Deuteronomy 28:15–45

Curses for Not Keeping the Commandments

¹⁵“^aBut it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶“^aCursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the ¹field.

¹⁷“^aCursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸“^aCursed shall be the ¹offspring of your ²body and the ³produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

¹⁹“^aCursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰“^aYahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and ^brebuke, in all ¹that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until ^cyou perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.

²¹“^aYahweh will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

²²“^aYahweh will strike you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with ¹the sword and ^bwith scorching wind and with mildew, and they will pursue you until ^cyou perish.

²³“And ¹the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.

²⁴“^aYahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

²⁵“^aYahweh shall cause you to be ¹defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will ^bbecome an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶“^aAnd your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

²⁷“^aYahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with ^btumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.

²⁸“Yahweh will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;

²⁹and you will ^1agrope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not succeed in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed all your days, with none to save you.

³⁰“^aYou shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; ^byou shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not ¹use its fruit.

³¹“Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you and will not be returned to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you.

³²“^aYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them all the day long; but there will be nothing ¹you can do.

³³“^aA people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed all your days.

³⁴“And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what your eyes see.

³⁵“^aYahweh will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

³⁶“^aYahweh will lead you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, ^bwood and stone.

³⁷“^aYou shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the people where Yahweh drives you.

³⁸“^aYou shall bring out much seed to the field, but you will gather in little, for ^bthe locust will consume it.

³⁹“^aYou shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.

⁴⁰“^aYou shall have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.

⁴¹“^aYou shall become the father of sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.

⁴²“^aThe cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.

⁴³“^aThe sojourner who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.

⁴⁴“^aHe shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; ^bhe shall be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you ^auntil you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.