| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. | 1If 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. |
| 2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: | 2All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: |
| 3“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. | 3You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. |
| 4“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. | 4The 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“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. | 5Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. |
| 6“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. | 6You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. |
| 7“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. | 7The 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 command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. | 8The 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 a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. | 9The 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. |
| 10Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. | 10Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. |
| 11And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. | 11The 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. |
| 12The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. | 12The 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. |
| 13And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. | 13The 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. |
| 14So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. | 14Do 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“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: | 15However, 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“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. | 16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. |
| 17“Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. | 17Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. |
| 18“Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. | 18The 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“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. | 19You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. |
| 20“The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. | 20The 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. |
| 21The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. | 21The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. |
| 22The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. | 22The 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. |
| 23And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. | 23The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. |
| 24The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. | 24The 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 shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. | 25The 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. |
| 26Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. | 26Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. |
| 27The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. | 27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. |
| 28The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. | 28The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. |
| 29And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. | 29At 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 shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. | 30You will be pledged to be married 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. |
| 31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. | 31Your 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. |
| 32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. | 32Your 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. |
| 33A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. | 33A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. |
| 34So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. | 34The sights you see will drive you mad. |
| 35The LORD will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. | 35The 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 bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. | 36The 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. |
| 37And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you. | 37You 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 shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. | 38You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. |
| 39You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. | 39You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. |
| 40You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. | 40You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. |
| 41You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. | 41You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. |
| 42Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land. | 42Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land. |
| 43“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. | 43The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. |
| 44He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. | 44They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail. |
| 45“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. | 45All 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. |
| 46And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. | 46They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. |
| 47“Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, | 47Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, |
| 48therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. | 48therefore 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. |
| 49The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, | 49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, |
| 50a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. | 50a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. |
| 51And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. | 51They 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 shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. | 52They 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. |
| 53You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. | 53Because 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. |
| 54The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, | 54Even 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, |
| 55so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. | 55and 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. |
| 56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, | 56The most gentle and sensitive 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 |
| 57her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. | 57the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities. |
| 58“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, | 58If 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-- |
| 59then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. | 59the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. |
| 60Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. | 60He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. |
| 61Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed. | 61The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. |
| 62You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. | 62You 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. |
| 63And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. | 63Just 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 peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. | 64Then 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. |
| 65And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. | 65Among 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. |
| 66Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. | 66You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. |
| 67In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see. | 67In 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“And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.” | 68The 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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