Deuteronomy 28:13-44

131The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to 2observe them carefully, 14and 3do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15“4But it shall come about, if you do not 5obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16“6Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the 7country.

17“8Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18“9Cursed shall be the 10offspring of your 11body and the 12produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

19“13Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20“14The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and 15rebuke, in all 16you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until 17you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. 2118The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. 2219The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with 20the sword and 21with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until 22you perish. 2323The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. 2424The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25“25The Lord shall cause you to be 26defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will 27be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 2628Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

27“29The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with 30tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29and you will 3132grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. 3033You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; 34you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not 35use its fruit. 31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you. 3236Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually; but there will be nothing 37you can do. 3338A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually. 34You shall be driven mad by the sight of 39what you see. 3540The Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 3641The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, 42wood and stone. 3743You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the Lord drives you.

38“44You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for 45the locust will consume it. 3946You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them. 4047You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 4148You shall 49have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 4250The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground. 4351The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 4452He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; 53he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.