Chapter 28

`And it hath been, if thou dost hearken diligently to the voice of Yehovah thy God, to observe to do all His commands which I am commanding thee to-day, that Yehovah thy God hath made thee uppermost above all the nations of the earth,

and all these blessings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee, because thou dost hearken to the voice of Yehovah thy God:

`Blessed art thou in the city, and blessed art thou in the field.

`Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock.

`Blessed is thy basket and thy kneading-trough.

`Blessed art thou in thy coming in, and blessed art thou in thy going out.

`Yehovah giveth thine enemies, who are rising up against thee -- smitten before thy face; in one way they come out unto thee, and in seven ways they flee before thee.

`Yehovah commandeth with thee the blessing in thy storehouses, and in every putting forth of thy hand, and hath blessed thee in the land which Yehovah thy God is giving to thee.

`Yehovah doth establish thee to Himself for a holy people, as He hath sworn to thee, when thou keepest the commands of Yehovah thy God, and hast walked in His ways;

and all the peoples of the land have seen that the name of Yehovah is called upon thee, and they have been afraid of thee.

`And Yehovah hath made thee abundant in good, in the fruit of the womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, on the ground which Yehovah hath sworn to thy fathers to give to thee.

`Yehovah doth open to thee his good treasure -- the heavens -- to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand, and thou hast lent to many nations, and thou -- thou dost not borrow.

`And Yehovah hath given thee for head, and not for tail; and thou hast been only above, and art not beneath, for thou dost hearken unto the commands of Yehovah thy God, which I am commanding thee to-day, to keep and to do,

and thou dost not turn aside from all the words which I am commanding you to-day -- right or left -- to go after other gods, to serve them.

`And it hath been, if thou dost not hearken unto the voice of Yehovah thy God to observe to do all His commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee:

`Cursed art thou in the city, and cursed art thou in the field.

`Cursed is thy basket and thy kneading-trough.

`Cursed is the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock.

`Cursed art thou in thy coming in, and cursed art thou in thy going out.

`Yehovah doth send on thee the curse, the trouble, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of thy hand which thou dost, till thou art destroyed, and till thou perish hastily, because of the evil of thy doings by which thou hast forsaken Me.

`Yehovah doth cause to cleave to thee the pestilence, till He consume thee from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess it.

`Yehovah doth smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with extreme burning, and with sword, and with blasting, and with mildew, and they have pursued thee till thou perish

`And thy heavens which are over thy head have been brass, and the earth which is under thee iron;

Yehovah giveth the rain of thy land -- dust and ashes; from the heavens it cometh down on thee till thou art destroyed.

`Yehovah giveth thee smitten before thine enemies; in one way thou goest out unto them, and in seven ways dost flee before them, and thou hast been for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth;

and thy carcase hath been for food to every fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and there is none causing trembling.

`Yehovah doth smite thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and with emerods, and with scurvy, and with itch, of which thou art not able to be healed.

`Yehovah doth smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

and thou hast been gropling at noon, as the blind gropeth in darkness; and thou dost not cause thy ways to prosper; and thou hast been only oppressed and plundered all the days, and there is no saviour.

`A woman thou dost betroth, and another man doth lie with her; a house thou dost build, and dost not dwell in it; a vineyard thou dost plant, and dost not make it common;

thine ox is slaughtered before thine eyes, and thou dost not eat of it; thine ass is taken violently away from before thee, and it is not given back to thee; thy sheep are given to thine enemies, and there is no saviour for thee.

`Thy sons and thy daughters are given to another people, and thine eyes are looking and consuming for them all the day, and thy hand is not to God!

The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labour, eat up doth a people whom thou hast not known; and thou hast been only oppressed and bruised all the days;

and thou hast been mad, because of the sight of thine eyes which thou dost see.

`Yehovah doth smite thee with an evil ulcer, on the knees, and on the legs (of which thou art not able to be healed), from the sole of thy foot even unto thy crown.

