遵守誡命蒙祝福
1「你們若全心順服你們的上帝耶和華，謹遵祂今天藉我吩咐你們的一切誡命，祂必使你們超越天下萬國。 2你們若聽從你們的上帝耶和華的話，以下的福氣必臨到你們，追隨你們。
3「無論你們住在城裡還是鄉村，都必蒙福。
4「你們必子孫昌盛，五穀豐登，牛羊成群。
5「你們的籃子和揉麵盆都必蒙福。
6「你們必出入平安。
7「耶和華必使來犯之敵敗在你們面前、潰不成軍、四散逃命。
8「耶和華必使你們凡事蒙福、五穀滿倉。你們的上帝耶和華必在祂賜給你們的土地上賜福你們。
9「你們若遵守你們上帝耶和華的誡命，遵行祂的旨意，祂必按自己的誓言使你們成為祂聖潔的子民。 10天下萬民將看出你們是耶和華的子民，並懼怕你們。
11「在耶和華向你們祖先起誓要賜給你們的土地上，祂必使你們子孫昌盛、牛羊成群、五穀豐登。 12耶和華要為你們打開天上美好的倉庫，使你們風調雨順、凡事蒙福。你們必借貸給多國，卻無需向別國借貸。 13-14你們若聽從你們的上帝耶和華藉我今天吩咐你們的誡命，謹慎遵行，毫不偏離，也不隨從、供奉別的神明，祂必使你們做首不做尾，居上不居下。
違背誡命受咒詛
15「你們若不聽從你們的上帝耶和華，不謹遵祂今天藉我吩咐你們的一切誡命和律例，祂必使以下的咒詛臨到你們。
16「無論你們住在城裡還是鄉村，都必受咒詛。
17「你們的籃子和揉麵盆都必受咒詛。
18「婦女所生的，土地所產的，牛羊所生的都必受咒詛。
19「你們出入都必受咒詛。
20「因為你們背棄耶和華，祂要使你們凡事受咒詛、混亂不堪、飽受責罰，直到你們被毀滅，迅速滅亡。
21「祂要使瘟疫緊緊跟隨你們，直到你們在將要佔領的土地上被滅絕。
22「祂要使你們遭受癆病、熱症、瘧疾、炙熱、刀劍、乾旱和黴爛之災，直到你們滅亡。
23「祂要使你們頭頂的天如銅，腳下的地如鐵。
24「祂要使雨水變為塵土，降在你們身上，直到你們滅亡。
25「祂要使你們被敵人擊敗、潰不成軍、四散逃命，下場令天下萬國驚懼。 26你們的屍體要成為飛禽走獸的食物，必無人趕走牠們。
27「祂要使你們患埃及的膿瘡、腫瘤和癬疥，無藥可治。
28「祂要使你們發瘋、失明、心智錯亂。
29「你們必在大白天摸索，就像盲人在黑暗中摸索一樣，你們的道路必不得亨通，你們要終日受人欺壓搶掠，無人搭救。
30「你們聘了妻子，別人必佔有她；你們蓋了房屋，必不能住在裡面；你們栽種葡萄園，必吃不到園中的出產。
31「你們必看著自己的牛被宰殺卻吃不到肉，自己的驢被搶走後一去不還，自己的羊被敵人擄走卻無人搭救， 32自己的兒女被外族人擄走，你們終日望眼欲穿，卻無能為力。
33「與你們素不相識的民族必吃光你們土地的出產和勞碌所得，你們必常受欺壓， 34以致眼前的一切令你們發瘋。
35「耶和華要使你們從頭到腳長滿毒瘡，無藥可治。
36「耶和華要帶你們和你們的王到一個你們和你們祖先都不知道的國家，你們要在那裡供奉木石神像。
37「在耶和華驅逐你們去的列國，你們的下場將很可怕，受盡嘲笑和譏諷。
38「你們種的多，卻收的少，因為莊稼必被蝗蟲吃掉。
39「你們栽種、修剪葡萄園，卻吃不到葡萄，也喝不到葡萄酒，因為葡萄必被蟲子吃掉。
40「你們境內長滿橄欖樹，卻沒有橄欖油抹身，因為橄欖必未熟先落。
41「你們生兒育女，卻留不住一個，因為他們必被擄走。
42「蝗蟲要吃光你們的樹木和地上的出產。
43「你們中間的外族人要日益興旺，你們卻要日漸衰微。
44「他們要借貸給你們，你們卻不能借貸給他們。他們要做首，你們要做尾。
