Deuteronomy 28

1And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that Jehovah thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth:

1Now, if you truly listen to the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to obey all his commandments that I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above every other nation on earth.

2and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

2All these blessings will come to you and accompany you if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

3Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

3You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.

4Your children will be blessed, as well as the crops of your land, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

5Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.

5Your basket and your bread bowl will be blessed.

6Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

6You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7Jehovah will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways.

7The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions.

8Jehovah will command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto; and he will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

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

9Jehovah will establish thee for a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in his ways.

9The LORD will establish you as his holy people, just as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

10And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee.

10Then all the people on earth will see that you are identified with the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.

11And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

11The LORD will give you plenty of good things—many children, many livestock, and many crops—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

12Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

12The LORD will open the heavens, his rich treasury, to send rain on your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; you will lend to many nations but will not need to borrow from any.

13And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them,

13The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will always be on top and never at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today and are careful to follow them.

14and shalt not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

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

15But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.

15However, if you do not listen to the voice of the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commandments and laws that I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you.

16Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.

17Your basket and your bread bowl will be cursed.

18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.

18Your children will be cursed, as well as the crops of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

19Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

19You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

20The LORD will send curses, confusion, and failure on everything you try to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil things you did when you abandoned him.

21Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.

21The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has wiped you out from the land you are entering to possess.

22Jehovah will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, extreme heat, war, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

23And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

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

24Jehovah will make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

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

25Jehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and from among all the kingdoms of the earth.

25The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven directions, and you will become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

26And thy dead body shall be food unto all birds of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.

26Your dead bodies will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, and no one will be there to scare them away.

27Jehovah will smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

27The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors, skin sores, and itch that cannot be cured.

28Jehovah will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

28The LORD will strike you with madness, blindness, and a confused mind.

29and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee.

29At noon you will grope around like a blind person in the dark; you will not succeed in anything you do. Day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

30Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof.

30You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her; you will build a house, but you won't live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you won't enjoy its fruit.

31Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee.

31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won't eat any of it; your donkey will be taken from you by force and not returned; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you.

32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thy hand.

32Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation while you watch; you will wear your eyes out looking for them all day long, but you will be powerless to do anything.

33The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;

33A nation you do not know will eat the crops of your land and the fruit of all your labor; you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed forever.

34so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

34The sights you see will drive you to madness.

35Jehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.

35The LORD will strike your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

36Jehovah will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

36The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known; there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone.

37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee away.

37You will become an object of horror, a proverb, and a joke among all the nations where the LORD drives you.

38Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

38You will plant a lot of seed in the field but harvest very little, because locusts will eat it.

39Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.

39You will plant vineyards and tend them, but you won't drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

40Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit.

40You will have olive trees throughout your country, but you won't rub yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off the trees.

41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity.

41You will have sons and daughters, but you won't keep them, because they will go into captivity.

42All thy trees and the fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess.

42Locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43The sojourner that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower.

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

44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

44They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them; they will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

45All these curses will come on you, pursuing you and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God by keeping the commandments and laws he gave you.

46and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

46They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.

47Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

47Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart when you had an abundance of everything,

48therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies that Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

48you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking everything; he will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

49Jehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, swooping down like an eagle; it will be a nation whose language you do not understand,

50a nation of fierce countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

50a fierce-looking nation that shows no respect for the elderly and no mercy to the young.

51and shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; that also shall not leave thee grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flock, until they have caused thee to perish.

51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed; they will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, calves, or lambs until they have ruined you.

52And they shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and they shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee.

52They will besiege all the towns throughout your land until the high, fortified walls you trust in come falling down; they will besiege all your gates throughout the land the LORD your God has given you.

53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Jehovah thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.

53Because of the suffering your enemy inflicts on you during the siege, you will eat your own children—the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God gave you.

54The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining;

54Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no pity on his own brother, the wife he loves, or his remaining children.

55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates.

55He will not share with any of them the flesh of the children he is eating, because he has nothing else left during the siege and the distress your enemy brings on all your towns.

56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

56The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so delicate she wouldn't even step on the ground—will be stingy toward the husband she loves and toward her own son and daughter.

57and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

57She will hide from them the afterbirth and the children she bears, so she can eat them secretly because she is starving during the siege and the distress your enemy brings on your towns.

58If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, JEHOVAH THY GOD;

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

59then Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

59then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants; severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and lingering sicknesses.

60And he will bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

60He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt that you were afraid of, and they will stay with you.

61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will Jehovah bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

61The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and plague not even mentioned in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

62And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

62Though you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will be left, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

63And it shall come to pass, that, as Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Jehovah will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

63Just as the LORD took delight in making you prosper and increase in number, so he will take delight in ruining and destroying you; you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64And Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone.

64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other; there you will serve other gods of wood and stone that neither you nor your ancestors have known.

65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot: but Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;

65Among those nations you will find no peace and no resting place for your feet; there the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing soul.

66and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.

66Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will live in terror night and day, never sure of your life.

67In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

67In the morning you will say, "I wish it were evening!" and in the evening you will say, "I wish it were morning!" because of the terror in your heart and the sights you see with your eyes.

68And Jehovah will bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

68The LORD will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though I told you that you would never see it again; there you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.