Deuteronomy 28 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - Deuteronomy) Free Bible Online

Deuteronomy 28

1 - It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the LORD your God's voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

2 - All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to the LORD your God's voice.

3 - You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

4 - You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

5 - Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

6 - You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

7 - The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

8 - The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

9 - The LORD will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways.

10 - All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by The LORD's name, and they will be afraid of you.

11 - The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

12 - The LORD will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow.

13 - The LORD will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do,

14 - and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15 - But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the LORD your God's voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you.

16 - You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field.

17 - Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 - The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed.

19 - You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out.

20 - The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

21 - The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

22 - The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish.

23 - Your sky that is over your head will be brass, and the earth that is under you will be iron.

24 - The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed.

25 - The LORD will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 - Your dead body will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away.

27 - The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

28 - The LORD will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart.

29 - You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you.

30 - You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won't dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit.

31 - Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you.

32 - Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand.

33 - A nation which you don't know eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always;

34 - so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad.

35 - The LORD will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 - The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone.

37 - You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.

38 - You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in; for the locust will consume it.

39 - You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them.

40 - You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won't anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives will drop off.

41 - You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go into captivity.

42 - Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground.

43 - The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower.

44 - He will lend to you, and you won't lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

45 - All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the LORD your God's voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you.

46 - They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever.

47 - Because you didn't serve the LORD your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

48 - therefore you will serve your enemies whom the LORD sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. 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, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;

The LORD will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;

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50 - a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn't respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young,

51 - and they will eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won't leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52 - They will besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.

53 - You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you.

54 - The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

55 - so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates.

56 - The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter,

57 - toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.

58 - If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;

59 - then the LORD will make your plagues fearful, and the plagues of your offspring, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration.

60 - He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you.

61 - Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

62 - You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the LORD your God's voice.

63 - It will happen that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you. You will be plucked from off of the land where you go in to possess it.

64 - The LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

65 - Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul.

66 - Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life.

67 - In the morning you will say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you will say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see.

68 - The LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

The LORD will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

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The Book of Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 28:1 - 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:
Deuteronomy 28:2 - And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Religious Jew Reading the Scroll of the Torah, notice the prayer shawl over his head and the phylacteries on his forehead and arm to remind him that he must keep the law with his head and his heart. He is reading the scroll of the Torah which was written on parchment and fastened to rollers.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survery - Deuteronomy
Hebrew Name - elleh haddebharim "these are the words"
Greek Name - Deuteronomion "The Second Law"
Author - Moses
Date - 1451 BC Approximately
Theme - Reminders of God's Covenant
Types and Shadows - In Deuteronomy Jesus is prophet like unto Moses

Quick Reference Map

Map of the Possible Route of the Exodus (Click to Enlarge)

The word "Deuteronomy" comes from the Greek word for "the second law" or "the law copied or repeated." In the book of Deuteronomy Moses is writing a series of speeches to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab on the day before they entered the land of Canaan, the promised land. these messages are intended to speak to every member of the congregation of Israel, not just the religious. The purpose of Moses was to remind them of God's law, and everything that God did for them, and every promise God made to them. Moses explained to them that their new life in the land of Canaan would be blessed or cursed depending on their ability to walk after after God and His law. These words were spoken to them on the 11th month of the final year of Israel's wandering in the wilderness, the 40th year after they left Egypt.

In the first speech (Deuteronomy 1:1-4:43), Moses warns the people of Israel about the sins which had kept their fathers from entering the promised land. He repeatedly encourages them to obey God and reminds them about the events that took place in the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He carefully explains what happens when there are difficult situations and they choose not to trust the Lord but rather act in obstinance, doubt, fear, and finally disobedience.

The second speech (Deuteronomy 4:44-26:19) goes into the details about the law. It is really the main message here that Moses gives them, the first speech was more of an introduction and preparation for this message. It deals mainly with the legal aspects of the law, moral, civil, and ceremonial. It deals first with the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy chapters 5-11) and secondly the details behind God's law with the emphasis on following God statutes, religious ordinances, and living with one another as the people of God (Deuteronomy chapters 12-26).

The third speech (Deuteronomy 27:1-31:30) is primarily a message about the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. Moses mainly directs his message to the elders, the priests, the Levites, and all the leaders who are responsible to carry out the ceremonies. The place chosen for the ceremonies was a spot in the center of the land of Israel where the first altar to God have been erected. Once they had crossed over the Jordan River they were commanded to set up great stones on Mount Ebal, with the law of God inscribed and to build a great altar. The 12 tribes of Israel were to be divided between the two hills. Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin were to gather themselves on Mt. Gerizim to recite the blessings which God promised them if they would obey him. Across on Mt. Ebal, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali were to speak the curses which God had promised them if they were to disobey him.

Moses finished his discourses and encourage the people to follow Joshua, their new leader, to cross the Jordan and to take the land which had been promised to their father Abraham. Moses wrote down the law in a book, gave it to the priests, who were to keep it as a perpetual reminder for the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). They were to read it every seventh year when the people assembled for the feast of Tabernacles.

God told Moses and Joshua to come before Him at the tabernacle and He told them of the future infidelity of the children of Israel and instructed Moses to leave the people a song as a witness against them which they were to learn. This song of Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 32 and it speaks about the blessings which God has bestowed on his people and the corrupt ways in which they responded to those blessings. Deuteronomy 33 speaks about Moses' blessing on the people and Deuteronomy 34 records briefly the account of the death of Moses, the great leader of Israel.

1) The First Address of Moses

Historical  overview (Deuteronomy 1:6-3)
Appeal for commitment to God  (Deuteronomy 4)

2) The Second Address of Moses

God's covenant with Israel (Deuteronomy 5:1-21)
A Message about the First Commandment (Deuteronomy 6-9:6)
A Survey of the Laws Given on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:7-10:11)
Reminders of God's Laws (Deuteronomy 10:12-11)

3) The Laws

Sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12)
Giving in to Idolatry (Deuteronomy 13)
Acceptable and Forbidden Foods (Deuteronomy 14:3-21)
Tithes (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)
Year of Release (Deuteronomy 15:1-11)
Releasing Slaves (Deuteronomy 15:12-18)
Firstlings of Cattle and Sheep (Deuteronomy 15:19-23)
Yearly Pilgrimage Feasts and Festivals (Deuteronomy 16:1-17)
Leaders of the Nation (Deuteronomy 16:18-28:22)
Right of Asylum (Deuteronomy 19)
Conduct of War (Deuteronomy 20, 21:10-14, 23:9-14)
Marriage and Family Life (Deuteronomy 21, 22, 24:1-4, 25:5-10)
Certain Humanitarian Regulations (Deuteronomy 21, 22, 24, 25)
Blessings and Curses on the People (Deuteronomy 27)
Results of Observance and Neglect (Deuteronomy 28)

4) The Last Days of Moses

Third Address (Deuteronomy 29-30)
Last Words and Acts of Moses (Deuteronomy 31-33)
Death and Burial of Moses (Deuteronomy 34)

Quick Reference Maps - Deuteronomy

Canaan Before Joshua

The Island of Caphtor

Deuteronomy Resources

The Wilderness Wanderings

More About the Book of Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy in the Picture Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient World
Back to the Old Testament
Back to Bible History Online