Deuteronomy 28

1 “Indeed, if you diligently obey ^{a28:1 Or listen to} the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I’m giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:1

2 Moreover, all these blessings will come upon you in abundance, ^{b28:2 Lit. and will overtake you} if you obey the LORD your God:ISV — Deuteronomy 28:2

3 “Blessed will you be in the city and blessed will you be in the country.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:3

4 “Blessed will your children ^{c28:4 Lit. shall the fruit of your womb} be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:4

5 “Blessed will be your grain ^{d28:5 The Heb. lacks grain} basket and your kneading bowl.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:5

6 “Blessed will you be in your comings and goings.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:6

7 “The LORD will make your enemies, who rise against you and attack from one direction, to flee from you in seven directions.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:7

8 “The LORD will send blessings for you with regard to your barns and everything you undertake. Indeed, he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:8

9 “The LORD will assign you to be a holy people ^{e28:9 Or nation} for himself, just as he promised you, as long as you keep his ^{f28:9 Lit. of the Lord your God} commands and walk in his ways.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:9

10 “Then all the people of the earth will observe that the name of the LORD is proclaimed ^{g28:10 Lit. called} among you, and they will fear you.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:10

11 “The LORD will show his abundant goodness with respect to your children, ^{h28:11 Lit. the fruit of your womb} the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your farmland that he ^{i28:11 Lit. the LORD} promised your ancestors he would give you.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:11

12 “The LORD will open his rich ^{j28:12 Or good} treasury, the heavens, to release rain upon your land in season and bless everything you undertake so that you’ll lend to many nations but won’t borrow.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:12

13 “The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail—placing you above and not beneath—if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I’m giving you today to keep and observe.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:13

14 Do not deviate from any of his commands that I’m giving you today—neither to the right nor the left—to follow and serve other gods.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:14

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:15

16 “Cursed will you be in the city and cursed will you be in the country.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:16

17 “Cursed will be your grain ^{k28:17 The Heb. lacks grain} basket and your kneading bowl.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:17

18 “Cursed will your children ^{l28:18 Lit. shall the fruit of your womb} be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:18

19 “Cursed will you be in your comings and goings.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:19

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. ^{m28:20 Lit. me}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:20

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:21

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:22

23 The sky above your head will become bronze while the ground beneath you will become iron.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:23

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.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:24

25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated ^{n28:25 Lit. be struck down} 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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:25

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:26

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:27

28 The LORD will afflict you with insanity, blindness, and mental confusion. ^{o28:28 Lit. and confusion of the heart}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:28

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. ^{p28:29 Lit. in your ways} Instead you’ll be oppressed and plundered all day long, with no deliverer.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:29

30 You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape ^{q28:30 Lit. violate} her. You’ll build a house but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest ^{r28:30 Or enjoy} it.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:30

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:31

32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you watch, and you won’t be able to approach them at all, ^{s28:32 Lit. all the day} and you’ll be powerless to help. ^{t28:32 Lit. and there will be no power in your hand}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:32

33 “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuouslyISV — Deuteronomy 28:33

34 until you are driven insane from what your eyes will see.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:34

35 “The LORD will inflict you with incurable boils on your knees and legs, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:35

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:36

37 You’ll become a desolation and a proverb, and you’ll be mocked among the people where the LORD will drive you.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:37

38 “You’ll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:38

39 You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t drink wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will consume it.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:39

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:40

41 You’ll bear sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you, because they’ll go into captivity.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:41

42 Whirling locusts will consume every tree and the produce of your land.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:42

43 The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:43

44 He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He’ll be the head, but you’ll be the tail.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:44

45 All these curses will come upon you and will overwhelm you until you are exterminated, because you didn’t obey ^{u28:45 Lit. listen to the voice} the LORD your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:45

46 These curses ^{v28:46 Heb. lacks curses} will serve as a sign and wonder for you and your descendants ^{w28:46 Lit. seed} as long as you live.” ^{x28:46 Lit. until eternity}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:46

47 “Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly, ^{y28:47 Lit. and with gladness of heart} despite the abundance of everything you have,ISV — Deuteronomy 28:47

48 you’ll serve your enemies whom the LORD your God will send against you. You will serve in famine and in drought, ^{z28:48 Or in hunger and thirst} in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll ^{aa28:48 Lit. he} set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they ^{bb28:48 Lit. he} have exterminated you.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:48

49 “The LORD will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture,ISV — Deuteronomy 28:49

50 it will be a nation whose language you don’t understand, whose ^{cc28:50 Lit. a nation} stern appearance ^{dd28:50 Or face} neither shows regard ^{ee28:50 Lit. who does not lift faces} nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:50

51 Its army ^{ff28:51 Heb. lacks army} will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They ^{gg28:51 Lit. it} will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:51

52 They’ll ^{hh28:52 Lit. it} 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.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:52

53 “You’ll eat your own children ^{ii28:53 Lit. eat the fruit of your womb} —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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:53

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:54

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:55

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:56

57 She will eat her afterbirth ^{jj28:57 Lit. will begrudge that which comes out from between her feet} and her newborn children ^{kk28:57 Lit. sons whom she will bear} secretly—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:57

58 “If you aren’t careful to observe all the words of this Law that have been written in this book, instructing you ^{ll28:58 The Heb. lacks instructing you} to fear this glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God,ISV — Deuteronomy 28:58

59 then he ^{mm28:59 Lit. the LORD} will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:59

60 He will inflict ^{nn28:60 Lit. will return} on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won’t be curable. ^{oo28:60 Lit. they will cling to you}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:60

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:61

62 Because you will not have obeyed ^{pp28:62 Lit. listen to the voice of} the LORD your God, very few of you will be left—instead of you being as numerous as the stars in the heavens.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:62

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.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:63

64 “He’ll ^{qq28:64 Lit. the LORD} scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, ^{rr28:64 Lit. end of the earth} and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:64

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.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:65

66 You’ll cling to life, being fearful by both night and day, with no assurance of survival.ISV — Deuteronomy 28:66

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 ^{ss28:67 Lit. the dread of your heart that you will dread} and what you’ll see. ^{tt28:67 Lit. the vision of your eyes that you will see}ISV — Deuteronomy 28:67

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.”ISV — Deuteronomy 28:68