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Easy-to-Read Version

Deuteronomy 28:20

"If you do evil and turn away from the Lord , he will make bad things happen to you. You will have frustration and trouble in everything you do. He will continue to do this until you are quickly and completely destroyed. He will do this because you turned away from him and left him.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Backsliders;   Disobedience to God;   Fear of God;   Holy Spirit;   Idolatry;   Judgments;   Obedience;   Reprobacy;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Faithfulness-Unfaithfulness;   Forsaking God;   The Topic Concordance - Curses;   Destruction;   Disobedience;   Forsaking;   Perishing;   Pestilence;   Wickedness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Forsaking God;   Obedience to God;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gerizim;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Farming;   Nature;   Water;   Weather;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Blessing;   Command, Commandment;   Curse, Accursed;   Destroy, Destruction;   Disease;   Israel;   Jeremiah, Theology of;   Obedience;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Faithfulness of God;   Jews;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Sadducees;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Covenant;   Evil;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Perdition;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Plagues of egypt;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Captivity;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Peculiarities of the Law of Moses;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hand;   Vex;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Job, the Book of;   Tokaḥah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.
Hebrew Names Version
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, whereby you have forsaken me.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
"Yahweh will send upon you the curse, the panic, and the threat in everything that you undertake, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly because of the evil of your deeds in that you have forsaken me.
English Standard Version
"The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
New Century Version
The Lord will send you curses, confusion, and punishment in everything you do. You will be destroyed and suddenly ruined because you did wrong when you left him.
New English Translation
"The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me.
Amplified Bible
"The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed, perishing quickly because of the evil of your deeds, because you have turned away from Me.
New American Standard Bible
"The LORD will send against you curses, panic, and rebuke, in everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The Lorde shall sende vpon thee cursing, trouble, & shame, in all that which thou settest thine hand to do, vntil thou be destroyed, and perish quickely, because of the wickednesse of thy workes whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Legacy Standard Bible
"Yahweh will send upon you the curse, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you send forth your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.
Contemporary English Version
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 .
Complete Jewish Bible
" Adonai will send on you curses, disasters and frustration in everything you set out to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of your evil actions in abandoning me.
Darby Translation
Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all the business of thy hand which thou doest, until thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
George Lamsa Translation
The LORD shall send upon you ruin, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of your evil doings, because you have forsaken me.
Good News Translation
"If you do evil and reject the Lord , he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed.
Literal Translation
Jehovah shall send cursing on you, trouble and rebuke in all that you set your hand, all which you will do, until you are destroyed, or until you quickly perish, because of the badness of your doings by which you have forsakenMe.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE shal sende in to the, consuminge, and complayninge, and cursynge, in all that thou takest in hande to do, tyll he haue destroyed the & shortly broughte to the naughte, because of thy wicked inuencions, in that thou hast forsaken me.
American Standard Version
Jehovah will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Bible in Basic English
The Lord will send on you cursing and trouble and punishment in everything to which you put your hand, till sudden destruction overtakes you; because of your evil ways in which you have been false to me.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Lorde shal sende vpon thee cursing, destruction, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand to and that thou doest, vntyll he destroy thee, and bryng thee to naught quickly, because of the wickednesse of thyne inuentions, and because thou hast forsaken me.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken Me.
King James Version (1611)
The Lord shall send vpon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand vnto, for to doe, vntill thou be destroyed, and vntill thou perish quickely, because of the wickednesse of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Lord send upon thee want, and famine, and consumption of all things on which thou shalt put thy hand, until he shall have utterly destroyed thee, and until he shall have consumed thee quickly because of thine evil devices, because thou hast forsaken me.
English Revised Version
The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Berean Standard Bible
The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord schal sende on thee hungur, and thurst, and blamyng in to alle thi werkis whiche thou schalt do, til he al to-breke thee, and leese swiftli, for thi werste fyndyngis, in whiche thou hast forsake me.
Young's Literal Translation
`Jehovah doth send on thee the curse, the trouble, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of thy hand which thou dost, till thou art destroyed, and till thou perish hastily, because of the evil of thy doings [by] which thou hast forsaken Me.
Update Bible Version
Yahweh will send on you cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, whereby you have forsaken me.
Webster's Bible Translation
The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou undertakest to perform, until thou shalt be destroyed, and until thou shalt perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings by which thou hast forsaken me.
World English Bible
Yahweh 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, whereby you have forsaken me.
New King James Version
"The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.
New Living Translation
"The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.
New Life Bible
"The Lord will send upon you curses, trouble and sharp words in all you try to do, until you are destroyed. You will be quick to die, because of the sinful things you do, and because you have turned away from Me.
New Revised Standard
The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yahweh will send upon thee cursing, confusion and rebuke, in all whereunto thou settest thy hand that thou mayest do it, - until thou he destroyed and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.
Revised Standard Version
"The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your doings, because you have forsaken me.
THE MESSAGE
God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on everything you try to do until you've been destroyed and there's nothing left of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.

