Deuteronomy 28

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 "Thus, then, shall it be: if you continue to heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and are careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, the LORD, your God, will raise you high above all the nations of the earth.	1 Now if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and keep all his commandments, which I command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth.
2 When you hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, all these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you:	2 And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee: yet so if thou hear his precepts,
3 "May you be blessed in the city, and blessed in the country!	3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the field.
4 "Blessed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!	4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the folds of thy sheep.
5 "Blessed be your grain bin and your kneading bowl!	5 Blessed shall be thy barns and blessed thy stores.
6 "May you be blessed in your coming in, and blessed in your going out!	6 Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out.
7 "The LORD will beat down before you the enemies that rise up against you; though they come out against you from but one direction, they will flee before you in seven.	7 The Lord shall cause thy enemies, that rise up against thee, to fall down before thy face: one way shall they come out against thee, and seven ways shall they flee before thee.
8 The LORD will affirm his blessing upon you, on your barns and on all your undertakings, blessing you in the land that the LORD, your God, gives you.	8 The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and upon all the works of thy hands: and will bless thee in the land that thou shalt receive.
9 Provided that you keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, and walk in his ways, he will establish you as a people sacred to himself, as he swore to you;	9 The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he swore to thee: if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 so that, when all the nations of the earth see you bearing the name of the LORD, they will stand in awe of you.	10 And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee.
11 The LORD will increase in more than goodly measure the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil, in the land which he swore to your fathers he would give you.	11 The Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land, which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee.
12 The LORD will open up for you his rich treasure house of the heavens, to give your land rain in due season, blessing all your undertakings, so that you will lend to many nations and borrow from none.	12 The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it may give rain in due season: and he will bless all the works of thy hands. And thou shalt lend to many nations, and shalt not borrow of any one.
13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail, and you will always mount higher and not decline, as long as you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I order you today to observe carefully;	13 And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail: and thou shalt be always above, and not beneath: yet so if thou wilt hear the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day, and keep and do them,
14 not turning aside to the right or to the left from any of the commandments which I now give you, in order to follow other gods and serve them.	14 And turn not away from them neither to the right hand, nor to the left, nor follow strange gods, nor worship them.
15 "But if you do not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and are not careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overwhelm you:	15 But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
16 "May you be cursed in the city, and cursed in the country!	16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.
17 "Cursed be your grain bin and your kneading bowl!	17 Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.
18 "Cursed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!	18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 "May you be cursed in your coming in, and cursed in your going out!	19 Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.
20 "The LORD will put a curse on you, defeat and frustration in every enterprise you undertake, until you are speedily destroyed and perish for the evil you have done in forsaking me.	20 The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me.
21 The LORD will bring a pestilence upon you that will persist until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to occupy.	21 May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.
22 The LORD will strike you with wasting and fever, with scorching, fiery drought, with blight and searing wind, that will plague you until you perish.	22 May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.
23 The sky over your heads will be like bronze and the earth under your feet like iron.	23 Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground thou treadest on, of iron.
24 For rain the LORD will give your land powdery dust, which will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.	24 The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.
25 The LORD will let you be beaten down before your enemies; though you advance against them from one direction, you will flee before them in seven, so that you will become a terrifying example to all the kingdoms of the earth.	25 The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 Your carcasses will become food for all the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field, with no one to frighten them off.	26 And be thy carcass meat for all the Fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.
27 The LORD will strike you with Egyptian boils and with tumors, eczema and the itch, until you cannot be cured.	27 The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch : so that thou canst not be healed.
28 And the LORD will strike you with madness, blindness and panic,	28 The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of mind.
29 so that even at midday you will grope like a blind man in the dark, unable to find your way. "You will be oppressed and robbed continually, with no one to come to your aid.	29 And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee.
30 Though you betroth a wife, another man will have her. Though you build a house, you will not live in it. Though you plant a vineyard, you will not enjoy its fruits.	30 Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a vineyard and not gather the vintage thereof.
31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, and you will not eat of its flesh. Your ass will be stolen in your presence, but you will not recover it. Your flocks will be given to your enemies, with no one to come to your aid.	31 May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.
32 Your sons and daughters will be given to a foreign nation while you look on and grieve for them in constant helplessness.	32 May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and may there be no strength in thy hand.
33 A people whom you do not know will consume the fruit of your soil and of all your labor, and you will be oppressed and crushed at all times without surcease,	33 May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at all times.
34 until you are driven mad by what your eyes must look upon.	34 And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes shall see:
35 The LORD will strike you with malignant boils of which you cannot be cured, on your knees and legs, and from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head.	35 May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.
