Deuteronomy 28:16-26

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the offspring of thy kine, and the increase of thy sheep.
19 Cursed shalt thou be in thy coming in, and cursed shalt thou be in thy going out.
20 Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all the business of thy hand which thou doest, until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21 Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
22 Jehovah will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with burning ague, and with drought, and with blight, and with mildew, and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heavens which are over thy head shall be brass, and the earth which is under thee, iron.
24 Jehovah will give as the rain of thy land powder and dust; from the heavens shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed.
25 Jehovah will give thee up smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out against them one way, and by seven ways shalt thou flee before them; and thou shalt be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all the fowl of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no man to scare them away.

Deuteronomy 28:16-26 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 4

  • [a]. See ch. 7.13.
  • [b]. According as pointed, the word is either 'drought' or 'sword.'
  • [c]. Elsewhere translated 'bronze' or 'copper.'
  • [d]. Or 'by.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.