Deuteronomy 28:20
יְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה׀ בְּךָ אֶת־הַמְּאֵרָה אֶת־הַמְּהוּמָה וְאֶת־הַמִּגְעֶרֶת בְּכָל־מִשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה עַד הִשָּֽׁמֶדְךָ וְעַד־אֲבָדְךָ מַהֵר מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מַֽעֲלָלֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עֲזַבְתָּֽנִי׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
יְשַׁלַּ֣ח יְהוָ֣ה׀ בְּ֠ךָ אֶת־הַמְּאֵרָ֤ה אֶת־הַמְּהוּמָה֙ וְאֶת־הַמִּגְעֶ֔רֶת בְּכָל־מִשְׁלַ֥ח יָדְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תַּעֲשֶׂ֑ה עַ֣ד הִשָּֽׁמֶדְךָ֤ וְעַד־אֲבָדְךָ֙ מַהֵ֔ר מִפְּנֵ֛י רֹ֥עַ מַֽעֲלָלֶ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עֲזַבְתָּֽנִי׃
ἀποστείλαι κύριος ἐπὶ σὲ τὴν ἔνδειαν καὶ τὴν ἐκλιμίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνάλωσιν ἐμ πάντα οὗ ἀν’ ἐπιβάλῃς τὴν χεῖρά σου, ἕως ἂν ἐξολεθρεύσῃ σε, καὶ ἕως ἂν ἀπολέσῃ σε ἐν τάχει διὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματά σου, διότι ἐνκατέλιπές με.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Mittet Dominus super te famem et esuriem, et increpationem in omnia opera tua, quæ tu facies: donec conterat te, et perdat velociter, propter adinventiones tuas pessimas in quibus reliquisti me.
El Señor enviará sobre ti maldición, confusión y reprensión en todo lo que hagas, hasta que seas destruido y perezcas rápidamente, a causa de la maldad de tus obras, con las que me has abandonado.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y Jehová enviará contra ti la maldición, quebranto y asombro en todo cuanto pusieres mano é hicieres, hasta que seas destruído, y perezcas presto á causa de la maldad de tus obras, por las cuales me habrás dejado.
The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Deuteronomy 28:20 announces that Yehovah will send three afflictions — curse, confusion, and rebuke — upon every undertaking of the addressee's hand, continuing until destruction and swift perishing, because of forsaking Yehovah through evil deeds.
Key words
- ye.sha.Lach ("he will send", H7971G) — piel imperfect, an intensive future-tense verb marking the main action Yehovah initiates against the addressee.
- me.'e.Rah ("curse", H3994) — feminine singular noun, the first of three objects introduced with the direct object marker, marked definite with ha.
- mish.Lach yade.kha ("undertaking of your hand", H4916A/H3027G) — construct chain, meaning literally "the sending-forth of your hand," idiomatic for any activity one undertakes.
- hi.sha.med.kha ("your being destroyed", H8045) — niphal infinitive (passive), showing the destruction is something that happens to the addressee, not self-inflicted.
- 'a.zav.Ta.ni ("you have forsaken me", H5800A + H9030) — qal perfect with 1st-person suffix, a completed action, closing the verse with the stated cause of the preceding curses.
What the text says
The verse opens with ye.sha.Lach ("he will send", H7971G) followed by the subject Yah.weh (H3068G), then the preposition be.kha ("on you") marking the recipient. Three feminine nouns follow, each preceded by the direct object marker 'et (H0853) and the definite article: me.'e.Rah ("curse", H3994), me.hu.Mah ("confusion", H4103), and mig.'E.ret ("rebuke", H4045), the last joined by the conjunction ve. ("and", H9002). These three objects are what Yehovah sends.
The scope of this sending is specified by the construct phrase be.khol mish.lach yade.kha ("in every undertaking of your hand"), followed by the relative clause 'a.sher ta.'a.Seh ("which you will do", H6213A, qal imperfect) — indicating ongoing future activity, not a single act.
The temporal boundary of the affliction is marked by two parallel 'ad ("until", H5704) clauses using niphal and qal infinitives: hi.sha.med.kha ("your being destroyed", H8045, niphal — passive form) and 'a.va.de.kha ("your perishing", H0006, qal), the second intensified by ma.Her ("quickly", H4118B, piel infinitive). The causal clause closing the verse uses mi.pe.nei ("because of", H6440I construct) plus ro.a' ma.'a.la.Lei.kha ("the wickedness of your deeds", H7455/H4611, construct chain), followed by the relative clause 'a.sher 'a.zav.Ta.ni ("which you have forsaken me", H5800A, qal perfect) — a completed action grounding the entire declaration in past conduct.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the three Hebrew nouns me.'e.Rah ("curse"), me.hu.Mah ("confusion"), mig.'E.ret ("rebuke") as ἔνδειαν ("want"), ἐκλιμίαν ("famine"), ἀνάλωσιν ("consumption/wasting"), a different semantic set than the Hebrew terms. The Vulgate similarly renders these as famem ("hunger") and esuriem ("starvation") for the first two nouns, then increpationem ("rebuke") for the third, partially matching the Hebrew's third term but diverging on the first two.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.