Deuteronomy 28:52-62

52 "They shall 1besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.
53 And 2you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, 3in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
54 The man who is the most tender and refined among you will 4begrudge food to his brother, to 5the wife he embraces,[a] and to the last of the children whom he has left,
55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, 6in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns.
56 7The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,[b] to her son and to her daughter,
57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, 8in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
58 "If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, 9the LORD your God,
59 then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
60 And he will bring upon you again all 10the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
61 Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.
62 Whereas 11you were as numerous 12as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 28:52-62 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 12

  • 1. [2 Kings 17:5; 2 Kings 25:1, 2, 4]
  • 2. ver. 57; Leviticus 26:29; Jeremiah 19:9; Ezekiel 5:10; [2 Kings 6:28, 29; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10]
  • 3. ver. 55, 57
  • 4. See Deuteronomy 15:9
  • 5. Deuteronomy 13:6
  • 6. ver. 53
  • 7. ver. 54; Isaiah 47:1
  • 8. [See ver. 55 above]
  • 9. Exodus 6:3
  • 10. See Deuteronomy 7:15
  • 11. Deuteronomy 4:27; [2 Kings 24:14; Nehemiah 7:4; Jeremiah 42:2]
  • 12. See Deuteronomy 10:22

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew the wife of his bosom
  • [b]. Hebrew the husband of her bosom
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.