Deuteronomy 28:20-30

20 The Lord shall send upon thee hunger, and thirst, and blaming, into all the works which thou shalt do, till he all-break thee, and lose thee swiftly, for thy full wicked findings, in which thou hast forsaken me. (The Lord shall send hunger, and thirst, and rebuke upon thee, in all the things which thou shalt do, until he hath all-broken thee, and swiftly destroyed thee, for thy full wicked doings in which thou hast forsaken me.)
21 The Lord shall join pestilence to thee, till he waste thee from (off) the land, to which thou shalt enter to wield.
22 The Lord shall smite thee with neediness, with fever, and cold, with burning, and heat, with corrupt air, and mildew, either rust; and he shall pursue thee till thou perish.
23 Heaven, that is above thee, be it brazen; and the earth, that thou treadest on, be it iron. (The heavens, that be above thee, shall become as hard as brass; and the earth, which thou treadest upon, shall become as hard as iron.)
24 The Lord give dust for rain to thy land, and ash come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be all-broken. (The Lord shall give dust to thy land instead of rain, and ashes shall come down upon thee from the sky, until thou be all-broken.)
25 The Lord give thee (to) falling before thine enemies; by one way go thou [out] against them, and by seven ways flee thou from them, and be thou scattered by all the realms of [the] earth; (The Lord shall cause thee to fall before thy enemies; thou shalt go out against them by one way, but thou shalt flee from them by seven ways, and thou shalt be scattered into all the kingdoms of the earth;)
26 and thy dead body be it into meat to all birds of heaven, and to beasts of the earth, and none be that may drive them away. (and thy dead bodies shall be food for all the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one who can drive them away.)
27 The Lord smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and the Lord smite the part of (the) body whereby ordures, or turds, be voided out; also the Lord smite thee with scab, and itching, so that thou mayest not be cured. (The Lord shall strike thee with the boils of Egypt, and he shall strike the part of the body where the ordures, or the turds, be voided out; and he shall also strike thee with scabs, and itching, from which thou can never be cured.)
28 The Lord smite thee with madness, and blindness, and wildness of thought; (The Lord shall strike thee with madness, and blindness, and wildness of thought;)
29 and grope thou in midday, as a blind man is wont to grope in darknesses; and (ad)dress he not thy ways; in all time suffer thou false challenge, and be thou oppressed by violence, neither have thou any that shall deliver thee. (and thou shalt grope in midday, like a blind man is wont to grope in the darkness; and the Lord shall not direct thy ways; at all times, or continuously, thou shalt be violently attacked and robbed, but thou shalt have no one to save thee.)
30 Take thou a wife, and another man sleep with her; build thou an house, and dwell thou not therein; plant thou a vinery, and gather thou not grapes thereof. (Thou shalt take a wife, but another man shall sleep with her; thou shalt build a house, but thou shalt not live in it; and thou shalt plant a vineyard, but thou shalt not gather its grapes.)

Deuteronomy 28:20-30 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.