¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?^(A) Who gives them sight or makes them blind?^(B) Is it not I, the Lord?

⁵ See, I have taught^(A) you decrees and laws^(B) as the Lord my God commanded^(C) me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering^(D) to take possession of it. ⁶ Observe^(E) them carefully, for this will show your wisdom^(F) and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”^{(G) 7} What other nation is so great^(H) as to have their gods near^(I) them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? ⁸ And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws^(J) as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

⁹ Only be careful,^(K) and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach^(L) them to your children^(M) and to their children after them. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb,^(N) when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn^(O) to revere^(P) me as long as they live in the land^(Q) and may teach^(R) them to their children.” ¹¹ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain^(S) while it blazed with fire^(T) to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.^{(U) 12} Then the Lord spoke^(V) to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form;^(W) there was only a voice.^{(X) 13} He declared to you his covenant,^(Y) the Ten Commandments,^(Z) which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws^(AA) you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

¹⁵ You saw no form^(AB) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb^(AC) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,^{(AD) 16} so that you do not become corrupt^(AE) and make for yourselves an idol,^(AF) an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷ or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,^{(AG) 18} or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,^(AH) the moon and the stars^(AI)—all the heavenly array^(AJ)—do not be enticed^(AK) into bowing down to them and worshiping^(AL) things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,^(AM) out of Egypt,^(AN) to be the people of his inheritance,^(AO) as you now are.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me^(AP) because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²² I will die in this land;^(AQ) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.^{(AR) 23} Be careful not to forget the covenant^(AS) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol^(AT) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^(AU) a jealous God.^(AV)

²⁵ After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt^(AW) and make any kind of idol,^(AX) doing evil^(AY) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, ²⁶ I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses^(AZ) against you^(BA) this day that you will quickly perish^(BB) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter^(BC) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive^(BD) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods^(BE) of wood and stone,^(BF) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.^{(BG) 29} But if from there you seek^(BH) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart^(BI) and with all your soul.^{(BJ) 30} When you are in distress^(BK) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days^(BL) you will return^(BM) to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹ For the Lord your God is a merciful^(BN) God; he will not abandon^(BO) or destroy^(BP) you or forget^(BQ) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵ However, if you do not obey^(A) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,^(B) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:^(C)

²⁰ The Lord will send on you curses,^(H) confusion and rebuke^(I) in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin^(J) because of the evil^(K) you have done in forsaking him.^{[a] 21} The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.^{(L) 22} The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,^(M) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,^(N) with blight^(O) and mildew, which will plague^(P) you until you perish.^{(Q) 23} The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.^{(R) 24} The Lord will turn the rain^(S) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵ The Lord will cause you to be defeated^(T) before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,^(U) and you will become a thing of horror^(V) to all the kingdoms on earth.^{(W) 26} Your carcasses will be food for all the birds^(X) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^{(Y) 27} The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt^(Z) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹ At midday you will grope^(AA) about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue^(AB) you.

³⁰ You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.^(AC) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.^(AD) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.^{(AE) 31} Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,^(AF) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³ A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression^(AG) all your days.^{(AH) 34} The sights you see will drive you mad.^{(AI) 35} The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils^(AJ) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.^(AK)

³⁶ The Lord will drive you and the king^(AL) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.^(AM) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.^{(AN) 37} You will become a thing of horror,^(AO) a byword^(AP) and an object of ridicule^(AQ) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.^(AR)

³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,^(AS) because locusts^(AT) will devour^(AU) it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine^(AV) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat^(AW) them.^{(AX) 40} You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.^{(AY) 41} You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.^{(AZ) 42} Swarms of locusts^(BA) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³ The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.^{(BB) 44} They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.^(BC) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.^(BD)

⁴⁵ All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you^(BE) until you are destroyed,^(BF) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.^{(BG) 47} Because you did not serve^(BH) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly^(BI) in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst,^(BJ) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke^(BK) on your neck^(BL) until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ The Lord will bring a nation against you^(BM) from far away, from the ends of the earth,^(BN) like an eagle^(BO) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,^{(BP) 50} a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old^(BQ) or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine^(BR) or olive oil,^(BS) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.^{(BT) 52} They will lay siege^(BU) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.^(BV)

⁵³ Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.^{(BW) 54} Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, ⁵⁵ and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.^{(BX) 56} The most gentle and sensitive^(BY) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter^{(BZ) 57} the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them^(CA) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,^(CB) which are written in this book, and do not revere^(CC) this glorious and awesome name^(CD)—the Lord your God— ⁵⁹ the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt^(CE) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,^(CF) until you are destroyed.^{(CG) 62} You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky^(CH) will be left but few^(CI) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. ⁶³ Just as it pleased^(CJ) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please^(CK) him to ruin and destroy you.^(CL) You will be uprooted^(CM) from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴ Then the Lord will scatter^(CN) you among all nations,^(CO) from one end of the earth to the other.^(CP) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.^{(CQ) 65} Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place^(CR) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes^(CS) weary with longing, and a despairing heart.^{(CT) 66} You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.^{(CU) 68} The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.^(CV) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi,^[a]” she told them. “Call me Mara,^[b] because the Almighty^[c](A) has made my life very bitter.^(B)

²¹ I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.^(A) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted^[a] me;^(B) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”