14 “But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands— 15 if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands—and break My covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring terror(A) on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will turn[a] against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.(B)

18 “But if after these things you will not obey Me, I will proceed to discipline you seven times for your sins.(C) 19 I will break down your strong pride. I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, 20 and your strength will be used up for nothing.(D) Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

21 “If you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins.(E) 22 I will send wild animals against you that will deprive you of your children, ravage your livestock, and reduce your numbers until your roads are deserted.(F)

23 “If in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but act with hostility toward Me, 24 then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword against you(G) to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread, 10 women will bake your bread in a single oven and ration out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.(H)

27 “And if in spite of this you do not obey Me but act with hostility toward Me, 28 I will act with furious hostility toward you; I will also discipline you seven times for your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons; you will eat the flesh of your daughters.(I) 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies on the lifeless bodies of your idols;(J) I will reject you. 31 I will reduce your cities to ruins and devastate your sanctuaries. I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.(K) 32 I also will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to live there will be appalled by it. 33 But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins.

34 “Then the land will make up for its Sabbath years during the time it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and make up for its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate, it will have the rest it did not have during your Sabbaths when you lived there.

36 “I will put anxiety in the hearts of those of you who survive in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a wind-driven leaf will put them to flight, and they will flee as one flees from a sword, and fall though no one is pursuing them. 37 They will stumble over one another as if fleeing from a sword though no one is pursuing them. You will not be able to stand against your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. 39 Those[b] who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away because of their sin; they will also waste away because of their fathers’ sins along with theirs.

40 “But if they will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers—their unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, and how they acted with hostility toward Me, 41 and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled,(L) and if they will pay the penalty for their sin, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob. I will also remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land abandoned by them will make up for its Sabbaths by lying desolate without the people, while they pay the penalty for their sin, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes. 44 Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or abhor them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them, since I am Yahweh their God.(M) 45 For their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God; I am Yahweh.”

46 These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws the Lord established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:17 Lit will set My face
  2. Leviticus 26:39 Lit Those of you

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)

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:30 Or your funeral offerings

Curses for Disobedience

15 “But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you:(A)

16 You will be cursed in the city
and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
18 Your descendants[a] will be cursed,
and your land’s produce,
the young of your herds,
and the newborn of your flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in
and cursed when you go out.

20 The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do[b] until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning Me. 21 The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought,[c] blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish. 23 The sky above you will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your land into falling[d] dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.(B)

27 “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, tumors, a festering rash, and scabies, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion, 29 so that at noon you will grope as a blind man gropes in the dark.(C) You will not be successful in anything you do. You will only be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will help you. 30 You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything.[e] 33 A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually. 34 You will be driven mad by what you see. 35 The Lord will afflict you with painful and incurable boils on your knees and thighs—from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.(D)

36 “The Lord will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone. 37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(E)

38 “You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with oil, because your olives will drop off. 41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will be taken prisoner. 42 Whirring insects will take possession of all your trees and your land’s produce. 43 The foreign resident among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45 “All these curses will come, pursue, and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commands and statutes He gave you. 46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though you had an abundance of everything, 48 you will serve your enemies the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke(F) on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you don’t understand, 50 a ruthless nation,[f] showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young. 51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your land’s produce until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish. 52 They will besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you.

53 “You will eat your children,[g] the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you(G) during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you. 54 The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly[h] at his brother, the wife he embraces,[i] and the rest of his children, 55 refusing to share with any of them his children’s flesh that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns. 56 The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter, 57 the afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you within your gates.

58 “If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awesome name—Yahweh, your God— 59 He will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. 60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also afflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed. 62 Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so He will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be deported from the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place(H) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never certain of survival. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread you will have in your heart and because of what you will see. 68 The Lord will take you back in ships to Egypt by a route that I said you would never see again.(I) There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:18 Lit The fruit of your womb
  2. Deuteronomy 28:20 Lit you put your hand to
  3. Deuteronomy 28:22 Or sword
  4. Deuteronomy 28:24 Lit powder and
  5. Deuteronomy 28:32 Lit day, and not for power your hand
  6. Deuteronomy 28:50 Lit a nation strong of face
  7. Deuteronomy 28:53 Lit eat the fruit of your womb
  8. Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit you his eye will be evil
  9. Deuteronomy 28:54 Lit wife of his bosom

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.

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:20 Hebrew me