45「如果你們不聽你們上帝耶和華的話，不遵守祂吩咐你們的誡命和律例，這些咒詛都必臨到你們、追趕你們，直到毀滅你們。 46這些咒詛要永遠成為你們和你們子孫的警戒和徵兆。 47如果你們在富足時不心甘情願地事奉你們的上帝耶和華， 48你們必失去所有，饑餓乾渴、赤身裸體地侍奉耶和華派來攻擊你們的敵人。祂要把鐵軛加在你們的頸上，直到消滅你們。
49「耶和華要使一國從遙遠的地極興起，他們要如鷹飛來襲擊你們。你們不懂他們的語言。 50他們面目猙獰，不尊重年老的，也不憐憫年少的。 51他們要吃光你們的牛羊、五穀、新酒和油，直到消滅你們。 52在你們的上帝耶和華所賜給你們的土地上，他們要把你們圍困在各個城邑中，直到你們所依賴的高大堅固的城牆都倒塌。
53「當你們被敵人圍困、陷入絕境時，你們必吃自己的親生骨肉——你們的上帝耶和華賜給你們的兒女。 54-55因為被敵人困在城中，饑餓難熬，連你們中間最溫柔體貼的男人也要獨自吞吃子女的肉，不肯分給自己的兄弟、愛妻和剩下的兒女。 56-57因為被敵人困在城中，饑餓難熬，連你們中間最溫柔、嬌嫩得連腳也不肯踏在地上的婦女，都要偷偷吃掉自己生的嬰兒和胎胞，不肯分給所愛的丈夫和子女。
58「如果你們不謹遵這書上所寫的一切律法，不敬畏你們的上帝耶和華那榮耀、可畏的名， 59祂必使你們及子孫遭遇嚴重而長久的災難和疾病， 60使你們所懼怕的埃及人的疾病都降在你們身上，纏擾你們， 61還使一切未記在這律法書上的疾病和災難降在你們身上，直到消滅你們。 62如果你們不聽從你們的上帝耶和華的話，即使你們的人數多如天上的星，也將所剩無幾。 63正如耶和華喜歡賜福你們，使你們人丁興旺，祂也同樣會不惜消滅你們，使你們在將要佔領的土地上滅亡。
64「耶和華要把你們分散到天下萬邦，你們要在那裡供奉祖祖輩輩素不認識的木石神像。 65你們在萬邦中將不得安寧，沒有落腳之地，耶和華必使你們膽戰心驚、目光呆滯、精神頹廢。 66你們必惴惴不安，晝夜恐懼，生死難料。 67你們必看見可怕之事，以致心中充滿恐懼，早上盼望天黑，晚上盼望天亮。 68耶和華必沿著我曾說你們再不會走的路線，用船把你們送回埃及。你們將在那裡賣身做敵人的僕婢，卻無人買。」
Blessings for Obeying the Lord
1Make sure you obey the Lord your God completely. Be careful to obey all his commands. I’m giving them to you today. If you do these things, the Lord will honor you more than all the other nations on earth. 2If you obey the Lord your God, here are the blessings that will come to you and remain with you.
3You will be blessed in the cities. You will be blessed out in the country.
4Your children will be blessed. Your crops will be blessed. The young animals among your livestock will be blessed. That includes your calves and lambs.
5Your baskets and bread pans will be blessed.
6You will be blessed no matter where you go.
