
the LORD your
God with
joyfulness and
with gladness of
heart, by reason
of the abundance
of all things;
48 therefore
you will serve
your enemies whom the
LORD sends against
you, in hunger,
in thirst, in
nakedness, and in
lack of all
things. He will
put an iron
yoke on your
neck until he
has destroyed you.
49 The
LORD will bring
a nation against
you from far
away, from the
end of the earth,
as the eagle
flies: a nation
whose language you
will not
understand,
50 a
nation of
fierce facial expressions,
that doesn’t respect
the elderly, nor
show favor to
the young.
51 They
will eat the fruit
of your livestock
and the fruit
of your ground,
until you are
destroyed. They also won’t
leave you grain,
new wine, oil,
the increase of
your livestock, or
the young of
your flock, until
they have caused
you to perish.
52 They
will besiege you
in all your
gates until your
high and fortified
walls in which
you trusted come
down throughout
all your land.
They will besiege
you in all
your gates
throughout all
your land which
the LORD your
God has given
you.
53 You
will eat the fruit
of your own body,
the flesh of
your sons and
of your daughters,
whom the LORD your
God has given
you, in the
siege and in
the distress with
which your enemies
will distress you.
54 The
man who is
tender among you,
and very delicate,
his eye will
be evil toward
his brother, toward the wife
whom he loves,
and toward the
remnant of his
children whom he
has remaining,
55 so
that he will
not give to
any of them
of the flesh
of his children
whom he will eat,
because he has
nothing left to
him, in the
siege and in
the distress with
which your enemy
will distress you
in all your
gates.
56 The
tender and
delicate woman
among you,
who would not
venture to set
the sole of
her foot on
the ground for
delicateness and
tenderness, her
eye will be
evil toward
the husband that
she loves, toward
her son, toward
her daughter,
57 toward
her young one
who comes out
from between her
feet, and toward
her children whom
she bears; for
she will eat them
secretly for lack
of all things
in the siege
and in the
distress with
which your enemy
will distress you
in your gates.
58 If you
will not observe
to do all
the words of
this law that
are written in
this book, that
you may fear
this glorious and
fearful name, THE
LORD
your God,
59 then
the LORD will
make your plagues
and the plagues
of your
offspring fearful, even
great plagues, and
of long duration,
and severe
sicknesses, and of
long duration.
60 He
will bring on
you again all
the diseases of
Egypt, which you
were afraid of;
and they will
cling to you.
61 Also
every sickness and
every plague which
is not written
in the book
of this law,
the LORD will
bring them on
you until you
are destroyed.
62 You
will be left
few in number,
even though you
were as the
stars of the
sky for multitude,
because you didn’t
listen to the
LORD your God’s
voice.
63 It
will happen that
as the LORD
rejoiced over you
to do you
good, and to
multiply you, so
the LORD will
rejoice over you
to cause you
to perish and to
destroy you. You
will be plucked
from the land that
you are going in
to possess.
64 The
LORD will scatter
you among all
peoples, from one
end of the earth
to the other
end of the earth.
There you will
serve other gods
which you have
not known, you
nor your fathers,
even wood
and stone.
65 Among
these nations you
will find no
ease, and there
will be no
rest for the
sole of your
foot; but the
LORD will give
you there a
trembling heart,
failing of eyes,
and pining of soul.
66 Your
life will hang
in doubt before
you. You will
be afraid night
and day, and
will have
no assurance of
your life.
67 In
the morning you
will say, “I wish
it were evening!”
and at evening
you will say, “I
wish it were
morning!” for the
fear of your
heart which you
will fear, and
for the sights
which your eyes
will see.
68 The
LORD will bring
you into Egypt
again with ships,
by the way
of which I told
you that you
would never see
it again. There
you will offer
yourselves to
your enemies for
male and female
slaves, and nobody
will buy you.