Deuteronomy 28

ENGWEBEnglish68 verses

1It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

2All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.

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

4You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

5Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

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

7Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

8Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

9Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.

10All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by Yahweh’s name, and they will be afraid of you.

11Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.

12Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow.

13Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do,

14and shall not turn 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.

15But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you.

16You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field.

17Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed.

19You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out.

20Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

21Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

22Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish.

23Your sky that is over your head will be brass, and the earth that is under you will be iron.

24Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed.

25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26Your dead body will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away.

27Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

28Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart.

29You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you.

30You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit.

31Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, 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. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand.

33A nation which you don’t know eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always;

34so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad.

35Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone.

37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.

38You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in; for the locust will consume it.

39You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them.

40You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives will drop off.

41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go into captivity.

42Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground.

43The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower.

44He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you.

46They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever.

47Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

48therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck, until he has destroyed you.

49Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;

50a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young,

51and they will eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52They will besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you.

53You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you.

54The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates.

56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter,

57toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.

58If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;

59then Yahweh will make your plagues fearful, and the plagues of your offspring, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration.

60He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you.

61Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

62You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.

63It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you. You will be plucked from off of the land where you go in to possess it.

64Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

65Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul.

66Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life.

67In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see.

68Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

Commentary

28:1-14 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God's favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns.

CHAPTER 28De 28:1-68. The Blessings for Obedience.1. if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God—In this chapter the blessings and curses are enumerated at length, and in various minute details, so that on the first entrance of the Israelites into the land of promise, their whole destiny was laid before them, as it was to result from their obedience or the contrary.

Chapter 28 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words in the foregoing chapter, the blessing and the curse. Those were pronounced blessed in general that were obedient, and those cursed that were disobedient; but, because generals are not so affecting, Moses here descends to particulars, and describes the blessing and the curse, not in their fountains (these are out of sight, and therefore the most considerable, yet least considered, the favour of God the spring of all the blessings, and the wrath of God the spring of all the curses), but in their streams, the sensible effects of the blessing and the curse, for they are real things and have real effects. I. He describes the blessings that should come upon them if they were obedient; personal, family, and especially national, for in that capacity especially they are here treated with (v. 1–14). II. He more largely describes the curses which would come upon them if they were disobedient; such as would be, I. Their extreme vexation (v. 15–44). 2. Their utter ruin and destruction at last (v. 45–68). This chapter is much to the same purport with Lev. 26, setting before them life and death, good and evil; and the promise, in the close of that chapter, of their restoration, upon their repentance, is here likewise more largely repeated, ch. 30. Thus, as they had precept upon precept in the repetition of the law, so they had line upon line in the repetition of the promises and threatenings. And these are both there and here delivered, not only as sanctions of the law, what should be conditionally, but as predictions of the event, what would be certainly, that for a while the people of Israel would be happy in their obedience, but that at length they would be undone by their disobedience; and therefore it is said (ch. 30:1) that all those things would come upon them, both the blessing and the curse.Verses 1-14 The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate, 1. That God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy: he has said it, and sworn, that he would much rather we would obey and live than sin and die. It is his delight to bless. 2. That though both the promises and the threatenings are designed to bring and hold us to our duty, yet it is better that we be allured to that which is good by a filial hope of God’s favour than that we be frightened to it by a servile fear of his wrath. That obedience pleases best which comes from a principle of delight in God’s goodness. Now,I. We have here the conditions upon which the blessing is promised. 1. It is upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God (v. 1, 2), that they hear God speaking to them by his word, and use their utmost endeavours to acquaint themselves with his will, v. 13. 2. Upon condition that they observe and do all his commandments (and in order to obedience there is need of observation) and that theykeep the commandments of God (v. 9) and walk in his ways. Not only do them for once, but keep them for ever; not only set out in his ways, but walk in them to the end. 3. Upon condition that they should not go aside either to the right hand or to the left, either to superstition on the one hand, or profaneness on the other; and particularly that they should not go after other gods (v. 14), which was the sin that of all others they were most prone to, and God would be most displeased with. Let them take care to keep up religion, both the form and power of it, in their families and nation, and God would not fail to bless them.II. The particulars of this blessing.1. It is promised that the providence of God should prosper them in all their outward concerns. These blessings are said to overtake them, v. 2. Good people sometimes, under the sense of their unworthiness, are ready to fly from the blessing and to conclude that it belongs not to them,; but the blessing shall find them out and follow them notwithstanding. Thus in the great day the blessing will overtake the righteous that say, Lord, when saw we thee hungry and fed thee? Mt. 25:37. Observe,(1.) Several things are enumerated in which God by his providence would bless them:—[1.] They should be safe and easy; a blessing should rest upon their persons wherever they were, in the city, or in the field, v. 3. Whether their habitation was in town or country, whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether their business called them into the city or into the field, they should be preserved from the dangers and have the comforts of their condition. This blessing should attend them in their journeys, going out and coming in, v. 6. Their persons should be protected, and the affair they went about should succeed well. Observe here, What a necessary and constant dependence we have upon God both for the continuance and comfort of this life.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG እንዲህም ይሆናል፤ የአምላክህን የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ብትሰማ፥ ዛሬም ያዘዝሁህን ትእዛዙን ሁሉ ብታደርግ ብትጠብቅም አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር ከምድር አሕዛብ ሁሉ ላይ ከፍ ከፍ ያደርግሃል። አማርኛ ENGNIV If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set … English BCV “ንእግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽኩም እንተ ተኣዚዝኩምዎ፥ እዝ ኣነ ሎሚ ዝእዝዘኩም ዘለኹ ትእዛዛቱ ኸዓ ተጠንቂቕኩም እንተ ሓሊኹምዎ፥ እግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽኩም ኣብ ልዕሊ ዅሎም ህዝብታት ምድሪ ልዕል ከ… ትግርኛ GAZBIB Sagalee Waaqayyo gooftaa keessanii gaarii gootanii yoo dhageessan, abboommii isaa isa ani har'a isin abboomus gaarii go… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወለእመ ሰሚዐ ሰማዕክሙ ቃለ እግዚአብሔር አምላክክሙ ወዐቀብክሙ ከመ ትግበሩ ኵሎ ትእዛዞ ዘአነ እኤዝዘክሙ ዮም ወይሬስየከ እግዚአብሔር አምላክከ መልዕልተ ኵሉ አሕዛበ ምድር። giz GAZGAZ Sagalee Waaqayyo gooftaa keessanii gaarii gootanii yoo dhageessan, abboommii isaa isa ani har'a isin abboomus gaarii go… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum “ንእግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽኩም እንተ ተኣዚዝኩምዎ፥ እዝ ኣነ ሎሚ ዝእዝዘኩም ዘለኹ ትእዛዛቱ ኸዓ ተጠንቂቕኩም እንተ ሓሊኹምዎ፥ እግዚኣብሄር ኣምላኽኩም ኣብ ልዕሊ ዅሎም ህዝብታት ምድሪ ልዕል ከ… ትግርኛ AMHNIV ለአምላክህ ለእግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) በፍጹም ብትታዘዝና እኔ ዛሬ የምሰጥህን ትእዛዙን ሁሉ በጥንቃቄ ብትከተል፣ አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም ያህዌ) በምድር ላይ ከሚኖሩ አሕዛብ ሁሉ… አማርኛ