7Enemies will rise up against you. But the Lord will help you win the battle over them. They will come at you from one direction. But they’ll run away from you in every direction.
8The Lord your God will bless your barns with plenty of grain and other food. He will bless everything you do. He’ll bless you in the land he’s giving you.
9The Lord your God will make you his holy people. He will set you apart for himself. He promised to do this. He promised to do it if you would keep his commands and live exactly as he wants you to live. 10All the nations on earth will see that you belong to the Lord. And they will be afraid of you. 11The Lord will give you more than you need. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. All of that will happen in the land he promised to give you. He promised this to your people of long ago.
12The Lord will open up the heavens. That’s where he stores his riches. He will send rain on your land at just the right time. He’ll bless everything you do. You will lend money to many nations. But you won’t have to borrow from any of them. 13The Lord your God will make you leaders, not followers. Pay attention to his commands that I’m giving you today. Be careful to obey them. Then you will always be on top. You will never be on the bottom. 14Don’t turn away from any of the commands I’m giving you today. Don’t turn to the right or the left. Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship them.
Curses for Not Obeying the Lord
15But suppose you don’t obey the Lord your God. And you aren’t careful to obey all his commands and rules I’m giving you today. Then he will send curses on you. They’ll catch up with you. Here are those curses.
16You will be cursed in the cities. You will be cursed out in the country.
17Your baskets and bread pans will be cursed.
18Your children will be cursed. Your crops will be cursed. Your calves and lambs will be cursed.
19You will be cursed no matter where you go.
20The Lord will send curses on you. You won’t know what’s going on. In everything you do, he will be angry with you. You will be destroyed suddenly and completely. This will happen because you did an evil thing when you deserted the Lord. 21He will send all kinds of sicknesses on you. He’ll send them until he has destroyed you. He’ll remove you from the land you are entering to take as your own. 22The Lord will make you sick and very weak. He will strike you with fever and swelling. He’ll send burning heat. There won’t be any rain. The hot winds will completely dry up your crops. All those things will happen until you die. 23The sky above you will be like bronze. The ground beneath you will be like iron. 24The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder. It will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25The Lord will help your enemies win the battle over you. You will come at them from one direction. But you will run away from them in every direction. All the kingdoms on earth will be completely shocked when they see you. 26Birds and wild animals will eat up your dead bodies. There won’t be anyone left to scare them away. 27The Lord will send boils on you, just like the ones he sent on the Egyptians. You will have growths in your bodies and boils on your skin. You will itch all over. No one will be able to heal you. 28The Lord will make you lose your mind. He will make you blind. You won’t know what’s going on. 29Even at noon you will have to feel your way around like a blind person in the dark. You won’t have success in anything you do. Day after day you will be robbed and treated badly. No one will be able to save you.
30You and a woman will promise to marry each other. But another man will take her and rape her. You will build a house. But you won’t live in it. You will plant a vineyard. But you won’t eat a single grape from it. 31Your ox will be killed right in front of your eyes. But you won’t eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force. And you will never get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies. No one will be able to save them. 32Your children will be given to another nation. Day after day you will watch for them to come back. But you will only wear out your eyes. You won’t be able to help your children. 33A nation you don’t know anything about will eat what you work to produce on your land. You will only be treated badly as long as you live. 34The things you see will make you lose your mind. 35The Lord will send painful boils on your knees and legs. No one will be able to heal them. They will cover you from head to toe.
36The Lord will drive you out of the land. And he will drive out the king you place over yourselves. All of you will go to another nation. You and your people of long ago didn’t know anything about them. There you will worship other gods. They will be made out of wood and stone. 37You will look very bad to all the nations where the Lord sends you. They will be completely shocked when they see you. They will mock you and make fun of you.