Contextual Overview

15 "But if you don't listen to what the Lord your God tells you—if you don't obey all his commands and laws that I tell you today—then all these bad things will happen to you: 16 "The Lord will curse you in the city and in the field. 17 He will curse you with empty baskets and pans. 18 He will curse you, and you will not have many children. He will curse your land, and you will not have good crops. He will curse your animals, and they will not have many babies. He will curse your calves and lambs. 19 He will curse you at all times in everything you do. 20 "If you do evil and turn away from the Lord , he will make bad things happen to you. You will have frustration and trouble in everything you do. He will continue to do this until you are quickly and completely destroyed. He will do this because you turned away from him and left him. 21 The Lord will send you terrible diseases until you no longer exist, until you are completely gone from the land. 22 The Lord will punish you with diseases, fever, and swelling. He will send you terrible heat and you will have no rain. Your crops will die from the heat and disease. All these bad things will happen until you are destroyed! 23 There will be no clouds in the sky—the sky will look like polished brass. And the ground under you will be hard like iron. 24 The Lord will not send rain—only sand and dust will fall from the sky. It will come down on you until you are destroyed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

send: Psalms 7:11, Malachi 2:2

vexation: 1 Samuel 14:20, Psalms 80:4-16, Isaiah 28:19, Isaiah 30:17, Isaiah 51:20, Isaiah 66:15, Zechariah 14:12, Zechariah 14:13, John 3:36, 1 Thessalonians 2:16

for to do: Heb. which thou wouldest do

until thou be: Deuteronomy 4:26, Leviticus 26:31-33, Leviticus 26:38, Joshua 23:16

Reciprocal: Judges 2:14 - the anger Jeremiah 1:16 - who have Jeremiah 19:4 - they have Zechariah 1:6 - according to our ways

Cross-References

Genesis 28:1
Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then Isaac gave him a command and said, "You must not marry a Canaanite woman.
Genesis 28:2
So leave this place and go to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father. Laban, your mother's brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters.
Genesis 28:3
I pray that God All-Powerful will bless you and give you many children. I pray that you will become the father of a great nation
Genesis 28:7
Esau learned that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Paddan Aram.
Genesis 28:10
Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran.
Genesis 28:12
Jacob had a dream. He dreamed there was a ladder that was on the ground and reached up into heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder.
Genesis 28:15
"I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised."
Genesis 28:20
Then Jacob made a promise. He said, "If God will be with me, and if he will protect me on this trip, and if he gives me food to eat and clothes to wear,
Genesis 31:13
I am the God who came to you at Bethel, and there you made an altar, poured olive oil on it, and made a promise to me. Now I want you to be ready to go back to the country where you were born.'"
1 Samuel 1:11
She made a special promise to God and said, " Lord All-Powerful, you can see how sad I am. Remember me. Don't forget me. If you will give me a son, I will give him to you. He will be yours his whole life, and as a Nazirite, he will not drink wine or strong drink, and no one will ever cut his hair."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord shall send upon thee cursing,.... Which is either a general word for all that follows, or rather, since that had been expressed before in various instances, this may denote some particular judgment. Jarchi interprets it of penury, of want of all good things, extreme poverty, so as to be reduced to the utmost necessity, and as to stand in need of the common comforts and supports of life, and even to have their blessings and mercies turned into curses; the consequence of which must needs be

vexation; trouble, distress, and anguish of spirit:

and rebuke; this may well be considered as a rebuke and correction in Providence for sins committed, to awaken to a sense and acknowledgment of them, and to repentance for them:

in all that thou settest thine hand to do; nothing done should prosper, to relieve them under their pressing wants, a curse attending all their efforts, and so sad disappointment follows; and all as a just rebuke for their many sins: and this would be their case more or less,

until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; through famine, and want of the common necessaries of life; as at the sieges of Samaria and Jerusalem, by the kings of Syria, Assyria, and Babylon:

because of the wickedness of thy doings, because thou hast forsaken me; their several immoralities and impieties, and particularly their idolatry, which was a forsaking the worship of the true God, and following idols; an iniquity to be punished by the judge, and of all things the most provoking to the Lord.

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 28:20. Cursing — This shall be thy state; vexation - grief, trouble, and anguish of heart; rebuke - continual judgments, and marks of God's displeasure.


 
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