Deuteronomy 28:21

Contemporary English Version

The Lord will send terrible diseases to attack you, and you will never be well again. You will suffer with burning fever and swelling and pain until you die somewhere in the land that you captured. The Lord will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain, and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron. Your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess.

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he have consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

King James Version
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

Lexham English Bible
Yahweh will cause the plague to cling to you until it consumes you from the land that you are going to, to take possession of it.

English Standard Version
The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

New Century Version
The Lord will give you terrible diseases and destroy you from the land you are going to take.

New English Translation
The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess.

Amplified Bible
"The LORD will make the pestilence and plague cling to you until He has consumed and eliminated you from the land which you are entering to possess.

New American Standard Bible
"The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleaue vnto thee, vntill he hath consumed thee from the land, whither thou goest to possesse it.

Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

Complete Jewish Bible
" Adonai will bring on you a plague that will stay with you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

Darby Translation
Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord will send you terrible diseases until you no longer exist, until you are completely gone from the land.

George Lamsa Translation
The LORD shall send pestilence upon you, until he has consumed you from off the land which you are entering to possess.

Good News Translation
He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy.

Literal Translation
Jehovah shall make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from off the land where you are going, to possess it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE shall make the pestylence to byde longe with the, tyll he haue consumed the out of the londe, into the which thou commest to possesse it.

American Standard Version
Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.

Bible in Basic English
The Lord will send disease after disease on you, till you have been cut off by death from the land to which you are going.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Lorde shall make the pestilence cleaue vnto thee, vntyll he haue consumed thee from of the lande whyther thou goest to enioy it.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.

King James Version (1611)
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleaue vnto thee, vntill he haue consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possesse it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Lord cause the pestilence to cleave to thee, until he shall have consumed thee off the land into which thou goest to inherit it.

English Revised Version
The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.

Berean Standard Bible
The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord ioyne pestilence to thee, til he waaste thee fro the lond, to which thou schalt entre to welde.

Young's Literal Translation
`Jehovah doth cause to cleave to thee the pestilence, till He consume thee from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess it.

Update Bible Version
Yahweh will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

Webster's Bible Translation
The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave to thee, until he shall have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

World English Bible
Yahweh will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he have consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

New King James Version
The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.

New Living Translation
The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

New Life Bible
The Lord will make disease to be with you until He has destroyed you from the land you are going in to take.

New Revised Standard
The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yahweh will cause to cleave unto thee - the pestilence, - until he hath consumed thee from off the soil which thou art entering to possess.

Douay-Rheims Bible
May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

Revised Standard Version
The LORD will make the pestilence cleave to you until he has consumed you off the land which you are entering to take possession of it.

THE MESSAGE
God will infect you with The Disease, wiping you right off the land that you're going in to possess.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ Moses said: Israel, today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the Lord your God. And if you don't obey them all, he will put many curses on you. ¹⁶ Your businesses and farms will fail. ¹⁷ You won't have enough bread to eat. ¹⁸ You'll have only a few children, your crops will be small, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats won't produce many young. ¹⁹ The Lord will make you fail in everything you do. ²⁰ No matter what you try to accomplish, the Lord will confuse you, and you will feel his anger. You won't last long, and you may even meet with disaster, all because you rejected the Lord . ²¹The Lord will send terrible diseases to attack you, and you will never be well again. You will suffer with burning fever and swelling and pain until you die somewhere in the land that you captured. The Lord will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain, and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron. Your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew. ²⁴ He will send dust and sandstorms instead of rain, and you will be wiped out. ²⁵ The Lord will let you be defeated by your enemies, and you will scatter in all directions. You will be a horrible sight for the other nations to see, ²⁶ and no one will disturb the birds and wild animals while they eat your dead bodies.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Exodus 5:3, Leviticus 26:25, Numbers 14:12, Numbers 16:46-49, Numbers 25:9, 2 Samuel 24:15, Jeremiah 15:2, Jeremiah 16:4, Jeremiah 21:6, Jeremiah 21:7, Jeremiah 24:10, Matthew 26:7

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:16 - consumption 1 Kings 8:37 - in the land famine 2 Chronicles 6:28 - if there be dearth Ezekiel 14:19 - if I Micah 6:13 - I make

Cross-References

Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength, the reason for my song, because he has saved me. I praise and honor the Lord — he is my God and the God of my ancestors.

Deuteronomy 26:17
In response, you have agreed that the Lord will be your God, that you will obey all his laws and teachings, and that you will listen when he speaks to you.

Judges 11:31
and come home safely, I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first."

2 Samuel 15:8
when I was living with the Arameans in Geshur. I promised that if the Lord would bring me back to live in Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron."

2 Samuel 19:24
Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, also came to meet David. He had missed David so much that he had not taken a bath or trimmed his beard or washed his clothes the whole time David was gone.

2 Samuel 19:30
Mephibosheth replied, "He can have it all! I'm just glad you've come home safely."

2 Kings 5:17
Finally Naaman said, "If you won't accept a gift, then please let me take home as much soil as two mules can pull in a wagon. Sir, from now on I will offer sacrifices only to the Lord .

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee,.... Not only to come upon them; but to continue with them:

until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it; which shows that this respects not some particular seasons, when the pestilence came and continued awhile, and then ceased, as in the times of David; but when it became more general, and issued with other judgments in the utter consumption of them, as at the destruction of Jerusalem, both by the Babylonians and the Romans; at what times the pestilence raged and remained, until by that and other sore judgments the land was wholly depopulated.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15-19 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20-68.

