Consequences of Disobedience

15 (A)But it shall come about, if you do not [a]obey the Lord your God, to be careful to [b]follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 (B)Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the [c]country.

17 (C)Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18 (D)Cursed will be the [d]children of your womb, the [e]produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.

19 (E)Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.

20 (F)The Lord will send against you curses, panic, and (G)rebuke, in [f]everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until (H)you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me. 21 (I)The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it. 22 (J)The Lord will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with [g]the sword, (K)with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until (L)you perish. 23 [h]The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 24 (M)The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit listen to the voice of
  2. Deuteronomy 28:15 Lit perform
  3. Deuteronomy 28:16 Lit field
  4. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
  5. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit fruit
  6. Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit every putting forth of your hand which you do
  7. Deuteronomy 28:22 Another reading is drought
  8. Deuteronomy 28:23 Lit Your

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, 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)

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

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

18 The 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)

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

20 The 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] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.(L) 22 The 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) 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.(R) 24 The Lord will turn the rain(S) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:20 Hebrew me

10 The field is (A)ruined,
(B)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has [a]failed.
11 (C)Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the (D)harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The (E)vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The (F)pomegranate, the (G)palm also, and the (H)apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, (I)joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.

13 (J)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
(K)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, (L)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 (M)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a (N)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And (O)cry out to the Lord.
15 (P)Woe for the day!
For the (Q)day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as (R)destruction from the [b]Almighty.
16 Has (S)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and (T)rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The [c](U)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How (V)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have [d]suffered.
19 (W)To You, Lord, I cry out;
For (X)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field [e](Y)pant for You;
For the (Z)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:10 Lit dried out
  2. Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
  3. Joel 1:17 Or dried figs
  4. Joel 1:18 Lit suffered punishment
  5. Joel 1:20 Or long for

10 The fields are ruined,
    the ground is dried up;(A)
the grain is destroyed,
    the new wine(B) is dried up,
    the olive oil fails.(C)

11 Despair, you farmers,(D)
    wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(E)
    because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(F)
12 The vine is dried up
    and the fig tree is withered;(G)
the pomegranate,(H) the palm and the apple[a] tree—
    all the trees of the field—are dried up.(I)
Surely the people’s joy
    is withered away.

A Call to Lamentation

13 Put on sackcloth,(J) you priests, and mourn;
    wail, you who minister(K) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
    you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(L)
    are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(M)
    call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
    and all who live in the land(N)
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out(O) to the Lord.(P)

15 Alas for that(Q) day!
    For the day of the Lord(R) is near;
    it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[b](S)

16 Has not the food been cut off(T)
    before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(U)
    from the house of our God?(V)
17 The seeds are shriveled
    beneath the clods.[c](W)
The storehouses are in ruins,
    the granaries have been broken down,
    for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
    The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(X)
    even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(Y)

19 To you, Lord, I call,(Z)
    for fire(AA) has devoured the pastures(AB) in the wilderness
    and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(AC)
    the streams of water have dried up(AD)
    and fire has devoured the pastures(AE) in the wilderness.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:12 Or possibly apricot
  2. Joel 1:15 Hebrew Shaddai
  3. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.