Deuteronomy 28:15-45

Curses for Disobedience

15“But ^aif you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and ^bovertake you. 16Cursed shall you be ^cin the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. 17Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 19Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20“The Lord ^dwill send on you curses, confusion, and ^efrustration in all that you undertake to do, ^funtil you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21The Lord will make ^gthe pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22 ^hThe Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought ▼

▼Or sword

and with ^jblight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23And ^kthe heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 ^l“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you ^mshall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26And ⁿyour dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and ^othere shall be no one to frighten them away. 27The Lord will strike you ^pwith the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and ^qscabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28The Lord will strike you with ^rmadness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29and you shall ^sgrope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. ▼

▼Or  shall not succeed in finding your ways

And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30 ^uYou shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. ^vYou shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. ^wYou shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32 ^xYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, ^ybut you shall be helpless. 33A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34so that you are driven mad ^zby the sights that your eyes see. 35The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs ^aawith grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36“The Lord will ^abbring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you ^acnor your fathers have known. And ^adthere you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37And you shall become ^aea horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away. 38 ^afYou shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for ^agthe locust shall consume it. 39 ^ahYou shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you ^aishall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for ^ajthey shall go into captivity. 42 ^akThe cricket ▼

▼Identity uncertain

shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43 ^amThe sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 ^anHe shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. ^aoHe shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 ^ap“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.