36 "The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you have set over you, to a nation which you and your fathers have not known, and there you will serve strange gods of wood and stone,	36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.
37 and will call forth amazement, reproach and barbed scorn from all the nations to which the LORD will lead you.	37 And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.
38 "Though you spend much seed on your field, you will harvest but little, for the locusts will devour the crop.	38 Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little: because the locusts shall consume all.
39 Though you plant and cultivate vineyards, you will not drink or store up the wine, for the grubs will eat the vines clean.	39 Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with worms.
40 Though you have olive trees throughout your country, you will have no oil for ointment, for your olives will drop off unripe.	40 Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.
41 Though you beget sons and daughters, they will not remain with you, but will go into captivity.	41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them: because they shall be led into captivity.
42 Buzzing insects will infest all your trees and the crops of your soil.	42 The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy ground.
43 The alien residing among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower.	43 The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower.
44 He will lend to you, not you to him. He will become the head, you the tail.	44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45 "All these curses will come upon you, pursuing you and overwhelming you, until you are destroyed, because you would not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, nor keep the commandments and statutes he gave you.	45 And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies which he commanded thee.
46 They will light on you and your descendants as a sign and a wonder for all time.	46 And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed for ever.
47 Since you would not serve the LORD, your God, with joy and gratitude for abundance of every kind,	47 Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:
48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and utter poverty, you will serve the enemies whom the LORD will send against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck, until he destroys you.	48 Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.
49 "The LORD will raise up against you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, that swoops down like an eagle, a nation whose tongue you do not understand,	49 The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose tongue thou canst not understand,
50 a nation of stern visage, that shows neither respect for the aged nor pity for the young.	50 A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the ancients, nor have pity on the infant,
51 They will consume the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you are destroyed; they will leave you no grain or wine or oil, no issue of your herds or young of your flocks, until they have brought about your ruin.	51 And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee.
52 They will besiege you in each of your communities, until the great, unscalable walls you trust in come tumbling down all over your land. They will so besiege you in every community throughout the land which the LORD, your God, has given you,	52 And consume thee in all thy cities, end thy strong and high walls be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy God will give thee:
53 that in the distress of the siege to which your enemy subjects you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the LORD, your God, has given you.	53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.
54 The most refined and fastidious man among you will begrudge his brother and his beloved wife and his surviving children,	54 The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,
55 any share in the flesh of his children that he himself is using for food when nothing else is left him in the straits of the siege to which your enemy will subject you in all your communities.	55 So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children, which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.
56 The most refined and delicate woman among you, so delicate and refined that she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge her beloved husband and her son and daughter	56 The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness, will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and of her daughter,
57 the afterbirth that issues from her womb and the infant she brings forth when she secretly uses them for food for want of anything else, in the straits of the siege to which your enemy will subject you in your communities.	57 And the filth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.
58 "If you are not careful to observe every word of the law which is written in this book, and to revere the glorious and awesome name of the LORD, your God,	58 If thou wilt not keep, and fulfil all the words of this law, that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible name: that is, The Lord thy God:
59 he will smite you and your descendants with severe and constant blows, malignant and lasting maladies.	59 The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities grievous and perpetual.
60 He will again afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt which you dread, and they will persist among you.	60 And he shall bring back on thee all the afflictions of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee.
61 Should there be any kind of sickness or calamity not mentioned in this book of the law, that too the LORD will bring upon you until you are destroyed.	61 Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law till he consume thee:
62 Of you who were numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few will be left, because you would not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God.	62 And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God.
63 "Just as the LORD once took delight in making you grow and prosper, so will he now take delight in ruining and destroying you, and you will be plucked out of the land you are now entering to occupy.	63 And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before doing good to you, and multiplying you: so he shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt go in to possess.
64 The LORD will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve strange gods of wood and stone, such as you and your fathers have not known.	64 The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of and thy fathers, wood and stone.
65 Among these nations you will find no repose, not a foot of ground to stand upon, for there the LORD will give you an anguished heart and wasted eyes and a dismayed spirit.	65 Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord will give thee a fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with pensiveness:
66 You will live in constant suspense and stand in dread both day and night, never sure of your existence.	66 And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life.
67 In the morning you will say, 'Would that it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'Would that it were morning!' for the dread that your heart must feel and the sight that your eyes must see.	67 In the morning thou shalt say: Who will grant me evening? and at evening: Who will grant me morning? for the fearfulness of thy heart, wherewith thou shalt be terrified, and for those things which thou shalt see with thy eyes.
68 The LORD will send you back in galleys to Egypt, to the region I told you that you were never to see again; and there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."	68 The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the way whereof he said to thee that thou shouldst see it no more. There shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
69 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them at Horeb.