PERMITTING AND PROHIBITTING

The setting was a garden; the time -- before man's fall; the players, a man, a woman, and a serpent. You know the story. God creates Adam in his own image and likeness, gives him dominion over all the earth and everything in it. That includes serpents, too. Adam's wife, Eve, was standing next to a tree one day. The serpent slithered up and a conversation ensued. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Gen. 3:1-5, NIV).

The snare was laid. Eve took the bait. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Gen. 3:6, NIV). The way the passage reads indicates that Adam was on the scene the whole time, permitting the conversation between the serpent and his God-given wife. You know the rest of the story. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Gen. 3:7, NIV). Then the consequence of their sin got them booted from the Garden of Eden. “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24, NIV). Men have been tilling the ground and women have been having pain in childbirth ever since! All because the first man didn't use his God-given dominion to prohibit the serpent from even speaking that day.

Six thousand years have come and gone, and the story hasn't changed much. Modern Adamic man (you and me) still falls for the same subtle trick of the serpent on a daily basis – permitting him to enter the garden of our lives, and the lives of our loved ones. How can this be? God’s prophet Hosea answers this question: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" (Hos. 4:6, NIV).

IN CHRIST YOU HAVE DOMINION OVER THE SERPENT

Jesus restored Adamic man's dominion over the serpent. “And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy, and to walk among serpents and scorpions and to crush them. Nothing shall injure you!” (Lk. 10:19, LVB). The word "power" here is the Greek word "authority" (Strong’s # 1849, exousia). It means "delegated influence – authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength." This delegated influence and strength over the devil was the same authority God gave to the first Adam in the Garden before the fall. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’” (Gen. 1:26, NASB). The Hebrew word here for rule over is Strong’s #7287, radah. It means to "have dominion, prevail against, reign, make to rule, ruler over, take."

Originally, God gave Adam authority to rule over the serpent. When Adam used this authority over the serpent, the serpent had to obey. For example, if Adam told the serpent, "Get out!" all of Heaven backed Adam's voice. The serpent had to leave. Adam prohibited the serpent from staying in the area. Adam had dominion over his God-given domain, and the serpent was under Adam's authority; under his feet. On the other hand, when Adam allowed the serpent free reign in the Garden, the serpent was free to go wherever, and to do whatever, Adam permitted him to do. This is how the fall of man occurred. Adam simply permitted it! He should have prohibited it, but he failed to exercise his God-given authority. We often make the same mistake today. We permit what God has prohibited and prohibit was God has permitted. In so doing, we give the crafty serpent (who hasn't learned any new tricks in six millennia) permission to slither around in our life and the lives of our loved ones. Why? Because we have been "destroyed for lack of knowledge." If we don't know we have authority from God, we can't utilize it. In the following paragraphs, we are going to learn afresh the authority Jesus regained for us at the Cross of Calvary. Every Believer now has authority over the devil in Jesus’ Name. After this teaching is finished, you'll know how to use the keys of the kingdom, prohibiting Satan and his works and permitting Heaven's blessings into the garden of your life. Remember, little keys unlock big doors.

KEYS TO PROHIBIT AND KEYS TO PERMIT

Before Jesus went to the Cross he gave a prophecy that would become active after his resurrection. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things God does not allow, and the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows” (Mt. 16:19, NCV).

Jesus gave us "delegated authority" to prohibit and permit. What exactly does this mean? It means that whatever YOU prohibit on earth, that God has prohibited in Heaven will be prohibited, and whatever YOU allow (permit) on earth, that God has permitted, will be permitted. Said another way, if God says it's prohibited and we agree with him, then it is so. If God says it is permitted and we agree with him, then it is so. Why, because he has given us "the keys to the kingdom, and whatever WE bind (prohibit) on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatever WE loose (permit) on earth will be loosed in Heaven!" (vs. 19, RSV). So, you see, we have been given dominion over our God-given domain. God has entrusted you as ruler over the garden of your life just like Adam. If you use your authority over the serpent, prohibiting him from entering your life, God is pleased. If you permit the devil entrance into your life, God is not pleased, but he will allow it. Why? For the same reason he allowed Adam to do it. God has given us free will. And he'll never take it back from us.

