Self-interpreting Bible

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Deuteronomy 28

1The blessings for obedience. 15The curses for disobedience.


1 AND it shall come to pass, aif 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 bon high above all nations of the earth:

2 And all these blessings shall ccome on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

3 dBlessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be ein the field.

4 Blessed shall be the ffruit 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.

5 Blessed shall be gthy basket and thy 1store.

6 Blessed shalt thou be when hthou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7 The LORD ishall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be jsmitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

8 The LORD kshall command the blessing upon thee in thy 2storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

9 The LORD shall lestablish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, mif thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

10 And all people of the earth shall nsee that thou art ocalled by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11 And pthe LORD shall make thee plenteous 3in goods, in the fruit of thy 4body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, qin the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12 The LORD rshall 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.

13 And the LORD sshall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; tif that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

14 And thou shalt unot 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.

15 ¶But it shall come to pass, vif 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 wall these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

16 xCursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17 Cursed shall be ythy basket and thy store.

18 Cursed shall be zthe fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy *kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

19 Cursed shalt athou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

20 The bLORD shall send upon thee cursing, *vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto 5for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

21 The LORD cshall make dthe pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

22 The eLORD shall smite thee with a *consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the 6sword, and with *blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23 And thy fheaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

24 The LORD shall gmake the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25 The LORD hshall 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 7removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 And thy icarcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall *fray them away.

27 The LORD will jsmite thee with the *botch of Egypt, and with kthe *emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28 The LORD shall lsmite thee with mmadness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

29 And thou shalt ngrope 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.

30 Thou shalt obetroth 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 8gather the grapes thereof.

31 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 9shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

  • 9: Heb. shall not return to thee.

32 Thy psons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and qfail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.

33 The rfruit 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:

34 So that thou shalt sbe mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

35 The LORD shall tsmite 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.

36 The LORD shall ubring 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.

37 And thou shalt become van astonishment, a proverb, and a *byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

38 Thou wshalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for xthe locust shall consume it.

39 Thou yshalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the zworms shall eat them.

40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy *coasts, but thou shalt not aanoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

41 Thou shalt bbeget sons and daughters, but 10thou shalt not enjoy them; for they cshall go into captivity.

42 All dthy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust 11consume.

43 The estranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

44 He fshall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

45 Moreover gall 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:

46 And they shall be upon thee hfor a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

47 Because ithou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with jgladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

48 Therefore shalt kthou 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.

49 The LORD shall lbring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift mas the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not 12understand;

50 nA nation 13of fierce countenance, which oshall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

51 And he pshall 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.

52 And he shall qbesiege 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.

53 And rthou shalt eat the fruit of thine own 14body, 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:

54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, shis 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:

55 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 tthe siege, and in the *straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

56 The utender 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,

57 And toward her 15young one that cometh out vfrom 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.

  • 15: Heb. afterbirth.
  • v: Ge. 49:10
  • *: straitness-distress.

58 If wthou 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, xTHE LORD THY GOD;

59 Then the LORD ywill make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and *sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

60 Moreover he will bring upon thee zall the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD 16bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

  • 16: Heb. cause to ascend.

62 And ye shall be left afew in number, whereas ye were bas the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.

63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD crejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will drejoice 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.

64 And the LORD shall escatter 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.

65 And famong 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 gfailing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:

    67 In the morning thou shalt say, hWould 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.

    68 And the LORD shall ibring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, jThou 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.