Deuteronomy 28:9-64
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 28
9The 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 you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. 11And the Lord will give you more than enough prosperity, in the children of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless every work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only be above, and not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you today, to follow them carefully, 14and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them.
20The Lord will send against you curses, panic, and rebuke, in everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me.
21The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it.
22The Lord will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with the sword, with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.
23The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.
24The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways from their presence, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26Your dead bodies will serve as food for all birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
27The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, the festering rash, and with scabies, from which you cannot be healed.
28The Lord will strike you with insanity, blindness, and with confusion of mind;
29and you will be groping about at noon, just as a person who is blind gropes in the darkness, and you will not be successful in your ways; but you will only be oppressed and robbed all the time, with no one to save you.
30You will betroth a woman, but another man will violate her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not make use of its fruit.
31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey will be snatched away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you.
32Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing you can do.
33A people whom you do not know will eat the produce of your ground and every product of your labor, and you will never be anything but oppressed and mistreated continually.
34You will also be driven insane by the sight of what you see.
35The Lord will strike you on the knees and thighs with severe boils from which you cannot be healed, and strike you from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
36The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you appoint over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, made of wood and stone.
37And you will become an object of horror, a song of mockery, and an object of taunting among all the peoples where the Lord drives you.
38You will bring out a great amount of seed to the field, but you will gather in little, because the locust will devour it.
39You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor bring in the harvest, because the worm will eat it.
40You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely.
41You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
42The cricket will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your ground.
43The stranger who is among you will rise above you higher and higher, and you will go down lower and lower.
44He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail.
45So all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
46And they will become a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever.
47Since you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things,
48you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and devoid of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose language you will not understand,
50a nation with a defiant attitude, who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.
51Furthermore, it will eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed; a nation that will leave you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the newborn of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have eliminated you.
52And it will besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it will besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
53Then you will eat the 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 hardship by which your enemy will oppress you.
54The man who is refined and very delicate among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife he cherishes, and toward the rest of his children who are left,
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 hardship by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns.
56The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, will be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,
57and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her legs, and toward her children to whom she gives birth, because she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the hardship with which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.
58If you are not careful to follow all the words of this Law that are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God,
59then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.
60And He will bring back on you every disease of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.
61Also every sickness and every plague, which are not written in the book of this Law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed.
62Then you will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the Lord your God.
63And it will come about that, just as the Lord rejoiced over you to be good to you, and make you numerous, so will the Lord rejoice over you to wipe you out and destroy you; and you will be torn away from the land which you are entering to possess.
64Furthermore, the Lord will scatter you among all the peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers have not known.
King James Version
Chapter 28
9The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD 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:
16Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
26And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
27The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
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 spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
30Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
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 rescue them.
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 long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.
33The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
38Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
42All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
43The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45Moreover 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 the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
46And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD 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.
49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
50A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
51And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
52And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54So that the 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 which he shall leave:
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 straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
56The tender and delicate woman among you, which 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,
57And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
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, THE LORD THY GOD;
59Then the LORD 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.
60Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
62And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
63And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 28
9The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he swore to you, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you bear the Lord's name, and they will stand in awe of you. 11The Lord will make you prosper abundantly with offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and your land's produce in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. 12The Lord will open for you his abundant storehouse, the sky, to give your land rain in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward if you listen to the Lord your God's commands I am giving you today and are careful to follow them. 14Do not turn aside to the right or the left from all the things I am commanding you today, and do not follow other gods to worship them.
16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
18Your offspring will be cursed, and your land's produce, the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks.
19You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.
21The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess.
22The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
23The sky above you will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
24The Lord will turn the rain of your land into falling dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.
25The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
27"The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, tumors, a festering rash, and scabies, from which you cannot be cured.
28The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion,
29so that at noon you will grope as a blind person gropes in the dark. You will not be successful in anything you do. You will only be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will help you.
30You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit.
31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you.
32Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything.
