¹ “And it will happen that if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, ⌞to diligently observe⌟¹ all his commandments that I am commanding you ⌞today⌟,² then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth.

1. Literally “to observe to do”
2. Literally “the day”

² And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and ⌞they shall have an effect on you⌟¹ if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

1. Literally “they shall overtake you”

³ “You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field.

⁴ “Blessed will be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock, ⌞the calf of your cattle and the lambs of your flock⌟.¹

1. Literally “what is dropped of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks”

⁵ “Blessed will be your basket and your kneading trough.

⁶ “Blessed will you be ⌞when you come in and blessed will you be when you go out⌟.¹

1. Literally “in/at your coming and you will be blessed in/at your going out”

⁷ “Yahweh will cause your enemies ⌞who rise up against you to be defeated before you⌟;¹ on one road² they shall come out against you, but on seven roads³ they shall flee ⌞before you⌟.⁴

1. Literally “the ones rising against you being defeated to the face of you”
2. Or “way”
3. Or “ways”
4. Literally “to the face of you”

⁸ Yahweh will command ⌞concerning you⌟¹ the blessing to be in your barns and ⌞in all your endeavors⌟;² and he will bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you.

1. Literally “with you”
2. Literally “in all of the sending forth of your hand”

⁹ Yahweh will establish you for ⌞himself⌟¹ as a holy people as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and you walk in his ways.

1. Literally “to/for him”

¹⁰ And all of the peoples of the earth shall see that ⌞by the name of Yahweh you are called⌟,¹ and ⌞they shall fear you⌟.²

1. Literally “that the name of Yahweh is called/assigned upon you”
2. Literally “they shall be afraid/fearful from you”

¹¹ And ⌞Yahweh will make you successful and prosperous⌟,¹ in the fruit of your womb and on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors² to give to you.

1. Literally “Yahweh will cause for you goodness”
2. Or “fathers”

¹² Yahweh shall open for you his ⌞rich⌟¹ storehouse, even the heavens, to give the rain for² your land in its time and to bless all of the work of your hand, and you will lend to many nations; you will not borrow from them.

1. Literally “good”
2. Hebrew “of”

¹³ And Yahweh shall make you¹ as head and not the tail, and you shall be only at the top of the nations, and you shall not be at the bottom, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God that I am commanding you ⌞today⌟² ⌞and diligently observe them⌟.³

1. Literally “place/set you up”
2. Literally “the day”
3. Literally “to observe them and to do them”

¹⁴ And you shall not turn aside from ⌞any of⌟¹ the words that I am commanding you ⌞today⌟² to the right or left by going after other gods to serve them.

1. Literally “all of”
2. Literally “the day”

¹⁵ “⌞And then⌟¹ if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God ⌞by diligently observing⌟² all of his commandments and his statutes that I am commanding you ⌞today⌟,³ then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

1. Literally “and it will happen”
2. Literally “to observe and to do”
3. Literally “the day”

¹⁶ “You shall¹ be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

1. All of these curses have a future orientation that points to Israel in the land of Canaan

¹⁷ “Your basket shall be cursed and your kneading trough.

¹⁸ “The fruit of your womb shall be cursed and the fruit of you ground, the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.

¹⁹ “You shall be cursed ⌞when you come in⌟,¹ and you shall be cursed ⌞when you go out⌟.²

1. Literally “at/in your coming”
2. Literally “at/in your going out”

²⁰ “Yahweh will send upon you¹ the curse,² the panic,³ and the threat⁴ ⌞in everything that you undertake⌟,⁵ ⌞until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly⌟⁶ ⌞because of⌟⁷ the evil of your deeds in that⁸ you have forsaken me.

1. Others translate as a wish: “may Yahweh send upon you …”
2. These words are translated variously, e.g., “starvation,” “thirst,” “rebuke/dysentery” (NEB) or “curses,” “confusion,” “frustration” (NLT)
3. Or “confusion”
4. Or “rebuke”
5. Literally “in all the sending out of your hand that you do”
6. Literally “until your to be destroyed and until your to perish quickly”
7. Literally “from the face of the evil of your deeds”
8. Literally “which”

²¹ Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you ⌞until it consumes you⌟¹ from the land that you are going to,² to take possession of it.