38You will plant many seeds in your field. But you will gather very little food. Locusts will eat it up. 39You will plant vineyards and take care of them. But you won’t drink the wine. You won’t gather the grapes. Worms will eat them up. 40You will have olive trees through your whole country. But you won’t use the oil. The olives will drop off the trees. 41You will have children. But you won’t be able to keep them. They’ll be taken away as prisoners. 42Large numbers of locusts will eat up the leaves on all your trees. They will also eat up the crops on your land.
43Outsiders who live among you will become your leaders. They will rise higher and higher. But you will sink lower and lower. 44They will lend money to you. But you won’t be able to lend money to them. They will be the leaders. But you will be the followers.
45The Lord your God will send all these curses on you. They will follow you everywhere. They’ll catch up with you. You will be under the Lord’s curse until you are destroyed. That’s because you didn’t obey him. You didn’t keep the commands and rules he gave you. 46These curses will remain as signs and awful judgments against you and your children after you forever. 47You didn’t serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness when times were good. 48So he will send enemies against you. You will have to serve them. You will be hungry and thirsty. You will be naked and poor. The Lord will put the iron chains of slavery around your necks until he has destroyed you.
49The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away. It will come from the ends of the earth. It will dive down on you like an eagle. You won’t understand that nation’s language. 50Its people will look mean. They won’t have any respect for old people. They won’t show any kindness to young people. 51They will eat up the young animals among your livestock. They’ll eat up the crops on your land. They’ll destroy you. They won’t leave you any grain, olive oil or fresh wine. They won’t leave you any calves or lambs. They’ll destroy you. 52They’ll surround all the cities throughout your whole land. They’ll attack those cities until the high, strong walls you trust in fall down. That’s what will happen to the cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
53Your enemies will surround you and attack you. They will make you suffer greatly. So you will eat your own children. You will eat the dead bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. 54There may be a gentle and caring man among you. But he will treat his own brother badly. He’ll be just as mean to the wife he loves and to any of his children who are still alive. 55He won’t give to a single one of them any part of the dead bodies of his children that he’s eating. It will be all he has left to eat. That’s how much your enemies will make you suffer when they surround all your cities and attack them. 56There may be a gentle and caring woman among you. She wouldn’t even touch the ground with her feet without first putting her sandals on. But she will not share anything with the husband she loves. She won’t share with her own children either. 57She will eat what comes out of her body after she has a baby. Then she’ll even eat her baby. She won’t share it with anyone in her family. In her great hunger she’ll plan to eat it in secret. There won’t be anything else for her to eat because the city she lives in will be surrounded. That’s an example of how much your enemies will make you suffer when they are attacking your cities.
58Be careful to follow all the words of this law. They are written in this scroll. Have respect for the glorious and wonderful name of the Lord your God. If you don’t, 59he will send terrible plagues on you and your children after you. He’ll send horrible and lasting troubles. He’ll make you very sick for a long time. 60He’ll bring on you all the sicknesses you were afraid of getting when you were in Egypt. You won’t be able to get rid of them. 61The Lord will also bring on you all other kinds of sickness and trouble. I haven’t even written those down in this Book of the Law. You will be destroyed. 62At one time you were as many as the stars in the sky. But there will only be a few of you left. That’s because you didn’t obey the Lord your God. 63It pleased the Lord to give you success and to cause there to be many of you. But it will please him just as much to wipe you out and destroy you. You will be removed from the land you are entering to take as your own.
64Then the Lord will scatter you among all the nations. He’ll spread you around from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship statues of gods made out of wood and stone. You and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods. 65Among those nations you won’t find any peace. There won’t be any place where you can make your home and rest your feet. The Lord will give you minds filled with worry. He’ll give you eyes worn out from looking for help. You won’t have any hope in your hearts. 66Your lives will always be in danger. You will be filled with fear night and day. You will never be sure you are safe. 67In the morning you will say, “We wish it were evening!” In the evening you will say, “We wish it were morning!” Your hearts will be filled with fear. The things you see will terrify you. 68The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships. He’ll send you on a journey I said you should never have to make again. You will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves in Egypt. But no one will buy you.