Deuteronomy 28:20-26

First series of judgments. The curse of God should rest on all they did, and should issue in manifold forms of disease, in famine, and in defeat in war.

Deuteronomy 28:20

Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the original is used Deuteronomy 7:23; 1 Samuel 14:20 for the panic and disorder with which the curse of God smites His foes.

Deuteronomy 28:22

“Blasting” denotes (compare Genesis 41:23) the result of the scorching east wind; “mildew” that of an untimely blight falling on the green ear, withering it and marring its produce.

Deuteronomy 28:24

When the heat is very great the atmosphere in Palestine is often filled with dust and sand; the wind is a burning sirocco, and the air comparable to the glowing heat at the mouth of a furnace.

Deuteronomy 28:25

Shalt be removed - See the margin. The threat differs from that in Leviticus 26:33, which refers to a dispersion of the people among the pagan. Here it is meant that they should be tossed to and fro at the will of others, driven from one country to another without any certain settlement.

Deuteronomy 28:27-37

Second series of judgments on the body, mind, and outward circumstances of the sinners.

Deuteronomy 28:27

The “botch” (rather “boil;” see Exodus 9:9), the “emerods” or tumors 1Sa 5:6, 1 Samuel 5:9, the “scab” and “itch” represent the various forms of the loathsome skin diseases which are common in Syria and Egypt.

Deuteronomy 28:28

Mental maladies shah be added to those sore bodily plagues, and should Deuteronomy 28:29-34 reduce the sufferers to powerlessness before their enemies and oppressors.

Blindness - Most probably mental blindness; compare Lamentations 4:14; Zep 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:14 ff.

Deuteronomy 28:30-33

See the marginal references for the fulfillment of these judgments.

Deuteronomy 28:38-48

Third series of judgments, affecting every kind of labor and enterprise until it had accomplished the total ruin of the nation, and its subjection to its enemies.

Deuteronomy 28:39

Worms - i. e. the vine-weevil. Naturalists prescribed elaborate precautions against its ravages.

Deuteronomy 28:40

Cast ... - Some prefer “shall be spoiled” or “plundered.”

Deuteronomy 28:43, Deuteronomy 28:44

Contrast Deuteronomy 28:12 and Deuteronomy 28:13.

Deuteronomy 28:46

Forever - Yet “the remnant” Romans 9:27; Romans 11:5 would by faith and obedience become a holy seed.

Deuteronomy 28:49-58

Fourth series of judgments, descriptive of the calamities and horrors which should ensue when Israel should be subjugated by its foreign foes.

Deuteronomy 28:49

The description (compare the marginal references) applies undoubtedly to the Chaldeans, and in a degree to other nations also whom God raised up as ministers of vengeance upon apostate Israel (e. g. the Medes). But it only needs to read this part of the denunciation, and to compare it with the narrative of Josephus, to see that its full and exact accomplishment took place in the wars of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, as indeed the Jews themselves generally admit.

The eagle - The Roman ensign; compare Matthew 24:28; and consult throughout this passage the marginal references.

Deuteronomy 28:54

Evil - i. e. grudging; compare Deuteronomy 15:9.

Deuteronomy 28:57

Young one - The “afterbirth” (see the margin). The Hebrew text in fact suggests an extremity of horror which the King James Version fails to exhibit. Compare 2 Kings 6:29.

Deuteronomy 28:58-68

Fifth series of judgments. The uprooting of Israel from the promised land, and its dispersion among other nations. Examine the marginal references.

Deuteronomy 28:58

In this book - i. e. in the book of the Law, or the Pentateuch in so far as it contains commands of God to Israel. Deuteronomy is included, but not exclusively intended. So Deuteronomy 28:61; compare Deuteronomy 27:3 and note, Deuteronomy 31:9.

Deuteronomy 28:66

Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee - i. e. shall be hanging as it were on a thread, and that before thine own eyes. The fathers regard this passage as suggesting in a secondary or mystical sense Christ hanging on the cross, as the life of the Jews who would not believe in Him.

Deuteronomy 28:68

This is the climax. As the Exodus from Egypt was as it were the birth of the nation into its covenant relationship with God, so the return to the house of bondage is in like manner the death of it. The mode of conveyance, “in ships,” is added to heighten the contrast. They crossed the sea from Egypt with a high hand. the waves being parted before them. They should go back again cooped up in slaveships.

There ye shall be sold - Rather, “there shall ye offer yourselves, or be offered for sale.” This denunciation was literally fulfilled on more than one occasion: most signally when many thousand Jews were sold into slavery and sent into Egypt by Titus; but also under Hadrian, when numbers were sold at Rachel’s grave Genesis 35:19.

No man shall buy you - i. e. no one shall venture even to employ you as slaves, regarding you as accursed of God, and to be shunned in everything.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 28:21. The pestilence cleave unto thee — ידבק יהוה בך אה הדבר yadbek Yehovah becha eth haddaber, the Lord shall CEMENT the pestilence or plague to thee. Sept., Προσκολλησει Κυριος εις σε τον θανατον, The Lord will GLUE - inseparably attach, the death unto thee. How dreadful a plague it must be that ravages without intermission, any person may conceive who has ever heard the name.