1. Literally “it to consume to”
2. Hebrew “to there”

²² Yahweh will afflict you with the wasting diseases and with the fever and with the inflammation and with the scorching heat and with the sword¹ and with the blight and with the mildew, and they shall pursue you ⌞until you perish⌟.²

1. Others translate “drought” (NLT, NEB)
2. Literally “until your/you to perish”

²³ And your heavens that are over your heads shall be like bronze, and the earth that is under you shall be like iron.

²⁴ Yahweh will change the rain of your land to fine dust and to sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you ⌞until you are destroyed⌟.¹

1. Literally “until your being destroyed”

²⁵ “Yahweh shall cause you to be defeated ⌞before⌟¹ your enemies; on one road you shall go ⌞against⌟² them,³ but you will flee on seven roads ⌞before⌟⁴ them,⁵ and you shall become a thing of horror to all of the kingdoms of the earth.

1. Literally “to the face of”
2. Literally “to/toward”
3. Hebrew “him”
4. Literally “to the face of”
5. Hebrew “him”

²⁶ And your dead bodies shall be as food for all of the birds of the heaven and to the animals of the earth, and there shall not be ⌞anyone to frighten them away⌟.¹

1. Literally “one causing fright to them”

²⁷ “Yahweh shall afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scurvy and with ⌞the skin rash that cannot be healed⌟.¹

1. Literally “the skin rash that not it is able it to be healed”

²⁸ Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart.

²⁹ And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed ⌞all the time⌟,¹ and there will not be ⌞anyone who will rescue you⌟.²

1. Literally “all the days”
2. Literally “one who delivers/rescues you”

³⁰ You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall sleep¹ with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; a vineyard you shall plant, but you shall not enjoy it.

1. Or “ravish/violate”

³¹ Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat it; your donkey shall be stolen right ⌞before you⌟,¹ and it shall not be returned to you; your sheep and your goats shall be given to your enemies, and ⌞there shall not be anyone who rescues you⌟.²

1. Literally “to the face of you”
2. Literally “there shall not be for you one who rescues”

³² Your sons and your daughters shall be given to other people, and ⌞you will be looking on⌟¹ ⌞longingly⌟² for³ them all day, ⌞but you will be powerless to do anything⌟.⁴

1. Literally “your eyes will see/look”
2. Literally “wearing out”
3. Hebrew “to”
4. Literally “but there will not be for power of your hand”

³³ A people that you do not know shall consume the harvest of your land and all your labor, and you will be only oppressed and crushed ⌞for the rest of your lives⌟.¹

1. Literally “all of the days”

³⁴ You shall become mad ⌞because of what your eyes shall see⌟.¹

1. Literally “from/by the sight of your eyes”

³⁵ Yahweh shall strike you with grievous boils on the knees and on the upper thighs from which ⌞you will not be able to be healed⌟,¹ from the sole of your foot and up to your crown.

1. Literally “which not you are able to heal”

³⁶ Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you set up over you to a nation that you or your ancestors¹ have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone.

1. Or “fathers”

³⁷ And you will become a horror and a proverb and ridicule among all the peoples where Yahweh drives you there.

³⁸ “You shall carry out much seed to the field, but you shall gather little produce, for the locust shall devour it.

³⁹ You shall plant vineyards and you shall dress¹ them, but you shall not drink wine and you shall not gather grapes, for the worm shall eat it.²

1. Or “cultivate”
2. That is, the produce

⁴⁰ There shall be olive trees for you in all of your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself, for your olives¹ shall drop off.

1. Hebrew “olive”

⁴¹ You shall bear sons and daughters, but they shall not be ⌞yours⌟,¹ for they shall go into captivity.

1. Literally “for you”

⁴² The cricket shall take possession of all your trees and the fruit of your ground.

⁴³ The alien that is in your midst shall ascend over you, higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower.

⁴⁴ He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, but you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵ “And all of these curses shall come over you, and they shall pursue you, and they shall overtake you ⌞until you are destroyed⌟,¹ because ⌞you did not listen⌟² to the voice of Yahweh your God, ⌞by observing⌟³ his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.