`Yehovah doth cause thee to go, and thy king whom thou raisest up over thee, unto a nation which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers, and thou hast served there other gods, wood and stone;

and thou hast been for an astonishment, for a simile, and for a byword among all the peoples whither Yehovah doth lead thee.

`Much seed thou dost take out into the field, and little thou dost gather in, for the locust doth consume it;

vineyards thou dost plant, and hast laboured, and wine thou dost not drink nor gather, for the worm doth consume it;

olives are to thee in all thy border, and oil thou dost not pour out, for thine olive doth fall off.

`Sons and daughters thou dost beget, and they are not with thee, for they go into captivity;

all thy trees and the fruit of thy ground doth the locust possess;

the sojourner who is in thy midst goeth up above thee very high, and thou goest down very low;

he doth lend to thee, and thou dost not lend to him; he is for head, and thou art for tail.

`And come upon thee have all these curses, and they have pursued thee, and overtaken thee, till thou art destroyed, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Yehovah thy God, to keep His commands, and His statutes, which he hath commanded thee;

and they have been on thee for a sign and for a wonder, also on thy seed -- to the age.

`Because that thou hast not served Yehovah thy God with joy, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things --

thou hast served thine enemies, whom Yehovah sendeth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things; and he hath put a yoke of iron on thy neck, till He hath destroyed thee.

`Yehovah doth lift up against thee a nation, from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle it flieth; a nation whose tongue thou hast not heard,

a nation -- fierce of countenance -- which accepteth not the face of the aged, and the young doth not favour;

and it hath eaten the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, till thou art destroyed; which leaveth not to thee corn, new wine, and oil, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock, till it hath destroyed thee.

`And it hath laid siege to thee in all thy gates, till thy walls come down, the high and the fenced ones in which thou art trusting, in all thy land; yea, it hath laid siege to thee in all thy gates, in all thy land, which Yehovah thy God hath given to thee;

and thou hast eaten the fruit of thy body, flesh of thy sons and thy daughters (whom Yehovah thy God hath given to thee), in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemies do straiten thee.

`The man who is tender in thee, and who is very delicate -- his eye is evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons whom he leaveth,

against giving to one of them of the flesh of his sons whom he eateth, because he hath nothing left to him, in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee in all thy gates.

`The tender woman in thee, and the delicate, who hath not tried the sole of her foot to place on the ground because of delicateness and because of tenderness -- her eye is evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter,

and against her seed which cometh out from between her feet, even against her sons whom she doth bear, for she doth eat them for the lacking of all things in secret, in the siege and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee within thy gates.

`If thou dost not observe to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honoured and fearful name -- Yehovah thy God --

then hath Yehovah made wonderful thy strokes, and the strokes of thy seed -- great strokes, and stedfast, and evil sicknesses, and stedfast.

`And He hath brought back on thee all the diseases of Egypt, of the presence of which thou hast been afraid, and they have cleaved to thee;

also every sickness and every stroke which is not written in the book of this law; Yehovah doth cause them to go up upon thee till thou art destroyed,

and ye have been left with few men, instead of which ye have been as stars of the heavens for multitude, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Yehovah thy God.

`And it hath been, as Yehovah hath rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so doth Yehovah rejoice over you to destroy you, and to lay you waste; and ye have been pulled away from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess it;

and Yehovah hath scattered thee among all the peoples, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth; and thou hast served there other gods which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers -- wood and stone.

`And among those nations thou dost not rest, yea, there is no resting-place for the sole of thy foot, and Yehovah hath given to thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and grief of soul;

and thy life hath been hanging in suspense before thee, and thou hast been afraid by night and by day, and dost not believe in thy life;

in the morning thou sayest, O that it were evening! and in the evening thou sayest, O that it were morning! from the fear of thy heart, with which thou art afraid, and from the sight of thine eyes which thou seest.

`And Yehovah hath brought thee back to Egypt with ships, by a way of which I said to thee, Thou dost not add any more to see it, and ye have sold yourselves there to thine enemies, for men-servants and for maid-servants, and there is no buyer.`