Moses sets out blessings for obedience: fruitfulness, victory and prosperity. Then he lists much longer curses for disobedience, ending in defeat, famine, exile and fear.
1 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 :
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God .
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city , and blessed shalt thou be in the field .
4 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 .
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store .
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in , and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out .
7 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 .
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses , and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 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 .
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD ; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 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.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure , the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season , and to bless all the work of thine hand : and thou shalt lend unto many nations , and thou shalt not borrow .
13 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:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day , to the right hand , or to the left , to go after other gods to serve them.
15 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:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city , and cursed shalt thou be in the field .
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store .
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body , and the fruit of thy land , the increase of thy kine , and the flocks of thy sheep .
19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in , and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out .
20 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.
21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land , whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption , and with a fever , and with an inflammation , and with an extreme burning , and with the sword , and with blasting , and with mildew ; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish .
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass , and the earth that is under thee shall be iron .
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust : from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed .
25 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 .
26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air , and unto the beasts of the earth , and no man shall fray them away .
27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt , and with the emerods , and with the scab , and with the itch , whereof thou canst not be healed .
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness , and blindness , and astonishment of heart :
29 And thou shalt grope at noonday , as the blind gropeth in darkness , and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways : and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore , and no man shall save thee.
30 Thou shalt betroth a wife , and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house , and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard , and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes , and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face , and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies , and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people , and thine eyes shall look , and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand .
33 The fruit of thy land , and all thy labours , shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up ; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway :
34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see .
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees , and in the legs , with a sore botch that cannot be healed , from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head .
36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known ; and there shalt thou serve other gods , wood and stone .
37 And thou shalt become an astonishment , a proverb , and a byword , among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field , and shalt gather but little in ; for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards , and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine , nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts , but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil ; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters , but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity .
42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume .
43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high ; and thou shalt come down very low .
44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head , and thou shalt be the tail .
45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God , to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder , and upon thy seed for ever .
47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness , and with gladness of heart , for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger , and in thirst , and in nakedness , and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck , until he have destroyed thee.
49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far , from the end of the earth , as swift as the eagle flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ;
50 A nation of fierce countenance , which shall not regard the person of the old , nor shew favour to the young :
51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle , and the fruit of thy land , until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee either corn , wine , or oil , or the increase of thy kine , or flocks of thy sheep , until he have destroyed thee.
52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates , until thy high and fenced walls come down , wherein thou trustedst , throughout all thy land : and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land , which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body , the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters , which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege , and in the straitness , wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate , his eye shall be evil toward his brother , and toward the wife of his bosom , and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave :
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat : because he hath nothing left him in the siege , and in the straitness , wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates .
56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness , her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom , and toward her son , and toward her daughter ,
57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet , and toward her children which she shall bear : for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness , wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates .
58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book , that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name , THE LORD THY GOD ;
59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful , and the plagues of thy seed , even great plagues , and of long continuance , and sore sicknesses , and of long continuance .
60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt , which thou wast afraid of ; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 Also every sickness , and every plague , which is not written in the book of this law , them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed .
62 And ye shall be left few in number , whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude ; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God .
63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good , and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought ; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64 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 .
65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease , neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest : but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart , and failing of eyes , and sorrow of mind :
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night , and shalt have none assurance of thy life :
67 In the morning thou shalt say , Would God it were even ! and at even thou shalt say , Would God it were morning ! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear , and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see .
68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships , by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again : and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen , and no man shall buy you.