“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:”
Cross references: : Lev. 26:3 He will make thee the most excellent of all people.
“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.”
When thou thinkest thyself forsaken.
“Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.”
All thine enterprises shall have good success.
“The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. storehouses: or, barns”
God will bless us, if we do our duty, and not be idle.
“And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.”
In that he is thy God, and thou art his people.
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
For nothing in the earth is profitable but when God sendeth his blessings from heaven. Deut. 15:6
“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:”
Lev. 26:14 ; Lam. 2:17 ; Mal. 2:2
“And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.”
It shall give thee no more moisture than if it were of brass.
“The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.”
Or, out of the air as dust raised with wind.
“The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. removed: Heb. for a removing”
Some read, thou shalt be a terror and fear, when they shall hear how God hath plagued thee.
“And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.”
Thou shalt be cursed both in thy life and in thy death: for the burial is a testimony of the resurrection which sign for thy wickedness thou shalt lack.
“And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.”
In things most evident and clear thou shalt lack discretion and judgment.
“Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.”
When they shall return from their captivity.
“The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.”
As he did Manasseh, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah and others.
“And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.”
Jer. 24:9 ; Jer. 25:9 ; 1 Kings 9:7
“Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.”
Or, be shaken before they be ripe.
“All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. consume: or, possess”
Under one kind he containeth all the vermin, which destroy the fruits of the land: and this is an evident token of God’s curse.
“And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.”
God’s plagues be evident signs that he is offended with thee.
“A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: of fierce: Heb. strong of face”
Or, barbarous, cruel or impudent.
“And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: body: Heb. belly”
Lev. 26:29 ; 2 Kings 6:29 ; Lam. 4:10
“The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,”
As came to pass in the days of Joram king of Israel, 2 Kings 6:20 , and when the Romans besieged Jerusalem.
“And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. young one: Heb. afterbirth”
Hunger shall so bite her, that she shall be ready to eat her child before it be delivered.
“If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;”
For he that offendeth in one, is guilty of all, James 2:10 .
“Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. bring: Heb. cause to ascend”
Declaring, that God hath infinite means to plague the wicked, besides them that are ordinary or written.
“And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.”
Signifying that it is a singular gift of God to be in a place whereas we may worship God purely, and declare our faith and religion.
“And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:”
Or, thou shall be in doubt of thy life.
“And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”
Because they were unmindful of that miracle, when the Sea gave place for them to pass through.