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1The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth,
2swooping down like the eagle, a nation
3whose language you do not understand,
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a hard-faced nation
4who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
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It shall
5eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
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"They shall
6besiege 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.
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And
7you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you,
8in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
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The man who is the most tender and refined among you will
9begrudge food to his brother, to
10the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left,
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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,
11in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns.
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12The 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, to her son and to her daughter,
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her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly,
13in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
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"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,
14the LORD your God,
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then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
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And he will bring upon you again all
15the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.
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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.
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Whereas
16you were as numerous
17as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
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And as the LORD
18took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will
19take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
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"And the LORD
20 will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and
21there you shall serve other gods
22of wood and stone,
23which neither you nor your fathers have known.
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And
24among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but
25the LORD will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and
26a languishing soul.
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Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life.
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27In the morning you shall say, 'If only it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, 'If only it were morning!' because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and
28the sights that your eyes shall see.
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And the LORD
29 will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that
30you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."