Deuteronomy 28:36-46

36 Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors have not known, and there you will serve other gods [of] wood and stone.
37 And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.
38 "You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little [produce], for the locust shall devour it.
39 You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress [them], but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.
40 There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint [yourself], for your olives shall drop off.
41 You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be {yours}, for they shall go into captivity.
42 The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground.
43 The alien that [is] in your midst shall ascend over you, higher [and] higher, but you shall go down lower [and] lower.
44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be [the] head, but you shall be [the] tail.
45 "And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you {until you are destroyed}, because {you did not listen} to the voice of Yahweh your God, {by observing} his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
46 And they shall be among you as a sign and as a wonder and among your offspring {forever}.

Deuteronomy 28:36-46 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 9

  • [a]. Or "fathers"
  • [b]. Or "cultivate"
  • [c]. That is, the produce
  • [d]. Hebrew "olive"
  • [e]. Literally "for you"
  • [f]. Literally "until you to be destroyed"
  • [g]. Literally "not you listened"
  • [h]. Literally "to observe"
  • [i]. Literally "until eternity," but not in a timeless, philosophic sense
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.