33A people you don't know will eat your land's produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually.
34You will be driven mad by what you see.
35The Lord will afflict you with painful and incurable boils on your knees and thighs--from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
36"The Lord will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone.
37You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.
38"You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
39You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
40You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not moisten your skin with oil, because your olives will drop off.
41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will be taken prisoner.
42Buzzing insects will take possession of all your trees and your land's produce.
43The resident alien among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower.
44He will lend to you, but you won't lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.
45"All these curses will come, pursue, and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commands and statutes he gave you.
46These curses will be a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever.
47Because you didn't serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though you had an abundance of everything,
48you will serve your enemies that the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you won't understand,
50a ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young.
51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your land's produce until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, fresh oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish.
52They will besiege you within all your city gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your city gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.
53"You will eat your offspring, the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you.
54The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children,
55refusing to share with any of them his children's flesh that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns.
56The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter,
57the afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you within your city gates.
58"If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awe-inspiring name--the Lord, your God--
59he will bring wondrous plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
60He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you.
61The Lord will also afflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed.
62Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people, because you did not obey the Lord your God.
63Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess.
64Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
New Living Translation
Chapter 28
9If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.
11The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.
12The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.
13If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.
14You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.
16Your towns and your fields will be cursed.
17Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be cursed.
18Your children and your crops will be cursed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed.
19Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed.
20The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.
21The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
22The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die.
23The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron.
24The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.
25The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.
27The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
28The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic.
29You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.
30You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit.
31Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you.
32You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.
33A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment.
34You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you.
35The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.
36The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone!
37You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.
38You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops.
39You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.
40You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens.
41You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity.
42Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.
43The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker.
44They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!
45If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.
46These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever.
47If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,
48you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.
49The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand,
50a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
51Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death.
52They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land — the walls you trusted to protect you — are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.
53The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.
54The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children.
55He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring — the flesh of one of his own children — because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.
56The most tender and delicate woman among you — so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot — will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter.
57She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.
58If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God,
59then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick.
60He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief.
61The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed.
62Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.
63Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy.
64For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone!
English Standard Version
Chapter 28
9The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, 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 you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15“But if 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 overtake you.
16Cursed shall you be in 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 will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
21The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
23And the 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“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 shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.
27The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed.
28The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind,
29and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.
30You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You 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.
32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but 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 by the sights that your eyes see.
35The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
36“The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.
37And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.
38You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it.
39You 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 shall 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 they shall go into captivity.
42The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.
43The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
44He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45“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.
46They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever.
47Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,
48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,
50a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
51It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
52“They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.
53And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
54The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left,
55so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns.
56The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces, to her son and to her daughter,
57her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
58“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God,
59then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
60And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
61Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.
62Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
63And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
New International Version
Chapter 28
9The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. 10Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
12The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
13The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
14Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
20The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.
21The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.
22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
23The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.
24The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.
26Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
28The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
29At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
30You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.
32Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
33A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.
34The sights you see will drive you mad.
35The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
36The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.
37You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.
38You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
39You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
40You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.
41You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.
42Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
43The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.
44They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.
45All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.
46They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
47Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,
48therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
51They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
52They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
53Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you.
54Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,
55and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.
56The most gentle and sensitive woman among you--so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot--will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter
57the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.
58If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name--the LORD your God--
59the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
60He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.
61The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
62You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
63Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
New King James Version
Chapter 28
9“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
20“The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.
21The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.
22The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.
23And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron.
24The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25“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 shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
26Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away.
27The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.
28The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.
29And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.
30“You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes.
31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them.
32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand.
33A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually.
34So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.
35The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
36“The Lord will bring you and the 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.
37And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.
38“You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it.
39You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.
41You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
42Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
43“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
44He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
46And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.
47“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,
48therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.
51And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.
52“They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you.
53You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.
54The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind,
55so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter,
57her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
58“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE Lord YOUR God,
59then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.
60Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
61Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.
62You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
63And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
