The Fifth Book of Moses, Called Deuteronomy

Chapter 28

The blessings for obedience, 1-14. The curses for disobedience, 15-68.

1 "And it shall come to pass, if you listen diligently to the voice of the LORD your God to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come on you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

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

4 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep.

5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your store.

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

7 "The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be smitten before your face. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon you in your store-houses and in all that you set your hand to. And he shall bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 9 The LORD shall establish you a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD shall make you to abound in goods, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD shall open to you his good treasure, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make you the head and not the tail. And you shall be above only and not beneath if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day to observe and to do them. 14 And you shall not go 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.

15 "But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD your God to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

16 "Cursed you shall be in the city, and cursed you shall be in the field.

17 "Cursed shall be your basket and your store.

18 "Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land, the increase of your cows, and the flocks of your sheep.

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

20 "The LORD shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke in all that you undertake to perform until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings by which you have forsaken me. 21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave to you until he has consumed you from off the land where you go to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite you with a consumption, with a fever, with an inflammation, with an extreme burning, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. And they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heaven that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD shall make the rain of your land powder and dust. From heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.

25 "The LORD shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be an object of trembling to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your carcass shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and no man shall drive them away.

27 "The LORD will smite you with the boil of Egypt, with the emerods, with the scab, and with the itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD shall smite you with the madness, blindness, and astonishment of heart. 29 You shall grope at noon-day, as the blind gropes in darkness. You shall not prosper in your ways. You shall only be oppressed and plundered evermore, and no man shall save you. 30 You shall betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house and you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard and shall not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes and you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 Your 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 might in your hand. 33 The fruit of your land and all your labors shall be eaten by a nation which you do not know. You shall only be oppressed and crushed always, 34 So that you are mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 35 The LORD shall smite you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36 The LORD shall bring you and your king which you shall set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations where the LORD leads you.

38 "You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive-trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olive shall cast its fruit. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but you shall not enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity. 42 All your trees and fruit of your land the locust shall consume. 43 The stranger who is within you shall rise above you very high, and you shall come down very low. 44 He shall lend to you and 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 shall pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and upon your offspring forever.

47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, 48 Therefore you shall serve your enemies which the LORD shall send against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck until he has destroyed you.

49 "The LORD shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 A nation of fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young. 51 And he shall eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed. He also shall not leave you either grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, or flocks of your sheep until he has destroyed you. 52 And he shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. And he shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters which the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 And the man who is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he leaves, 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture 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, toward her son, toward her daughter, 57 Toward her young one, her own offspring, and toward her children which she shall bear, for she shall eat them for lack of all things secretly in the siege and distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

58 "If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, so that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD, 59 Then the LORD will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring wonderful, even great plagues and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses and of long continuance. 60 Moreover, he will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cleave to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them upon you until you are destroyed. 62 And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 And 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 nothing. And you shall be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it. 64 And the LORD shall scatter you among all people from one end of the earth even to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 And among these nations you shall find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest, but the LORD shall give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. 66 And your life shall hang in doubt before you. And you shall fear day and night, and shall have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, 'O that it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, 'O that it were morning!' for the fear of your heart with which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 68 And the LORD shall bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I have said to you, 'You shall no more see it again.' And there you shall be sold to your enemies for men-servants and women-servants, and no man shall buy you."

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - Deuteronomy, Chapter 28[➚]

Notes

[v.25] - "And you shall be an object of trembling to all the kingdoms of the earth" - From the Pulpit Commentary: "Literally, shall be a tossing to and fro to all the kingdoms, etc.; 'a ball for all the kingdoms to play with.'"

[v.40] - "cast its fruit" - That is to say that the olives on the tree will prematurely fall off to the ground, causing the olives to be of no good.

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