The devil tempted Jesus three times. Jesus used his dominion over the serpent and said, "No, for it is written!" (see Mt. 4:1-11 & Lk. 4:1-14). God's written word gave Jesus the authority over the devil. Jesus "spoke the word" to prohibit the devil from remaining in the garden of his life. Jesus is our example. In fact, the reason Jesus came into this earth was "to destroy the works of the devil" (1Jn. 3:8). And that is our mission, too! "And these signs will follow them who believe, In my Name they shall cast out devils..." (Mk. 16:17, KJV). Another word for casting out is expelling. God has declared that His children will be earmarked by expelling devils! This is part of our job as Christians, our mandate from Jesus. Nevertheless, if we permit the devil to stay, God will permit it. However, if we prohibit the devil from staying, God will enforce our decision for him to go. Why? Because God has already prohibited him from entering our lives through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Jesus won back the keys of death and hell at Calvary. Thus, if we are in agreement with Heaven on this matter, God will then make it happen, enforcing his decree by the power of His Holy Spirit and His angelic host. If we are not in agreement with Heaven on this matter, then God will allow anything we will allow. It hurts His heart to see us give our dominion back over to the devil, repeating Adam’s error in the garden, but He permits the consequences of our free will.

GOD WILL ALLOW WHATEVER YOU WILL ALLOW

God will allow whatever you will allow. Let me give you some examples. If you want to eat three pints of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream, God won't stop you, even though the Bible prohibits gluttony. "Let your moderation be known unto all men." (Phil. 4:5, KJV). If you want to get drunk, God will allow you to drink yourself silly, even though there is a prohibition in Heaven about it. "Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path..." (Eph. 5:18, LVB). If you want to have sex outside of marriage, God will allow it, even though Heaven has prohibited it (1Cor. 5:9, 6:15-20; Rev. 21:8, 22:15). If you want to cheat on your taxes, God will allow it, even though He has clearly said, "Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's…” (Mt. 22:17-21, SIM). God will allow whatever you will allow. The problem is that each one of these things comes with a curse attached to it. Gluttony will cause us to die young, not fulfilling our commission in the earth. Drunkenness will cause us to do a number of foolish things we will regret in the morning, and may even result in a car accident and the death of others.

We rarely think of these things when we permit the first drink. We don't think about sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy when we start with the first kiss. We don't consider Hepatitis or HIV when we put that needle in our arm to get high or get a tattoo in prison. We fail to consider the consequences attached to each thing God has prohibited in Heaven. Then we wonder why God allowed "the devil to make us do it!" He didn't allow it, we did! We permitted what God prohibited, and the devil did what he does best. "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"' (1Pet. 5:8, RSV). His desire is to get us to eat from the tree of the garden which God has prohibited, so we will bring a curse into our lives. The Christian has full liberty to do whatever he wants, but not without consequences. "I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop when I want to" (1Cor. 6:12, LVB).

Here we can see how the devil regains dominion over us. He entices us to do something that gives him authority into our lives. If we sell drugs, we have given him dominion to put us in prison. If we steal, we have given him dominion, in certain countries, to have our hand cut off. The devil loves it when someone loses a hand! He dances with glee and says, “Look what I did! I tricked another one of God's chosen kids. Now he's five fingers short of a full set!" Demons laugh together in the spirit realm when someone goes to an early death. They do cartwheels when someone gets into a fistfight. They high-five one another when someone in a drunken stupor crashes their car. If one or two die in the accident they give each other gifts and celebrate. They've worked years and years to accomplish such a feat! Human beings are difficult to kill, because so many Christians are in prayer, prohibiting the devil from gaining full access. When we permit the devil access into our lives through sin, God in His mercy, raises up intercessors to pray for us, thwarting or minimizing the devil's ability to destroy our lives. How many times have you survived a situation that should have resulted in your death? Car accidents, drug overdoses, drive-by shootings, a potential mugging that was thwarted. How about that credit card application you filled out and lied on. Did you know that is a federal crime? "Oh I won't get caught. It's just a little white lie." It's punishable by up to five years in prison; just because you forgot to cross your "t’s". God's grace preserves us.

Chuck Colson came to a prison in Colorado to preach one year. He opened his sermon with these words, "Welcome sinners, those who got caught and those who did not." The guards acknowledged Chuck's statement. How true it is. Somebody has been praying for us, prohibiting the devil from doing major damage. However, if we continue to permit Satan access into our lives by perpetual sin, the devil will gain dominion over us. It's a spiritual wrestling match at times. But, we can win like Jesus did, by prohibiting him, saying, "No Satan, for it is written!" Then quote the word of God to him. James tells us how, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (Jas. 4:7, KJV). It's God's promise. It's Heaven's will. Whatever YOU permit God will permit, whatever YOU prohibit, God will prohibit. You have the keys! Use them or lose them to the devil. If you let the devil in the car to ride, the next thing you know he'll be driving. That's his nature. He wants dominion over you, your family and your neighborhood. It's time to take back what the devil has stolen. Let's find out how...

