Deuteronomy 28 (FBV)

1If you truly obey what the Lord your God tells you, and carefully follow all his commandments that I'm giving you today, then the Lord your God will place you high above all the nations of the earth.“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

2You will have all the following blessings and even more, if you do what the Lord your God says.And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:

3You will be blessed when you're in the town; you will be blessed when you're in the countryside.You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4You will be blessed with many children. You will be blessed with good harvests. You will be blessed with livestock—your cattle will have many calves, and your sheep will have many lambs.The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5You will be blessed with plenty of bread.Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.

6You will be blessed wherever you go and in everything you do.You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7The Lord will defeat the enemies who come to attack you. They will come at you from one direction, but they will scatter seven different ways.The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

8The Lord will bless your income and everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the country he is giving you.The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.

9The Lord will make you his holy people, just as he promised you, if you obey the Lord your God's commandments and follow his ways.The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.

10Then everyone on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his, and they will be afraid of you.Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

11The Lord will make you very prosperous. You will have many children, your livestock will produce plenty of young, and your land will grow good harvests—all this in the country the Lord promised your forefathers he would give you.The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

12The Lord will provide rain for your land at the right time from his heavenly storehouse to bless all your work growing crops. You will lend money to many nations but you won't need to borrow from any of them.The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.

13The Lord will put you in first place, not the last. You will only go up, never down, as long as you listen to and follow carefully the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today.The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today.

14Don't deviate from any of my instructions today. Don't go and worship other gods.Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.

15But if you don't obey the Lord your God by following carefully all his commandments and regulations I'm giving you today, then you will experience all the following curses and more:If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16You will be cursed when you're in the town; you will be cursed when you're in the countryside.You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17You will be cursed by not having bread.Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.

18You will be cursed by not having children, and by not having good harvests, and by your cattle not having calves, and your sheep not having lambs.The fruit of your womb will be cursed, as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

19You will be cursed wherever you go and in everything you do.You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20The Lord will send you curses, making you confused and frustrated in everything you do, until you are brought down and die quickly because of the evil that you've done by abandoning him.The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.

21The Lord will give you infectious diseases until he has wiped you out from the country you are entering.The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

22Then the Lord will hit you with sickness that makes you waste away, with a severe fever and swelling like you're burning up, while your crops are damaged by drought and blight and mildew. These will attack you until you die.The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

23The sky above you will be like bronze, and the earth beneath you will be like iron.The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.

24The Lord will change the rain of your land into dust and sand; it will fall from the sky on you until you're destroyed.The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

25The Lord will have your enemies defeat you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will scatter seven different ways. Everyone on earth will be horrified at what happens to you.The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

26Your dead bodies will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare them away.Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.

27The Lord will give you boils like he did to the Egyptians, with swellings and scabs and skin rashes that can't be cured.The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

28The Lord will drive you mad; he will blind you and confuse youThe LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,

29so that even at noon you will be groping around like a blind man in the dark. You won't be successful in what you do. You'll be persecuted and robbed the whole time, and no one will come and save you.and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

30You will be engaged to marry a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house but you won't live in it. You will plant a vineyard but won't benefit from any harvest.You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

31Your ox will be slaughtered right in front of you, but you won't eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and won't be returned to you. Your sheep will be taken by your enemies, and no one will come and save you.Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.

32Your sons and daughters will be taken away as slaves to other nations while you watch, and you'll wear your eyes out crying over them, but there won't be anything you can do about it.Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

33A foreign nation you've never heard of will eat all the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will be continually persecuted and downtrodden.A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.

34What you see will drive you mad.You will be driven mad by the sights you see.

35The Lord will give you painful boils that can't be cured on your knees and thighs, in fact from head to toe.The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

36The Lord will exile you and your chosen king to a foreign nation that neither you nor your forefathers have ever heard of. There you will worship other gods, idols made of wood and stone.The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.

37You will be something that horrifies all the nations where you've been exiled by the Lord. They will laugh at you and ridicule you.You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

38You will sow a lot of seed in the field, but harvest very little because the locusts will destroy it.You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

39You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you won't harvest the grapes or drink the wine, because the grapes will be eaten by maggots.You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

40You will have olive trees all over the country but you won't have any olive oil to use, because the olives will drop early from the trees.You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

41You will have sons and daughters, but you won't have them for long, because they will be taken off into captivity as slaves.You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.

42Locust swarms will destroy all your trees and crops.Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

43Foreigners who live with you will rise higher and higher in status above you, while you sink lower and lower.The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.

44They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the first, and you will be the last.He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45All these curses will come down on you. They will chase after you and attack you until you die because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commandments and regulations he gave you.All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.

46They will be lasting evidence, visible signs of what happened to you and your descendants.These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever.

47Because you did not serve the Lord your God with happiness and with a joyful attitude,Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,

48you will serve your enemies that the Lord sends to attack you. You will be hungry, thirsty, naked, and poor. He will tie an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

49The Lord will bring a nation to attack you from a long way off, from the ends of the earth. They will swoop down upon you like an eagle, this nation whose language you won't understand.The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

50They are a ruthless nation that doesn't have respect for the old and doesn't have mercy on the young.a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

51They will eat your lambs and calves and the crops you've grown until you are destroyed. They won't leave you any grain or new wine or olive oil, no calves from your herds or lambs from your flocks, so you'll die of starvation.They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.

52They will besiege all the towns in your country, until the high, fortified walls that you trust in have fallen. They will besiege all your towns in your country that the Lord your God has given you.They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you.

53You'll end up eating your children, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God gave you, because of the siege and the suffering that your enemy will cause you.Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.

54The kindest and most sensitive man among you will refuse to share his food with his brother, the wife he loves, and those of his own children who are left.The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,

55He will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children that he's forced to eat because he doesn't have anything else because of the siege and suffering your enemy has caused you in all your towns.refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates.

56The kindest and most sensitive woman among you, so kind and sensitive she wouldn't ever go barefoot on the ground, will refuse to share her food, a baby and its afterbirth, with the husband she loves and her own son and daughter.The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter

57She will even secretly eat the babies she gives birth to, as well as the afterbirth, since she doesn't have anything else because of the siege and the suffering your enemy has caused in all your towns,the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates.

58If you don't carefully observe all these laws written down in this book so that you may show respect for this glorious and awesome Lord your God,If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—

59he will bring down on you and your descendants unbelievable disasters, intense and long-lasting diseases, and terrible and incurable sicknesses.He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.

60He will give you all the diseases you were terrified of in Egypt, and they will stay with you.He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt, and they will cling to you.

61The Lord will also give you every sickness and disease, even those not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

62You who grew as numerous as the stars in the sky will end up as only a few, because you would not obey what Lord your God told you.You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

63In the same way as he wanted to make you prosperous and increase in number, so now he will wipe you out and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the country you are going in to own.Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64The Lord will scatter you among the nations all over the earth, and there you will worship other gods, gods made of wood and stone, which you and your fathers had never heard of.Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

65You won't find any place to rest among those nations, no place of your own. The Lord will make you anxious, with failing eyesight and a mind full of despair.Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.

66You will see your life hanging in the balance as you doubt. You will be afraid day and night, terrified you won't survive.So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.

67In the morning you'll say, “I wish it was evening!” and in the evening you'll say, “I wish it was morning!” because you're so frightened by the terrifying things you see.In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.

68The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships to a place that I said you weren't ever meant to see again. You will put yourselves on sale there to your enemies as male and female slaves, but nobody will want to buy you.The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

Deuteronomy 28

The Blessings of Obedience

The Curses of Disobedience

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