^28:1“If you indeed¹ obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving² you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. ^28:2All these blessings will come to you in abundance³ if you obey the Lord your God: ^28:3You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.⁴^28:4Your children⁵ will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. ^28:5Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. ^28:6You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.⁶^28:7The Lord will cause your enemies who attack⁷ you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction⁸ but flee from you in seven different directions. ^28:8The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do—yes, he will bless you in the land he⁹ is giving you. ^28:9The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments¹⁰ and obey him.¹¹^28:10Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord,¹² and they will respect you. ^28:11The Lord will greatly multiply your children,¹³ the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he¹⁴ promised your ancestors¹⁵ he would give you. ^28:12The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do;¹⁶ you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. ^28:13The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his¹⁷ commandments which I am urging¹⁸ you today to be careful to do. ^28:14But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving¹⁹ you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship²⁰ them.

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Deuteronomy 28:2: And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

1 The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”
2 Heb “commanding”; “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).
3 Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so , ); “come upon you and accompany you.”
4 Or “in the country” (so , , ). This expression also occurs in v. 15.
5 Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so , , ).
6 Come in … go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.
7 Heb “who rise up against” (so ).
8 Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).
9 Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless … the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.
10 Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.
11 Heb “and walk in his ways” (so , , , , ).
12 Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as 896 קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).
13 Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so , , ); “will give you a lot of children.”
14 Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in .
15 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).
16 Heb “all the work of your hands.”
17 Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in .
18 Heb “commanding” (so ); “which I charge you today.”
19 Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”
20 Heb “in order to serve.”