Deuteronomy 28:1-39 ▼

1 “Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

2 And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

4 “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.

8 Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you send forth your hand to do, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

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

10 So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you.

11 And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.

12 Yahweh will open for you His good storehouse, 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, but you shall not borrow.

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

14 and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, to walk after other gods to serve them.

15 “But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

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 offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20 “Yahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.

21 Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

22 Yahweh will strike you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with scorching wind and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.

23 And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.

24 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will become an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 And your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

27 “Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.

28 Yahweh will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;

29 and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed all your days, with none to save you.

30 You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.

31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you and will not be returned to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you.

32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them all the day long; but there will be nothing you can do.

33 A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed all your days.

34 And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what your eyes see.

35 Yahweh will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

36 Yahweh will lead you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.

37 You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the people where Yahweh drives you.

38 “You shall bring out much seed to the field, but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it.

39 You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.