Devarim 28:15-68

Orthodox Jewish Bible

¹⁵But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer to do all His mitzvot and His chukkot which I command thee today, that all these kelalot (curses) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

¹⁶Arur shalt thou be in the town, and Arur shalt thou be in the sadeh.

¹⁷Arur shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.

¹⁸Arur shall be the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy adamah, the increase of thy livestock, and the flocks of thy sheep.

¹⁹Arur shalt thou be when thou comest in, and Arur shalt thou be when thou goest out.

²⁰Hashem shall send upon thee me’erah (curse), mehumah (confusion), and migeret (rebuke), in all that thou settest thine hand unto to do, until thou be shmad, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken Me.

²¹Hashem shall make the dever (plague, pestilence) have deveykus with thee, until He have consumed thee from off ha’adamah, whither thou goest to possess it.

²²Hashem shall strike thee with a shachefet (consumption), and with a kaddachat (fever, Mk 1:31), and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the cherev, and with scorching, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

²³And thy Shomayim that is over thy head shall be nechoshet, and Ha’Aretz that is under thee shall be barzel.

²⁴Hashem shall make the matar of thy land powder and dust; from Shomayim shall it come down upon thee, until thou be shmad.

²⁵Hashem shall cause thee to be defeated before thine enemies; thou shalt go out derech echad against them, and flee shivah derakhim before them; and shalt be an object of horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶And thy nevelah shall be okhel unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of ha’aretz, and no ish shall frighten them away.

²⁷Hashem will strike thee with the shekhin (boils) of Mitzrayim, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

²⁸Hashem shall strike thee with shiga’on (insanity), and ivvaron (blindness), and timhon levav (confusion of heart);

²⁹And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the ivver gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and plundered evermore, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.

³⁰Thou shalt betroth an isha, and another ish shall lie with her; thou shalt build a bais, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a kerem, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

³¹Thine shor shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thine chamor shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee; thy tzon shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.

³²Thy banim and thy banot shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them kol hayom; and there shall be nothing you can do.

³³The pri of thy adamah, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed kol hayamim;

³⁴So that thou shalt be driven meshuga because of the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

³⁵Hashem shall strike thee in the birkayim (knees), and in the legs, with shekhin rah (foul boil) that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

³⁶Hashem shall bring thee, and thy melech which thou shalt set over thee, unto a Goy which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known; and there shalt thou serve elohim acherim, etz va’even (wood and stone). [2Kgs 25:7]

³⁷And thou shalt become an object of horror, a mashal, and a byword, among kol haGoyim whither Hashem shall lead thee.

³⁸Thou shalt carry much zera out into the sadeh, and shalt gather but little in; for the arbeh shall devour it.

³⁹Thou shalt plant kramim, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the yayin, nor gather the grapes; for the tola’at (worm) shall eat them.

⁴⁰Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy territory, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the shemen; for thine olives shall drop off.

⁴¹Thou shalt father banim and banot, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into shevi (captivity, the golus).

⁴²All thy trees and pri of thy adamah shall the locust consume.

⁴³The ger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

⁴⁴He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the rosh, and thou shalt be the zanav.

⁴⁵Moreover all these kelalot shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be shmad; because thou gavest not heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha to be shomer over His mitzvot and His chukkot which He commanded thee;

⁴⁶And they shall be upon thee for an ot and for a mofet, and upon thy zera ad olam.

⁴⁷Because thou servedst not Hashem Eloheicha with simchah, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things;

⁴⁸Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which Hashem shall send against thee, in ra’av (hunger, famine), and in tzama (thirst), and in eirom (nakedness), and in choser (want) of all things; and He shall put an ol barzel (yoke of iron) upon thy tzavvar (neck), until He hath made thee shmad.

⁴⁹Hashem shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the ketzeh ha’aretz, as swift as the nesher flieth; a nation whose lashon thou shalt not understand;

⁵⁰A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not respect the zaken’s person, nor show favor to the na’ar;

⁵¹And he shall eat the pri of thy animals, and the pri of thy adamah, until thou be shmad; which also shall not leave thee either dagan, tirosh, or yitzhar, or the increase of thy livestock, or flocks of thy sheep, until it hath destroyed thee.

⁵²And it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land; and it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim throughout all thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee.

⁵³And thou shalt eat the pri of thine own womb, the basar of thy banim and of thy banot, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee, in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee;

⁵⁴So that the ish that is sensitive among you, and very refined, his eye shall be hostile toward his brother, and toward his eshet kheyk (wife of his bosom), and toward the remnant of his banim which he shall leave;

⁵⁵So that he will not give to any of them of the basar of his banim whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy she’arim.

⁵⁶The sensitive and refined woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, she shall be hostile toward her ish kheyk (husband of her bosom), and toward her ben, and toward her bat,

⁵⁷And toward her afterbirth that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her banim which she shall bear; for she shall eat them for choser (want) of all things secretly in the matzor (siege) and desperate straits, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy she’arim.

