Deuteronomy 28:11-21

11 And {Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous}, in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors to give to you.
12 Yahweh shall open for you his {rich} storehouse, [even] the heavens, to give the rain for your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow [from them].
13 And Yahweh shall make you as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top [of the nations], and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I [am] commanding you {today} {and diligently observe them}.
14 And you [shall] not turn aside from {any of} the words that I [am] commanding you {today} [to the] right or left by going after other gods to serve them.
15 "{And then} if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God {by diligently observing} all of his commandments and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today}, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:
16 "You [shall] be cursed in the city, and [you shall] be cursed in the field.
17 "Your basket [shall] be cursed and your kneading trough.
18 "The fruit of your womb [shall] be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.
19 "You shall be cursed {when you come in}, and you [shall] be cursed {when you go out}.
20 "Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat {in everything that you undertake}, {until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly} {because of} the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me.
21 Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you {until it consumes you} from the land that you [are] going to, to take possession of it.

Deuteronomy 28:11-21 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.

Footnotes 25

  • [a]. Literally "Yahweh will cause for you goodness"
  • [b]. Or "fathers"
  • [c]. Literally "good"
  • [d]. Hebrew "of"
  • [e]. Literally "place/set you up"
  • [f]. Literally "the day"
  • [g]. Literally "to observe them and to do them"
  • [h]. Literally "all of"
  • [i]. Literally "the day"
  • [j]. Literally "and it will happen"
  • [k]. Literally "to observe and to do"
  • [l]. Literally "the day"
  • [m]. All of these curses have a future orientation that points to Israel in the land of Canaan
  • [n]. Literally "at/in your coming"
  • [o]. Literally "at/in your going out"
  • [p]. Others translate as a wish: "may Yahweh send upon you ..."
  • [q]. These words are translated variously, e.g., "starvation," "thirst," "rebuke/dysentery" (NEB) or "curses," "confusion," "frustration" (NLT)
  • [r]. Or "confusion"
  • [s]. Or "rebuke"
  • [t]. Literally "in all the sending out of your hand that you do"
  • [u]. Literally "until your to be destroyed and until your to perish quickly"
  • [v]. Literally "from the face of the evil of your deeds"
  • [w]. Literally "which"
  • [x]. Literally "it to consume to"
  • [y]. Hebrew "to there"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.