Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴ “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,^{(A) 15} and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws^(B) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,^{(C) 16} then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever^(D) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.^(E) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.^{(F) 17} I will set my face^(G) against you so that you will be defeated^(H) by your enemies;^(I) those who hate you will rule over you,^(J) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.^(K)

¹⁸ “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,^(L) I will punish^(M) you for your sins seven times over.^{(N) 19} I will break down your stubborn pride^(O) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.^{(P) 20} Your strength will be spent in vain,^(Q) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.^(R)

²¹ “‘If you remain hostile^(S) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,^(T) as your sins deserve. ²² I will send wild animals^(U) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few^(V) in number that your roads will be deserted.^(W)

²³ “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction^(X) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁴ I myself will be hostile^(Y) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. ²⁵ And I will bring the sword^(Z) on you to avenge^(AA) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague^(AB) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. ²⁶ When I cut off your supply of bread,^(AC) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

²⁷ “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me^(AD) but continue to be hostile toward me, ²⁸ then in my anger^(AE) I will be hostile^(AF) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.^{(AG) 29} You will eat^(AH) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.^{(AI) 30} I will destroy your high places,^(AJ) cut down your incense altars^(AK) and pile your dead bodies^[a] on the lifeless forms of your idols,^(AL) and I will abhor^(AM) you. ³¹ I will turn your cities into ruins^(AN) and lay waste^(AO) your sanctuaries,^(AP) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.^{(AQ) 32} I myself will lay waste the land,^(AR) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.^{(AS) 33} I will scatter^(AT) you among the nations^(AU) and will draw out my sword^(AV) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,^(AW) and your cities will lie in ruins.^{(AX) 34} Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate^(AY) and you are in the country of your enemies;^(AZ) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest^(BA) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

³⁶ “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf^(BB) will put them to flight.^(BC) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.^{(BD) 37} They will stumble over one another^(BE) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.^{(BF) 38} You will perish^(BG) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.^{(BH) 39} Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’^(BI) sins they will waste away.^(BJ)

⁴⁰ “‘But if they will confess^(BK) their sins^(BL) and the sins of their ancestors^(BM)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, ⁴¹ which made me hostile^(BN) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts^(BO) are humbled^(BP) and they pay^(BQ) for their sin, ⁴² I will remember my covenant with Jacob^(BR) and my covenant with Isaac^(BS) and my covenant with Abraham,^(BT) and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be deserted^(BU) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected^(BV) my laws and abhorred my decrees.^{(BW) 44} Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,^(BX) I will not reject them or abhor^(BY) them so as to destroy them completely,^(BZ) breaking my covenant^(CA) with them. I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But for their sake I will remember^(CB) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt^(CC) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai^(CD) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.^(CE)

¹⁸ “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,^(A) I will punish^(B) you for your sins seven times over.^(C)

²⁶ See, I am setting before you today a blessing^(A) and a curse^(B)— ²⁷ the blessing^(C) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey^(D) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(E) which you have not known. ²⁹ When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^(F) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^(G) the curses.^{(H) 30} As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,^(I) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^{(J) 31} You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^(K) of the land the Lord your God is giving^(L) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³² be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

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)

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.

²⁵ The 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) 26} Your carcasses will be food for all the birds^(X) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^{(Y) 27} The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt^(Z) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹ At 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.

³⁰ You 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) 31} Your 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. ³² Your 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. ³³ A 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) 34} The sights you see will drive you mad.^{(AI) 35} The 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)

³⁶ The 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) 37} You 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)

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

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

⁴⁵ All 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. ⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.^{(BG) 47} Because you did not serve^(BH) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly^(BI) in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore 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.

⁴⁹ The 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) 50} a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old^(BQ) or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They 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) 52} They 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)

⁵³ Because 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) 54} Even 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, ⁵⁵ and 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) 56} The 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) 57} the 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.

⁵⁸ If 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— ⁵⁹ the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt^(CE) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The 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) 62} You 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. ⁶³ Just 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.

⁶⁴ Then 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) 65} Among 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) 66} You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In 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) 68} The 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.

¹² You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as his people,^(A) that he may be your God^(B) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this covenant,^(C) with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵ who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.^(D)

²⁴ All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(A) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(B) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(C) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(D) the Lord uprooted^(E) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you^(A) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.^(B) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love^(C) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,^(D) and he will give^(E) you many years in the land^(F) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.