Deuteronomy 28:15

If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, concluding his covenant address before they cross into Canaan. He announces that covenant obedience or disobedience will directly trigger the blessings or curses he is enumerating.

The words — The conditional particle אִם־ (im) frames the stipulation, while תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה (tishma beqol Yahweh) literally means "you will listen to the voice of Yahweh." The infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor), rendered "carefully following," denotes the active preservation and observance of the statutes.

The thread — This conditional pattern repeats in Deuteronomy 28:2, which ties blessings to obeying God's voice. It aligns with the warning in Malachi 2:2 that failure to listen and honor God's name brings a curse, while the immediate context in Deuteronomy 28:14 and 28:16 brackets this verse with commands against idolatry and the specific urban and rural curses.

Why it lands — The text states that the coming curses are the direct result of failing to obey and preserve God's commandments. It requires the reader to accept that covenant standing depends on active compliance with divine instruction rather than passive affiliation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְהָיָ֗הve./ha.Yahand/ it will be אִם־'im-if לֹ֤אlo'not תִשְׁמַע֙tish.Ma'you will listen בְּקוֹל֙be./kOlto/ [the] voice of יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your לִשְׁמֹ֤רli/sh.Morto/ take care לַעֲשׂוֹת֙la./'a.sOtto/ observe אֶת־'et-<obj.>כָּל־kol-all מִצְוֹתָ֣יוmitz.vo.Ta/vcommandments/ his וְחֻקֹּתָ֔יוve./chu.ko.Ta/vand/ statutes/ his אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.Sherwhich אָנֹכִ֥י'a.no.KhiI מְצַוְּךָ֖me.tza.ve./Kha[am] commanding/ you הַיּ֑וֹםhai./Yomthis/ day וּבָ֧אוּu./Va.'uand/ they will come עָלֶ֛יךָ'a.Lei./khaon/ you כָּל־kol-all הַקְּלָל֥וֹתha./ke.la.Lotthe/ curses הָאֵ֖לֶּהha./'E.leh<the>/ these וְהִשִּׂיגֽוּךָ׃ve./hi.si.Gu./khaand/ they will overtake/ you

King James Version

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord 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:

Cross-references

Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.
Deuteronomy 28:2 And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
Lamentations 2:17 The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.
Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
Leviticus 26:14 If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
Deuteronomy 29:20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven
Daniel 9:11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.
Joshua 23:15 But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.
Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Galatians 3:10 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”