Deuteronomy 28:1-68:
BLESSINGS
FOR OBEDIENCE:
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all
his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God
will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these
blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken
unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city,
and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the
increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy
basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine
enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they
shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in
all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the
land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The 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. And all
people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the
LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And 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. The 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. And 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: And 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.
PUNISHMENTS FOR DISOBEDIENCE:
But 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:
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the
flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The 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.
The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have
consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The
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.
And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that
is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land
powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be
destroyed. The 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. And 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. The 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. The LORD shall smite thee
with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And 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. Thou 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. Thine 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.
Thy 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. The 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: So that thou shalt be mad for
the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The 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. The 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. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a
proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead
thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather
but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant
vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor
gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive
trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with
the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and
daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into
captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and
thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not
lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
a sign and wonder for ever:
Moreover 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: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder,
and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God
with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all
things; Therefore 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. The 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; A nation of fierce countenance,
which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the
young: And 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. And 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. And
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: So 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: So 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. The 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, And 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. If
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; Then 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. Moreover he will bring upon
thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they
shall cleave unto thee. Also 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. And 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. 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 nought;
and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess
it. And 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. And
among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of
thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling
heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang
in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have
none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it
were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for
the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of
thine eyes which thou shalt see. And the LORD shall bring thee into
Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt
see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for
bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.