Deuteronomy

Moses gives speeches about laws and the importance of following God before the Israelites enter the Promised Land.

Chapter 28

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

*If you carefully listen to God's voice and follow His commands, He will raise you above all other nations on Earth.

2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

*If you listen to God's voice, many blessings will find you.

3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

*You will be blessed in the city and also in the countryside.

4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

*Blessed will be the children you have, the crops you grow, and the animals you own - including cows and their young, and sheep and their flocks.

5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

*May your basket and supplies be blessed.

6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

*You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you leave.

7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

*The Lord will make your opponents fail in front of you. They will try to attack you from one direction but run away in seven different directions.

8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

*The Lord will give you blessings in your storage places and everything you do. He will also bless you in the land that God, your , gives you.

9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

*The Lord will make you a special people belonging to him, just like he promised, if you follow his rules and live according to his teachings.

10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

*Everyone on Earth will know you belong to the LORD, and they'll be scared of you.

11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

*And the Lord will give you lots of blessings - children, animals, and crops. This will happen in the land where God promised your ancestors that you would live.

12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

*The Lord will let you have his goodness, sending rain at the right time for your land. He will bless everything you do. You'll be able to lend money to lots of countries but won't need to borrow from anyone.

13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

*And the Lord will make you the leader, not the follower. You'll be at the top, not the bottom. But only if you listen to the commands of your God, which I tell you today, to follow and do them.

14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

*Do not turn away from any of my commands today. Go neither to the right nor the left to follow other gods and serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

*But if you don't listen to the LORD your God and follow all his rules I tell you today, then all these bad things will happen to you and catch up with you.

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

*You will be cursed in the city and also in the fields.

17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

*May your basket and storage be cursed.

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

*May the children you have, the food from your land, the growth of your cows, and the herds of your sheep all be cursed.

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

*You will be cursed when you enter and also when you leave.

20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

*God will cause trouble, anger, and punishment in everything you do. This will happen until you are completely destroyed and disappear quickly. This is because of your bad actions that made you leave me.

21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

*The Lord will cause sickness to stick to you until He has completely destroyed you from the land you are going to take over.

22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

*The Lord will punish you with a wasting disease, fever, inflammation, severe heat, sword, destruction, and mildew. They will chase you until you are destroyed.

23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

*Your sky above will be like bronze, and the ground below will be as hard as iron.

24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

*The Lord will turn your land's rain into powder and dust from the sky, and it will keep falling on you until you are completely destroyed.

25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

*The Lord will let you be defeated by your enemies. You'll go one way to fight them but run away seven different ways. You'll be forced to leave and live in many countries around the world.

26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

*Your body will become food for birds and animals on land, and nobody will disturb them.

27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

*The Lord will punish you with the Egyptian skin diseases, along with boils, scabs, and an uncurable itch.

28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

*The Lord will cause you to lose your mind, see things wrongly, and be confused in your thoughts.

29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

*At noon, you will stumble like a blind person in the dark, and you won't succeed in your path. You will continuously be oppressed and ruined, and nobody can rescue you.

30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

*You must marry a woman, and another man will be with her. You must build a house but won't live in it. You must plant a vineyard but can't pick its grapes.

31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

*Your ox will be killed in front of you and you can't eat it. Your donkey will be forcefully taken away and won't be returned to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies and no one will save them from them.

32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand:

*Your children will belong to another group, and you'll constantly miss them, looking with longing all day. You won't have any power either.

33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

*The food from your land and all your hard work will be taken by a strange country. You will always be treated unfairly and pressed down.

34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

*So that you become crazy from seeing the sight with your eyes.

35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

*The Lord will cause a severe sickness on your legs and knees that cannot be cured, affecting you from your feet to your head.

36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

*The Lord will take you and your chosen leader to a country unknown to you or your ancestors. There, you will worship other gods made of wood and stone.

37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

*You will become famous, known for both good and bad reasons, and talked about by many people in all the places the Lord takes you.

38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

*You must take lots of seeds to the field, but bring back only a little; because the locust will eat them all.

39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

*You must plant and take care of grapevines, but you cannot drink the wine or pick the grapes. Instead, worms will eat them.

40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

*You must have olive trees everywhere around your land, but you cannot use the oil; because your olive tree will produce fruit that can be used instead.

41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

*You will have children, but you cannot enjoy them because they will be taken away as prisoners.

42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

*All your trees and fruits from your land will be eaten by locusts.

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

*The outsider inside you will rise way up, while you'll go way down.

44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

*He will give you money but you won't give him; he will be in charge while you will be last in importance.

45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

*In addition, all these punishments will catch up with you and cause your destruction because you didn't listen to God's voice to follow his rules and laws that he told you.

46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

*They will be a sign and wonder on you, and for your descendants forever.

47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

*Because you didn't serve the Lord happily and with a cheerful heart because of having plenty of everything;

48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

*So you must serve your enemies that the Lord sends against you when you are hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking everything. They will also put an iron yoke around your neck, and they will keep doing this until they completely destroy you.

49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

*The Lord will bring a powerful foreign country against you from very far away, like an eagle flying quickly. You won't be able to understand their language.

50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

*A country with a strong, harsh attitude, not caring about elderly people and not favoring the young.

51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

*He will eat your livestock's fruit and your land's fruit until you are completely destroyed. This will also take away your grain, wine, olive oil, and the growth from your cows and sheep, leaving you nothing until you are completely destroyed.

52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

*He will attack you at all your entry points, continuing until your strong walls fall down, where you believed for safety, across your entire land. He will attack you at every entrance in your land, which the Lord God gave you.

53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

*And you will eat the food from your own body, the meat of your sons and daughters, which the Lord God has given you, during the siege and hard times when your enemies make life difficult for you.

54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

*This means that if there's a sensitive guy among you, he might develop evil thoughts towards his brother, his spouse, and any remaining kids he has left.

55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

*To prevent him from giving any of his children's meat to others during the siege and hard times, when your enemies attack all your cities.

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

*The gentle women who are very careful about not stepping on the ground because they are delicate, will have bad thoughts toward their husband, son, and daughter.

57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

*And to her baby coming out from between her legs, and to her other children she will give birth to: for she will secretly eat them during a difficult siege because of hunger, when your enemy attacks you at your gates.

58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;

*If you don't follow all the rules in this book to fear this great and powerful name, THE LORD YOUR GOD;

59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

*Then God will make your punishments amazing, and the punishments for your children too, really big ones that last a long time, and very sicknesses, also lasting a long time.

60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

*He will also cause all the scary sicknesses from Egypt to happen to you, and they will stick to you.

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

*Any illness or disaster not mentioned in this law book, the LORD will cause to happen to you until you are completely destroyed.

62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.

*You will have few people left, when you used to be like countless stars in the sky; this is because you didn't listen to God's voice.

63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

*And it will happen that just as the Lord was happy to do good for you and increase your numbers, the Lord will be happy to destroy you and make you insignificant. You will be torn away from the land you're going to take over.

64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

*And the LORD will send you to different people all around the world. There, you will worship unknown gods made of wood and stone.

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

*In these countries, you won't find peace or rest. Your feet will always be tired, and your eyes will fail. You'll feel worried and sad in your thoughts. But God will be with you there.

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

*You will constantly worry about your life, with no guarantee of safety during the day or night.

67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

*In the morning, you will say, "I wish it was evening!" And at evening, you will say, "I wish it was morning!" because of the fear in your heart and the scary things you see with your eyes.

68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

*And the Lord will take you to Egypt on ships, along the path I told you about. You won't see this way again. In Egypt, your enemies will capture you as slaves, both men and women, and nobody will want to buy you.

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