IF WE CONFESS OUR SIN, GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE US

"But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. [And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.]" (1Jn. 1:9, LVB). The first step in getting back what the devil stole is to confess our sin before God. God will then forgive us. Once God has forgiven us, we are back in right standing with God and Christ. Repentance restores our God-given authority over the devil. When we repent (turn from our sin and turn to God), we break ties with the sin that opened the door to the devil. Then we have restored authority from Heaven, authority to kick Satan out of our garden. He has no God-given place in our lives. "…and give no opportunity to the devil" (Eph. 4:27, RSV). Jesus’ blood sacrifice for you and me broke sin’s curse forever. God has prohibited Satan from having a place in our lives. Therefore, in agreeing with God, we prohibit (bind) Satan in the Name of Jesus and cast (expel) him out with the Word of God. "No Satan, I will not steal anymore, Jesus has set me free from that lifestyle. All my needs are met according to God’s glory by Christ Jesus." "No Satan, I will not look at pornography. For it is written, thou shall not even look upon a woman with lust in your heart;" "No Satan, I will not do drugs. For it is written, whom the Son of God sets free is free indeed, and Jesus has come into my life and given me a new nature; therefore I am free indeed! Satan, you must leave me and my life now in the Name of Jesus. I prohibit you from entering my life through this or any other avenue from this day forward. Now, be gone and do not return! The blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all sin."

PERMITTING RESTORATION FROM HEAVEN

Prohibiting the devil and his temptations is one side of the coin. The other side is permitting God's restoration in our lives. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;" (Is. 1:19, NIV). The first step in restoration from God is to be willing to receive (permit) God's blessing. Often we don't feel like we should be restored, forgiven, etc... Nevertheless, God's grace abounds in even greater measure where sin has abounded. This means that God will restore to you all that the devil has stolen (see Joel 2:24-25). He will turn again your captivity and give you double for your trouble (Zech. 9:12). He will even "make you a thousand times more" (Deut. 1: 10-11). God is looking for “…people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them." (2Chron. 16:9, LVB). Our job is to be willing and obedient. Just as we had to permit the devil into our domain, we also have to permit God's restoration in our lives. We do this by agreeing with God. Then Heaven’s doors open and pour down grace and blessings in such abundance that we don’t have arms big enough to receive them all (Mal. 3:10-11).

If God has forgiven us, He promises to restore us too. This is why Jesus died on the Cross. If we got sick from dirty needle usage, and have repented and kicked the devil of drugs out of our lives, then God wants to get glory by healing us (Ps. 103:3:). The same God that forgives all our sins is the same God who heals all our diseases. Every time we see healing in the Scriptures, we see the promise of forgiveness of sin. They go hand in glove. Our job as forgiven Christians is to permit God's restoration in our lives. This promise is for all who are willing AND obedient. Just as we must resist the devil against sin, we must yield to God in righteousness. It's time to use our God-given keys to the kingdom of Heaven and permit His blessings of restoration into our lives.

RELEASING HEAVEN'S BLESSINGS

"And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work." (2Cor. 9:8, RSV). If you are in Christ, ALL God's blessings are available to you, if you permit them. We have no problem believing that all the curses of the devil are available to the disobedient soul. Why should we have a problem believing that all God's blessings are available to the repentant and now obedient Christian? Our faith in God should be at least as strong as it has been in the devil! A quick lesson.

BLESSINGS AND CURSES

The Book of Deuteronomy outlines an entire chapter on blessings and curses for the Children of Israel (see Deut. 28 and special appendix at end of this teaching). The first fourteen verses reveal the 21 blessings of obedience. These blessings include a laundry list of every good thing a person could desire in this life from God. Health, long life, favor, respect, finances, healthy children and an open heaven all the days of our lives. An open heaven means anything else we could need for life and godly living in Christ Jesus. "…but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing." (Psalms 34:10. LVB). The next fifty-four verses reveal the 112 curses for disobedience. They include every type of sickness, torment, and plague. Poverty, bondage (prison) and a "bronze heaven" are named as the result of the curse. A bronze heaven means God will not hear our prayers. We lose authority to permit the blessings of Heaven! However, repentance restores our God-given authority to use our keys to the kingdom. This means that if we have repented of our sin, then God has forgiven us and restored our keys to unlock Heaven's goodness and blessings into our lives. It's time to use our authority and permit the blessings of Heaven and receive total restoration. Jesus paid the price for this to be possible. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree (cross).” (Gal. 3:13, NIV). If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." (2Cor. 5:17, RSV). It's time to accept the restoration of God which Christ paid for on Calvary’s tree. It's waiting for you in the lock box of Heaven as we speak!

