Deuteronomy 28

Modern

Literal

The Blessings of Obedience

¹“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

¹“ And it shall come to pass, if you will listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God, to observe carefully to do all His commandments that I command you today, that YHWH your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.

²And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:

²And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you listen to the voice of YHWH your God.

³You will be blessed in the city

and blessed in the country.

³Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field.

⁴The fruit of your womb will be blessed,

as well as the produce of your land

and the offspring of your livestock—

the calves of your herds

and the lambs of your flocks.

⁴Blessed is the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, and the increase of your herd, the increase of your cattle, and the increase of your flock.

⁵Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.

⁵Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶You will be blessed when you come in

and blessed when you go out.

⁶Blessed are you in your coming in, and blessed are you in your going out.

⁷The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

⁷YHWH will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; in one way they shall come out against you, and in seven ways they shall flee before you.

⁸The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.

⁸YHWH will command with you the blessing in your barns and in every putting forth of your hand, and He will bless you in the land that YHWH your God is giving to you.

⁹The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.

⁹YHWH will establish you to Himself as a holy people, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of YHWH your God and walk in His ways.

¹⁰Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

¹⁰And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of YHWH is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of you.

¹¹The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

¹¹And YHWH will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land that YHWH swore to your fathers to give to you.

¹²The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.

¹²YHWH will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

¹³The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today.

¹³And YHWH will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall be only above, and be not beneath, if you listen to the commandments of YHWH your God, which I am commanding you today to keep and do.

¹⁴Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁴And you shall not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you this day, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

The Curses of Disobedience

¹⁵If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁵And it shall come to pass, if you do not listen to the voice of YHWH your God, to observe carefully to do all His commandments and His statutes that I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.

¹⁶You will be cursed in the city

and cursed in the country.

¹⁶Cursed are you in the city, and cursed are you in the field.

¹⁷Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.

¹⁷Cursed is your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸The fruit of your womb will be cursed,

as well as the produce of your land,

the calves of your herds,

and the lambs of your flocks.

¹⁸Cursed is the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

¹⁹You will be cursed when you come in

and cursed when you go out.

¹⁹Cursed are you in your coming in, and cursed are you in your going out.

²⁰The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.^a

²⁰YHWH will send on you the cursing, the confusion, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of your hand that you do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

²¹The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

²¹YHWH will make cling to you the plague, until He has consumed you from the land that you are going in to possess.

²²The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,^a and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

²²YHWH will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with severe burning fever, and with the sword, and with scorching, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.

²³The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.

²³And your heavens that are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under you iron.

²⁴The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

²⁴YHWH will give the rain of your land to be dust and powder; from the heavens it shall come down on you, until you are destroyed.

²⁵The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁵YHWH will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; one way you shall go out against him, and seven ways you shall flee before his face, and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.

²⁶And your carcass shall be food for all the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away.

²⁷The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

²⁷YHWH will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, from which you are not able to be healed.

²⁸The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,

²⁸YHWH will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind,

²⁹and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

²⁹and you shall grope at noonday as a blind man gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and plundered all of the days, and no one shall save you.

³⁰You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

³⁰You shall betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house and you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard and you shall not gather its grapes.

³¹Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.

³¹Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be seized from before your face and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them.

³²Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

³²Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes are looking and wasting away toward them all the day, and there is no power in your hand.

³³A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.

³³A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and of all your toil, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed all the days.

³⁴You will be driven mad by the sights you see.

³⁴And you shall be driven mad because of the sight of your eyes that you see.

³⁵The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

³⁵YHWH will strike you with severe boils in the knees and on the legs, which are not able to be healed, from the sole of your foot and to the top of your head.

³⁶The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.

³⁶YHWH shall bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone.

³⁷You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

³⁷And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations to which YHWH will drive you.

³⁸You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

³⁸Much Seed you shall carry out into the field, and little gather in, for the locust shall consume it.

³⁹You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

³⁹You shall plant vineyards and tend them, and of the wine you shall not drink and not gather, for the worms shall consume it.

⁴⁰You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

⁴⁰Olive trees shall be unto you throughout all your territory, and with the oil you shall not anoint, for your olives shall drop off.

⁴¹You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.

⁴¹You shall bear sons and daughters, and they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity.

⁴²Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

⁴²The locust shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

⁴³The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.

⁴³The foreigner who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, and you shall descend lower and lower.

⁴⁴He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁴He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.

⁴⁵And all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of YHWH your God to keep His commandments and His statutes that He commanded you.

⁴⁶These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever.

⁴⁶And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your seed, even to forever.

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,

⁴⁷Because that you did not serve YHWH your God with joy and gladness of heart from the abundance of all things,

⁴⁸you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom YHWH will send against you, in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in lack of all things, and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.

⁴⁹The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

⁴⁹YHWH will bring against you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies, a nation whose tongue you have not heard,

⁵⁰a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

⁵⁰a nation fierce of face, which does not respect the face of the aged, and does not show favor to the young.

⁵¹They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.

⁵¹And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed—which will leave to you no grain, or new wine, or oil, or offspring of your cattle, or increase of your flock, until they have destroyed you.

⁵²They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

⁵²And they shall lay siege to you in all your gates until your walls, high and fortified, in which you trust, come down in all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates in all your land that YHWH your God has given to you.

⁵³Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.

⁵³And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom YHWH your God has given you, in the siege and dire straits that your enemy will inflict on you.

⁵⁴The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces,^a and the rest of his children who have survived,

⁵⁴The tender man among you and very refined—his eye shall do evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons whom he leaves behind,

⁵⁵refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates.^a

⁵⁵so that he will not give to one of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because there remains nothing at all for him in the siege and dire straits that your enemy will inflict on you at all your gates.

⁵⁶The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces^a and her son and daughter

⁵⁶The tender 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—her eye is evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter,

⁵⁷the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates.

⁵⁷and against her afterbirth that comes from between her feet, and against her children whom she bears. For she will eat them in secret for lack of anything in the siege and dire straits that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates.

⁵⁸If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—

⁵⁸If you are not careful to do all the words of this law written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—YHWH your God—

⁵⁹He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.

⁵⁹then YHWH will bring extraordinary plagues and the plagues of your seed, great and prolonged plagues, and evil and prolonged sicknesses.

⁶⁰He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.

⁶⁰And He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, the presence of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.

⁶¹The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

⁶¹Also every sickness and every plague that is not written in the Book of this Law, YHWH will bring upon you until you are destroyed.

⁶²You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

⁶²And you shall be left few men, instead of which you were as stars of the heavens in multitude, because you would not listen to the voice of YHWH your God.

⁶³Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶³And it shall come to pass that as YHWH rejoiced over you to do good to you and multiply you, so YHWH will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing, and you shall be plucked from off the land that you are going there to possess.

⁶⁴Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

⁶⁴And YHWH will scatter you among all the peoples, from the end of the earth and to the end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods—which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.

⁶⁵Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.

⁶⁵And among those nations you shall not find rest, nor shall you have a resting place for the sole of your foot. And there YHWH will give to you a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and anguish of soul.

⁶⁶So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.

⁶⁶And your life shall be hanging in doubt before you, and you shall dread night and day, and have no assurance of life.

⁶⁷In 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 in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.

⁶⁷In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that evening be granted!’ And at the evening you shall say, ‘Would that morning be granted!’ Because of the dread of your heart that you dread, and because of the sight of your eyes that you see.

⁶⁸The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

⁶⁸And YHWH will take you back to Egypt in ships by the way of which I said to you, never will you add again to see it, and you will sell yourselves there to your enemies for menservants and for maidservants, and no one will buy you.”