Deuteronomy 28

Blessings at Gerizim

1 aNow it shall be, if you diligently
Lit listen to the voice of
obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God cwill set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2All these blessings will come upon you and dovertake you if you
Lit listen to the voice of
obey the Lord your God:

3Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be fin the
Or field
country.

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

5Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

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

7“The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be
Lit smitten
defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.
8“The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in nall that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 9 o“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10So all the peoples of the earth will see that
Lit the name of the Lord is called upon you
,
qyou are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.
11 r“The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the
Lit fruit
offspring of your
Or womb
body and in the
Lit fruit
offspring of your beast and in the
Lit fruit
produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12“The Lord 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 wyou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 x“The Lord 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 the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to
Lit keep and do
observe them carefully,
14and zdo not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Consequences of Disobedience

15 aaBut it shall come about, if you do not
Lit listen to the voice of
obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 acCursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the
Or field
country.

17 aeCursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18 afCursed shall be the
Lit fruit
offspring of your
Or womb
body and the
Lit fruit
produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

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

20 ak“The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and alrebuke, in all
Lit the putting forth of your hand which you do
you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until anyou perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.
21 ao“The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. 22 ap“The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with
Another reading is drought
the sword and arwith blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until asyou perish.
23
Lit Your
The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.
24 au“The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 av“The Lord shall cause you to be
Lit smitten
defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will axbe an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 ayYour 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 az“The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with batumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28“The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29and you will
Lit be groping
,
bcgrope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you.
30 bdYou shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; beyou shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not
Lit begin it
use its fruit.
31Your 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 restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. 32 bgYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually; but there will be nothing
Lit in the power of your hand
you can do.
33 biA 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 continually. 34You shall be driven mad by the sight of
Lit your eyes which you
what you see.
35 bk“The Lord 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 crown of your head. 36 bl“The Lord will bring 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, bmwood and stone. 37 bnYou shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the Lord drives you.

38 boYou shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for bpthe locust will consume it. 39 bqYou shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them. 40 brYou shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41 bs“You shall
Lit beget
have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.
42 buThe cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground. 43 bvThe alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 44 bwHe shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; bxhe shall be the head, and you will be the tail.

45So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you byuntil you are destroyed, because you would not
Lit listen to the voice of
obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
46They shall become caa sign and a wonder on you and your
Lit seed
descendants forever.

47 ccBecause you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; 48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, cdin hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He cewill put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

49 cf“The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, cgas the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50a nation of fierce countenance who will chhave no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 51Moreover, it shall eat the
Lit fruit
offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.
52 cjIt shall besiege you in all your
Lit gates
towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your
Lit gates
towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
53 cmThen you shall eat the
Lit fruit
offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will
Or distress
oppress you.
54The man who is
Lit tender
refined and very delicate among you
Lit his eye shall be evil toward
shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife
Lit of his bosom
he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain,
55so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will
Or distress
oppress you in all your
Lit gates
towns.
56 cu“The
Lit tender
refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and
Lit tenderness
refinement,
Lit her eye shall be evil toward
shall be hostile toward the husband
Lit of her bosom
she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,
57and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her
Lit feet
legs and toward her children whom she bears; for dashe will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will
Or distress
oppress you in your
Lit gates
towns.

58If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to
Or reverence
,
defear this honored and awesome dfname,
Heb YHWH
the Lord your God,
59then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and
Lit plague on your seed
your descendants, even
Lit great
severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.
60 djHe will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you dkuntil you are destroyed. 62Then you shall be left few in number, dlwhereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not
Lit listen to the voice of
obey the Lord your God.
63It shall come about that as the Lord dndelighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the Lord will dodelight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be dptorn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 64“Moreover, the Lord will dqscatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall drserve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. 65 dsAmong those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there dtthe Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66So your life shall
Lit be hung for you in front
hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.
67 dvIn the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68“The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
Copyright information for NASB1995