Blessings and punishments

Blessings for obeying the LORD

The LORD said:

1I am the LORD your God! So don't make or worship any sort of idols or images.26.1: a Lv 19.4; b Ex 20.4; Dt 5.8; 16.21,22; 27.1. 2Respect the Sabbath and honour the place where I am worshipped, because I am the LORD.

3Faithfully obey my laws,26.3-5: Dt 11.13-15; 28.1-14. 4and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit. 5Your harvest of grain and grapes will be so abundant, that you won't know what to do with it all. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in safety. 6I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks. 7You will chase and destroy your enemies, 8even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them. 9I will treat you with such kindness that your nation will grow strong, and I will also keep my promises to you. 10Your barns will overflow with grain each year. 11I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust. 12I will walk with you—I will be your God, and you will be my people.26.12: 2 Co 6.16. 13I am the LORD your God, and I rescued you from Egypt, so that you would never again be slaves. I have set you free; now walk with your heads held high.

Punishment for disobeying the LORD

The LORD said:

14-15If you disobey me and my laws, and if you break our agreement,26.14-33: Dt 28.15-68. 16I will punish you terribly, and you will be ruined. You will be struck with incurable diseases and with fever that leads to blindness and depression. Your enemies will eat the crops you plant, 17and I will turn from you and let you be destroyed by your attackers. You will even run at the very rumour of attack. 18Then, if you still refuse to obey me, I will punish you seven times for each of your sins, 19until your pride is completely crushed. I will hold back the rain, so the sky above you will be like iron, and the ground beneath your feet will be like copper. 20All your hard work will be for nothing—and there will be no harvest of grain or fruit.

21If you keep rebelling against me, I'll punish you seven times worse, just as your sins deserve! 22I'll send wild animals to attack you, and they will gobble up your children and livestock. So few of you will be left that your roads will be deserted.

23If you remain my enemies after this, 24I'll remain your enemy and punish you even worse. 25War will break out because you broke our agreement, and if you escape to your walled cities, I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and you will be captured by your enemies. 26You will have such a shortage of bread, that ten women will be able to bake their bread in the same oven. Each of you will get only a few crumbs, and you will go hungry.

27Then if you don't stop rebelling, 28I'll really get furious and punish you terribly for your sins! 29In fact, you will be so desperate for food that you will eat your own children. 30I'll destroy your shrines and tear down your incense altars, leaving your dead bodies piled on top of your idols. And you will be disgusting to me. 31I'll wipe out your towns and your places of worship and will no longer be pleased with the smell of your sacrifices. 32Your land will become so desolate that even your enemies who settle there will be shocked when they see it. 33After I destroy your towns and ruin your land with war, I'll scatter you among the nations.

34-35While you are prisoners in foreign lands, your own land will enjoy years of rest and refreshment, as it should have done each seventh year when you lived there. 36-37In the land of your enemies, you will tremble at the rustle of a leaf, as though it were a sword. And you will become so weak that you will stumble and fall over each other, even when no one is chasing you. 38Many of you will die in foreign lands, 39and others of you will waste away in sorrow as the result of your sins and the sins of your ancestors.

40-41Then suppose you realize that I turned against you and brought you to the land of your enemies because both you and your ancestors had stubbornly sinned against me. If you humbly confess what you have done and start living right, 42I'll keep the promise I made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bless your land26.42: a Gn 28.13,14; b Gn 26.3,4; c Gn 17.7,8. 43and let it rest during the time that you are in a foreign country, paying for your rebellion against me and my laws.

44No matter what you have done, I am still the LORD your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies. 45While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your LORD, and I will never forget our agreement.

46Moses was on Mount Sinai when the LORD gave him these laws and teachings for the people of Israel.