Deuteronomy 28:18

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 t

28:15-44 If we do not keep God's commandments, we not only come short of the blessing promised, but we lay ourselves under the curse, which includes all misery, as the blessing all happiness. Observe the justice of this curse. It is not a curse causeless, or for some light cause. The extent and power of this curse. Wherever the sinner goes, the curse of God follows; wherever he is, it rests upon him. Whatever he has is under a curse. All his enjoyments are made bitter; he cannot take any true comfort in them, for the wrath of God mixes itself with them. Many judgments are here stated, which would be the fruits of the curse, and with which God would punish the people of the Jews, for their apostacy and disobedience. We may observe the fulfilling of these threatenings in their present state. To complete their misery, it is threatened that by these troubles they should be bereaved of all comfort and hope, and left to utter despair. Those who walk by sight, and not by faith, are in danger of losing reason itself, when every thing about them looks frightful.

15-20. But … if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord—Curses that were to follow them in the event of disobedience are now enumerated, and they are almost exact counterparts of the blessings which were described in the preceding context as the reward of a faithful adherence to the covenant.

[Bible] 28:18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. 28:19. Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out. 28:20. The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me. 28:21. May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess. 28:22. May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish. 28:23. Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground thou treadest on, of iron. 28:24. The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed. 28:25. The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth. 28:26. And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away. 28:27. The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed. 28:28. The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of mind. 28:29. And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee. 28:30. Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a vineyard and not gather the vintage thereof.

13 . love … bless … and multiply thee ] Cp. Genesis 22:17 (E?), Genesis 26:24 (J), bless and multiply ; note the characteristic addition love by D. The blessings which follow are material; similarly but varied in Deuteronomy 28:4 ; Deuteronomy 28:11 ; Deuteronomy 28:18 ; Deuteronomy 28:51 , Deuteronomy 30:9 , all Sg. Note the interesting differences in Hosea’s similar lists: bread, water, wool, flax, oil, drink, corn, wine, oil ( Hosea 2:5 ; Hosea 2:8 f., Hosea 2:15; Hos 2:22 ). Hosea, writing for the N. kingdom, gives flax, which D omits; all the rest are characteristic of Judah. Hosea’s treatment of the subject is more spiritual; he gives the moral blessings of the relation of Jehovah and Israel in greater, the material in less, detail than D. fruit of thy body ] womb , as in A.V.; Genesis 30:2 (E). corn … wine … oil ] Deuteronomy 11:14 , Deuteronomy 12:17 , Deuteronomy 14:23 , Deuteronomy 28:51 . The terms used denote these products in a less manufactured slate. Wine is tîrôsh not yain , corn dagan not ḥiṭṭim , oil yiṣhar not shemen.

257 thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do” (Deuteronomy 28:16-20). If this does not sufficiently terrify you, then also consider Psalms 109:17-19: “As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.” Who does not tremble upon the pronouncement of these curses? Unconverted sinner, these curses rest upon you as long as you remain unconverted.