Deuteronomy 28
The full text of Deuteronomy 28 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him.
10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.
11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
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.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.
21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.
22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.
24 The LORD will turn the rain 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 before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.
26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt 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 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 you.
30 You will be engaged to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
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, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
33 A people you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.
34 The sights you see will drive you mad.
35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.
37 You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.
41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.
42 Swarms of locusts 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.
44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.
45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, 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.
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,
48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, swooping down like an eagle, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old 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 or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
52 They will lay siege 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.
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.
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 a single 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.
56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter
57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—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 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, until you are destroyed.
62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.
65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
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.
68 The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
Translation notes (22)
- Deuteronomy 28:1a This verse introduces the covenant blessings (verses 1-14) and curses (verses 15-68). These are the most important blessings and punishments of the entire law, presented in the form of a blessing and curse list, typical of ancient treaties between a powerful ruler (suzerain) and a lesser king.
- Deuteronomy 28:12a The Hebrew phrase 'otsaro hatov, "The storehouse of his bounty," pictures the heavens as the LORD's treasury of rain. In a land dependent on rain, agricultural life is entirely his gift.
- Deuteronomy 28:15a This verse begins the long section of covenant curses (verses 15-68). This is the treaty's list of penalties for breaking the covenant, which is much longer than the blessings, and uses the harsh and unflinching language typical of this kind of ancient document.
- Deuteronomy 28:20a Three similar words—"the curse, the confusion (panic), and the rebuke"—are used together for a stronger impact, mirroring the way blessings were piled up. The reason for these afflictions is clearly stated: forsaking the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 28:22a This verse presents a long list of seven afflictions, including diseases of both the body and crops. Several terms are rare, so their exact medical or agricultural meaning is uncertain; common equivalents are used, and the overall cumulative effect is the main point.
- Deuteronomy 28:23a This verse presents a stark image of total agricultural failure: a bronze sky yields no rain, and an iron ground produces no harvest. This is the exact opposite of the open heavens mentioned in verse 12.
- Deuteronomy 28:25a This is the exact opposite of the victory blessing described in verse 7; now Israel is the defeated party. The Hebrew phrase 'a thing of horror' (za'avah) means an object of dread and revulsion to the nations.
- Deuteronomy 28:27a The phrase 'the boils of Egypt' refers back to the sixth plague described in Exodus 9:9-11. The other skin afflictions mentioned are rare terms whose precise identity is uncertain, so they are translated with common equivalents.
- Deuteronomy 28:30a The Hebrew verb used here has a coarse, violent sense; the written text (yishgalennah) is softened by a scribal note (qere) to 'lie with her.' The translation honestly renders the violence implied. These curses of futility are the exact opposite of the war exemptions found in Deuteronomy 20:5-7.
- Deuteronomy 28:32a The phrase 'wear out your eyes watching for them' (kalot 'eineikha) describes the anguish of a parent looking in vain for deported children. 'Powerless to lift a hand' ('ein le'el yadekha) means there is no strength in your hand to act.
- Deuteronomy 28:37a Three terms—'a horror, a proverb (byword), and a taunt' (leshammah lemashal velishninah)—are used together to describe Israel as a cautionary example among the nations. This same trio of terms appears again in the prophets (compare 1 Kings 9:7; Jeremiah 24:9).
- Deuteronomy 28:47a The accusation here is striking: it is not merely disobedience, but the failure to serve the Lord 'with joy and gladness of heart' despite the abundance He gave. Ingratitude amid plenty is identified as the root cause.
- Deuteronomy 28:48a The phrase 'an iron yoke on your neck' signifies total, crushing subjugation, which is the exact opposite of freedom and rest. This image is also found in Jeremiah 28.
- Deuteronomy 28:49a The eagle or vulture (nesher) swooping from afar is a common image for a sudden, irresistible invader. Later generations understood this curse as being fulfilled in the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests.
- Deuteronomy 28:53a This verse begins the curse of siege-cannibalism (verses 53-57), which is the most horrifying image in the chapter, depicting starvation so extreme that parents consume their own children. This is the harshest kind of language used for the curses of the covenant, and it was later remembered as being fulfilled in the sieges of Samaria and Jerusalem (2 Kings 6:28-29; Lamentations 2:20; 4:10). The text is presented faithfully without softening its meaning; its full significance is not decided in this draft and is reserved for a group of scholars to review.
- Deuteronomy 28:57a The curse of siege-cannibalism reaches its most extreme point in this verse. The text is presented faithfully without any softening; this is the harshest kind of language used for the curses of the covenant, and it was remembered as historically fulfilled (Lamentations 4:10). Its full meaning and significance are not decided in this draft and are reserved for a group of scholars to review (see note at verse 53).
- Deuteronomy 28:62a This is the exact opposite of the promise made to the patriarchs that Israel would be as numerous as the stars of heaven (compare Genesis 15:5; Deuteronomy 1:10). The blessing of the covenant is undone by breaking the covenant.
- Deuteronomy 28:63a The phrase 'it will please him' (yasis YHWH) translates a striking and difficult statement: the same verb used to describe the Lord's delight in blessing is also used for His bringing the covenant curse. This deliberate comparison is presented without softening. The theological implications of this statement are not decided here.
- Deuteronomy 28:65a Three inner torments are described here—'a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul' (lev raggaz, kilyon 'einayim, da'avon nafesh)—representing the exile's restlessness felt within. No outward enemy is named, only the anguish itself.
- Deuteronomy 28:66a The phrase 'your life will hang in doubt before you' (telu'im lekha minneged) is a vivid image of a life suspended, with no security from one moment to the next.
- Deuteronomy 28:67a This morning and evening lament captures an unbearable dread: each part of the day is so terrible that the sufferer longs for its opposite. This paints a vivid picture of despair with no relief in any hour.
- Deuteronomy 28:68a The final curse is the bitterest reversal of all: the exodus is undone, and Israel is returned to Egypt as slaves. Even worse, they are slaves so worthless that 'no one will buy you.' The chapter ends not with hope but with this lowest point; recovery comes only in chapter 30.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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