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APRIL 2
not borrow. And the LORD will make you the
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head and not the tail; you shall be above only,
and not be beneath, if you heed the com-
28:1, 2 diligently obey the voice of the LORD mandments of the LORD your God, which I
your God.“Diligently obey”stressed the need command you today, and are careful to
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for complete obedience on the part of Israel. observe them. So you shall not turn aside
The people could not legally or personally from any of the words which I command you
merit God’s goodness and blessing; but their this day, to the right or the left, to go after
constant desire to obey,worship,and maintain other gods to serve them.
a right relation to Him was evidence of their 15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not
true faith in and love for Him (see 6:5).It was also obey the voice of the LORD your God, to
evidence of God’s gracious work in their hearts.
observe carefully all His commandments and
His statutes which I command you today, that
28:1 high above all nations. If Israel obeyed all these curses will come upon you and over-
the Lord, ultimate blessing would be given in take you:
the form of preeminence above all the nations 16
of the world (see 26:19).The indispensable con- “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed
dition for obtaining this blessing was salvation, shall you be in the country.
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resulting in obedience to the Lord in the form “Cursed shall be your basket and your
of keeping His commandments. This blessing kneading bowl.
will ultimately come to pass in the millennial 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and
kingdom,particularly designed to exalt Israel’s the produce of your land, the increase of your
King, the Messiah, and His nation (see Zech. cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
13:1–14:21; Rom. 11:25–27). 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in,
and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confu-
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed sion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand
shall you be in the country. to do, until you are destroyed and until you
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the perish quickly, because of the wickedness of
produce of your ground and the increase of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.
your herds, the increase of your cattle and the 21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you
offspring of your flocks. until He has consumed you from the land
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5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your which you are going to possess. The LORD
kneading bowl. will strike you with consumption, with fever,
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, with inflammation, with severe burning fever,
and blessed shall you be when you go out. with the sword, with scorching, and with
7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who mildew; they shall pursue you until you per-
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rise against you to be defeated before your ish. And your heavens which are over your
face; they shall come out against you one way head shall be bronze, and the earth which is
and flee before you seven ways. under you shall be iron. The LORD will change
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8 “The LORD will command the blessing on the rain of your land to powder and dust; from
you in your storehouses and in all to which the heaven it shall come down on you until
you set your hand, and He will bless you in the you are destroyed.
land which the LORD your God is giving you. 25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated
9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy peo- before your enemies; you shall go out one way
ple to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if against them and flee seven ways before
you keep the commandments of the LORD them; and you shall become troublesome to
your God and walk in His ways. Then all peo- all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses
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ples of the earth shall see that you are called shall be food for all the birds of the air and the
by the name of the LORD, and they shall be beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten
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afraid of you. And the LORD will grant you them away. The LORD will strike you with the
plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and
the increase of your livestock, and in the pro- with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.
duce of your ground, in the land of which the 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and
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LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The blindness and confusion of heart. And you
LORD will open to you His good treasure, the shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes
heavens, to give the rain to your land in its sea- in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways;
son, and to bless all the work of your hand. you shall be only oppressed and plundered
You shall lend to many nations, but you shall continually, and no one shall save you.
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