HEAVEN'S LOCK BOX

Heaven's lock box has many treasures waiting for us. We can access them through prayer. "Whatever you loose on earth (that God has already loosed in Heaven) will be loosed on earth" (Mt. 16:19). That means if God put it in the box for you, you can have it. (Of course, you can't loose anything into the earth that God hasn't already put there, because He's the One who makes it all possible). On the other hand, if God has put it there, but you don't use your God-given keys, then it remains there until you do. James says, “...you do not have because you do not ask” (Js. 4:2, NKJV). What is waiting for you in Heaven’s lock box? All the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Read the entire chapter. If you see a blessing in the Chapter, simply tell God that you desire to have this in your life in Jesus’ Name. This will permit into your life on earth that which Jesus has already purchased for you (through His atoning death and resurrection). If you read on in Deut. 28:15-68, and you see that you are experiencing some part of the curse of the law, and you have repented for the behavior that brought the curse into your life, then it's time to use your key of authority to prohibit the curse. For example, say, "Lord, I have repented of the sin that caused me to be sick in this area of my body. You have forgiven me. Christ redeemed me from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for me on the Cross. Therefore, I prohibit the curse from operating any longer in my life, and I permit the blessings of Abraham into my life right now in Jesus Mighty Name." Watch what occurs next as Heaven’s blessings begin to release over your life, that it might be done on earth (you) as it is in Heaven!

STAND FIRM

BLESSINGS AND CURSES FROM DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 28

Below, you will find the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 28. It outlines God’s blessings and curses. Blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The New Testament declares that the inheritance of the Blessing of Abraham has been given unto us through Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:14). This means the 21 blessings of Abraham named in the first 14 verses are ours for the asking, because Jesus paid the price for us to have them. Moreover, Christ has redeemed us from the 112 curses named in the last 54 verses. In sum, Christ has purchased our freedom from the curse and given us His inheritance of the blessings (see Gal. 3:13-14). Below you will find 21 blessings for obedience and 112 curses for disobedience. Because you are in right standing with God through Jesus Christ, you are in position to receive God’s blessings; everyone of them! Moreover, the curses no longer apply to you, because “Christ has redeemed us from the curse, having been made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is ever one that hangeth on a tree [cross of Calvary]” (Gal. 3:13). The blessings of heaven are sitting in heaven’s lockbox waiting for you to use your keys of authority to release them into the earth. This is part of what Jesus meant when he told us to pray, “that it might be done in earth as it [already] is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10). Jesus redeemed us from the curse. He paid the price at Calvary. Right before he “gave up the ghost,” he said, “It is finished!” The testimony on page 8 (from Jeremy, a prisoner set free from chronic health problems) illustrates this truth.

All the work has been done. Now, it is our responsibility to permit the blessings and prohibit the curses by using the keys Jesus gave to each one of us. “…upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: And whatsoever thou shalt bind (prohibit) on earth shall be bound (prohibited) in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted)” (Mt. 16:18-19). As you read Deuteronomy 28, ask God to show you what areas of your life He desires to release his blessings into. Then, use your God-given authority to permit these blessings into the earth at this time. Simply say, “I permit the blessing of Abraham into my life right now in Jesus’ Name.” I also encourage you to proclaim God’s word, agreeing with Heaven. Proclaim all twenty-one blessings over your life, one at a time, saying, “Because Jesus paid the price, all these blessings will come upon me. I am blessed in the city and blessed in the country…” (see page 7 for all 21 blessings from Duet. 28). Then examine the 112 curses. If you are experiencing any of these curses, then use your authority in Christ to now prohibit them from afflicting your life any longer. Boldly say, “Christ has redeemed me from the curse, therefore, I reject every curse named in this chapter in Jesus’ Mighty Name.” Then replace the curse with God’s blessing by proclaiming your freedom from the specific curse that was afflicting you. For example, “I prohibit confusion and depression from remaining in my life from this moment forward. Confusion and depression, depart from me right now in Jesus’ Mighty Name. I permit the peace and joy of God and a perfectly clear mind to fill me right now where confusion and depression used to be.” Stand firm on your freedom like Jeremy did until he got his victory. If Jeremy did it, so can you through Christ Jesus.

If the adversary tries to return, kick him out again, and again, until you are totally free. This is a spiritual battle as Paul declared in Eph. 6:10-18, and God has given us “spiritual weapons for warfare” (2Cor. 10:1-5). It’s time to use our God given authority to prohibit the works of the enemy and permit the works of God in the earth. Begin to prohibit the powers of darkness and permit the greater powers of God — His fruits, His gifts, His blessings, His strength, His wisdom, His favor, His goodness, His power to win souls to Christ, His healing, His authority to cast out demons, etc… Christ already won this battle at Calvary, now it’s our job as His Church to enforce that victory here on earth; that it might be done “in earth as it is in heaven!”

DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 28

New International Version

Chapter 28 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain 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 before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt 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 about like a blind man 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 you. 30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 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, 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 all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you. 38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land. 43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, 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. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old 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 or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege 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. 53 Because of the suffering that 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. 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. 56 The most gentle and sensitive 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 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities 58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—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 upon you all the diseases of Egypt 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, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 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. 68 The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.