⁵⁸If thou wilt not be shomer to do kol divrei hatorah hazot that are written in this sefer, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Shem, HASHEM ELOHEICHA,

⁵⁹Then Hashem will make thy makkot (plagues) extraordinary, and the makkot of thy zera, even makkot gedolot, and of long continuance, and cholayim ra’im (evil sicknesses), and of long continuance.

⁶⁰Moreover He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Mitzrayim, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall have deveykus unto thee.

⁶¹Also every choli (sickness), and every makkah (plague), which is not written in the sefer of this torah, them will Hashem bring upon thee, until thou be shmad.

⁶²And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the kokhavim of Shomayim for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of Hashem Eloheicha.

⁶³And it shall come to pass, that as Hashem rejoiced over you to do you good, to multiply you, so Hashem will rejoice over you to make you shmad, to bring you to nothing; and ye shall be plucked from off the adamah whither thou goest to possess it.

⁶⁴And Hashem shall scatter thee among kol ha’ammim, from the one end of ha’aretz even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve elohim acherim, which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known, even etz va’even.

⁶⁵And among these Goyim shalt thou find no mano’ach [see Ruth], neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but Hashem shall give thee there a lev rogez (anxious heart), and failing of eyes, and da’avon nefesh (suffering of soul);

⁶⁶And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear lailah and yomam, and shalt have none assurance of thy life;

⁶⁷In the boker thou shalt say, Would it were erev! And at erev thou shalt say, Would it were boker! For the pachad of thine lev wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

⁶⁸And Hashem shall bring thee into Mitzrayim again with oniyyot, by the way whereof I spoke unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again; and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for avadim and shefachot, and no ish shall buy you.

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Deuteronomy 28:15-68

New International Version

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵However, if you do not obey^(A) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,^(B) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:^(C)

¹⁶You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.^(D)

¹⁷Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.^(E)

¹⁸The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.^(F)

¹⁹You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.^(G)

²⁰The Lord will send on you curses,^(H) confusion and rebuke^(I) in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin^(J) because of the evil^(K) you have done in forsaking him.^[a] ²¹The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.^(L) ²²The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,^(M) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,^(N) with blight^(O) and mildew, which will plague^(P) you until you perish.^(Q) ²³The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.^(R) ²⁴The Lord will turn the rain^(S) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated^(T) before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,^(U) and you will become a thing of horror^(V) to all the kingdoms on earth.^(W) ²⁶Your carcasses will be food for all the birds^(X) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^(Y) ²⁷The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt^(Z) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹At midday you will grope^(AA) about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue^(AB) you.

³⁰You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.^(AC) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.^(AD) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.^(AE) ³¹Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³²Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,^(AF) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression^(AG) all your days.^(AH) ³⁴The sights you see will drive you mad.^(AI) ³⁵The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils^(AJ) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.^(AK)

³⁶The Lord will drive you and the king^(AL) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.^(AM) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.^(AN) ³⁷You will become a thing of horror,^(AO) a byword^(AP) and an object of ridicule^(AQ) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.^(AR)

³⁸You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,^(AS) because locusts^(AT) will devour^(AU) it. ³⁹You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine^(AV) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat^(AW) them.^(AX) ⁴⁰You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.^(AY) ⁴¹You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.^(AZ) ⁴²Swarms of locusts^(BA) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.^(BB) ⁴⁴They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.^(BC) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.^(BD)

⁴⁵All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you^(BE) until you are destroyed,^(BF) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.^(BG) ⁴⁷Because you did not serve^(BH) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly^(BI) in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸therefore in hunger and thirst,^(BJ) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke^(BK) on your neck^(BL) until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation against you^(BM) from far away, from the ends of the earth,^(BN) like an eagle^(BO) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,^(BP) ⁵⁰a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old^(BQ) or pity for the young. ⁵¹They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine^(BR) or olive oil,^(BS) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.^(BT) ⁵²They will lay siege^(BU) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.^(BV)

⁵³Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.^(BW) ⁵⁴Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, ⁵⁵and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.^(BX) ⁵⁶The most gentle and sensitive^(BY) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter^(BZ) ⁵⁷the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them^(CA) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

⁵⁸If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,^(CB) which are written in this book, and do not revere^(CC) this glorious and awesome name^(CD)—the Lord your God— ⁵⁹the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt^(CE) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,^(CF) until you are destroyed.^(CG) ⁶²You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky^(CH) will be left but few^(CI) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. ⁶³Just as it pleased^(CJ) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please^(CK) him to ruin and destroy you.^(CL) You will be uprooted^(CM) from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴Then the Lord will scatter^(CN) you among all nations,^(CO) from one end of the earth to the other.^(CP) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.^(CQ) ⁶⁵Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place^(CR) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes^(CS) weary with longing, and a despairing heart.^(CT) ⁶⁶You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.^(CU) ⁶⁸The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.^(CV) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.