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Deuteronomy 28 Moses Blesses the Twelve Tribes of Israel

1 Blessings for Obedience
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 upon 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 his ways.

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 forefathers 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 Curses for Disobedience
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 upon 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 air and the beasts of the earth, 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 man 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 pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish 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 that 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 fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.

37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the Lord will drive you.

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will 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 alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.

44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

45 All these curses will come upon 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, like an eagle swooping down, 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 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 that 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 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 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

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 that 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 upon 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 fathers 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.

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Analysis of Deuteronomy Chapter 28

Deuteronomy Chapter 28 is one of the most profound and impactful chapters in the Bible, encapsulating the themes of blessings and curses contingent on the obedience or disobedience to God’s commandments. This chapter serves as a covenantal framework for the Israelites, emphasizing the cause-and-effect relationship between their faithfulness to God’s laws and their subsequent social, economic, and spiritual conditions. It holds substantial theological significance and can be divided into two major sections: the blessings for obedience (verses 1-14) and the curses for disobedience (verses 15-68).

Blessings for Obedience (Verses 1-14)

The chapter opens with a powerful promise of blessings for the Israelites if they diligently obey the voice of the Lord. The blessings are manifold and cover various aspects of life:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:1).

Economic Prosperity and Abundance

Verses 3-6 highlight the comprehensive nature of God’s blessings, which include abundance in the city and the field, fertility of the womb, productivity of livestock, and fullness of the harvest:

“Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 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” (Deuteronomy 28:3-4).

This demonstrates God’s provision in both urban and rural settings, indicating that His blessings transcend geographic and occupational boundaries. Moreover, the emphasis on fruitfulness suggests a continuity of life and sustenance that aligns with the covenantal promises made to the patriarchs regarding numerous descendants and a prosperous land.

Divine Protection and Victory

In verses 7-10, there is a shift from economic blessings to divine protection and military victory:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:7).

This verse assures the Israelites of God’s active involvement in their defense. The imagery of enemies scattering in multiple directions underscores complete and utter defeat, symbolizing not just physical dominance but also the psychological impact that God’s presence has on Israel’s adversaries.

Additionally, verse 9 underscores the sanctification and establishment of Israel as a holy people unto the Lord:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:9).

Affluence and Leadership

Verses 11-14 culminate in promises of material wealth, international respect, and leadership, encapsulating a vision of Israel as a model nation:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:11).

By positioning Israel at the head rather than the tail, God promises ascendancy and influence over other nations, stipulating that these blessings are contingent upon obedience:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:13).

Curses for Disobedience (Verses 15-68)

The tone of the chapter shifts dramatically in verse 15, detailing the severe consequences of disobedience. The curses enumerated are intensely comprehensive and dire, emphasizing the gravity of neglecting God’s commandments.

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:15).

Pervasive Distress and Failure

Verses 16-19 inversely mirror the blessings, detailing curses in the city and the field, upon the produce of the womb, livestock, and lack of prosperity in all endeavors:

“Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Deuteronomy 28:16-17).

The imagery of curses overtaking the people suggests an inescapable and omnipresent reality of hardship. Every facet of life that was once blessed now becomes a conduit for trouble and distress.

Sickness, Drought, and Defeat

Verses 20-24 expand on the physical ailments, natural calamities, and military defeats that will befall the disobedient. Sickness is described as consuming in a relentless manner:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:20).

Moreover, drought, a prevalent and deadly issue in the ancient Near East, is highlighted as a form of divine retribution:

“The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 28:24).

The Israelites’ defeat in battle (verses 25-26), consumes their dignity and security, turning them into a pariah among nations:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:25).

Economic Ruin and Social Collapse

Economic curses continue in verses 38-42, with the land yielding minimal productivity despite arduous labor, and nature working against their efforts:

“Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it” (Deuteronomy 28:38).

Social structures also collapse, with verse 30 describing the horror of seeing one’s property and family violated without recourse:

“Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof” (Deuteronomy 28:30).

Exile and Servitude

Finally, the most severe curse culminates in exile and servitude. Verses 64-68 depict a grim picture of dispersion among nations, leading to cultural and spiritual disintegration:

“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” (Deuteronomy 28:64).

This dispersion signifies not just a loss of land but also a loss of identity and purpose, highlighting the profound consequences of breaking the divine covenant.

Theological and Practical Implications

Deuteronomy 28 is a theological cornerstone, illustrating the concept of covenantal theology, where blessings are tied to obedience, and curses follow disobedience. This principle underscores the importance of aligning with divine will as the foundation for societal well-being.

The chapter also emphasizes God’s sovereignty and justice. The detailed blessings and curses manifest God’s control over all aspects of life, affirming His ultimate authority and the moral order he established. Additionally, it serves as a stark reminder of the intrinsic link between faithfulness to God and the holistic prosperity of a community, urging believers to consider the spiritual ramifications of their actions.

From a practical standpoint, this chapter calls for a deep reflection on the ethical and moral conduct of individuals and communities. It suggests that the health, peace, and prosperity of a society are directly correlated with their adherence to divine principles. Thus, it challenges believers to live lives that are consistent with God’s commandments, fostering both spiritual and communal well-being.

Moreover, Deuteronomy 28 invites modern readers to consider how the principles it sets forth can be contextualized in today’s world. While the specific blessings and curses might differ in a modern setting, the underlying message remains relevant: obedience to divine principles leads to holistic flourishing, while disregard for them results in degradation and suffering.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Deuteronomy Chapter 28 presents a powerful conditional blueprint for the Israelites’ future, offering abundant blessings for obedience and stark warnings of curses for disobedience. This divine covenant not only governed the immediate lives of the Israelites but also left an enduring legacy on the theological and ethical frameworks within the Judeo-Christian tradition. Through this chapter, believers are reminded of the importance of maintaining a faithful relationship with God, highlighting the profound impact that such spiritual alignment can have on every aspect of life.