Deuteronomy 28:33-43

33 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually,
34 so that you are driven mad 1by the sights that your eyes see.
35 The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs 2with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
36 "The LORD will 3bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you 4nor your fathers have known. And 5there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.
37 And you shall become 6a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.
38 7You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for 8the locust shall consume it.
39 9You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you 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 territory, but you 10shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.
41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for 11they shall go into captivity.
42 12The cricket[a] shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.
43 13The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.

Deuteronomy 28:33-43 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 28

In this chapter Moses enlarges on the blessings and the curses which belong, the one to the doers, the other to the transgressors of the law; the blessings, De 28:1-14; the curses, some of which concern individual persons, others the whole nation and body of people, and that both under the former and present dispensations, and which had their fulfilment in their former captivities, and more especially in their present dispersion, De 28:15-68.

Cross References 13

  • 1. ver. 67
  • 2. [ver. 27]
  • 3. 2 Kings 17:4, 6; 2 Kings 24:12, 14; 2 Kings 25:7, 11; 2 Chronicles 33:11; 2 Chronicles 36:6, 20
  • 4. Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 16:13
  • 5. ver. 64; Deuteronomy 4:28
  • 6. 1 Kings 9:7, 8; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 25:9; [Ezekiel 14:8]
  • 7. Micah 6:15; Haggai 1:6
  • 8. Joel 1:4; Joel 2:25
  • 9. Zephaniah 1:13
  • 10. Micah 6:15
  • 11. Lamentations 1:5
  • 12. [See ver. 38 above]
  • 13. [ver. 13]

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.