Deuteronomy 28:16
Deuteronomy 28:16 in Multiple Translations
You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
You will be cursed in the town and cursed in the field.
You will be cursed when you're in the town; you will be cursed when you're in the countryside.
Cursed shalt thou bee in the towne, and cursed also in the fielde.
'Cursed [art] thou in the city, and cursed [art] thou in the field.
You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.
He will curse you when you are in the cities and he will curse you when you are working in the fields.
Berean Amplified Bible — Deuteronomy 28:16
BAB
Word Study
Hover over any word to see its amplified meaning. Click a word to explore its full definition and translation comparisons.
Amplified text is generated using scripting to tie together English translations for comparison. Always refer to the core BSB translation and original Hebrew/Greek text for accuracy. Anomalies may occur.
Deuteronomy 28:16 Interlinear (Deep Study)
BIB
HEB
אָר֥וּר
אַתָּ֖ה
בָּ/עִ֑יר
וְ/אָר֥וּר
אַתָּ֖ה
בַּ/שָּׂדֶֽה
אָר֥וּר
ʼârar
H779
to curse
V-Qal-Inf-c
אַתָּ֖ה
ʼattâh
H859
you(m.s.)
Pron
בָּ/עִ֑יר
ʻîyr
H5892
excitement
Prep | N-fs
וְ/אָר֥וּר
ʼârar
H779
to curse
Conj | V-Qal-Inf-c
אַתָּ֖ה
ʼattâh
H859
you(m.s.)
Pron
בַּ/שָּׂדֶֽה
sâdeh
H7704
field
Prep | N-ms
Hebrew Word Study
Select any word above to explore its original meaning, root, and usage across Scripture.
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Hebrew Word Reference — Deuteronomy 28:16
אָר֥וּר
ʼârar
H779
"to curse"
V-Qal-Inf-c
To curse someone or something, like God cursing the serpent in Genesis 3. It means to execrate or wish harm upon someone, often used in the context of punishment or judgment. This word appears in various biblical accounts.
Definition: 1) to curse 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to curse 1a2) cursed be he (participle used as in curses) 1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed 1c)(Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on 1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed
Usage: Occurs in 52 OT verses. KJV: [idiom] bitterly curse. See also: Genesis 3:14; Deuteronomy 27:23; Psalms 119:21.
אַתָּ֖ה
ʼattâh
H859
"you(m.s.)"
Pron
You is the translation of a Hebrew word used to address someone directly, like when God says you to someone in the Bible. It can be singular or plural, and is often translated as thee, thou, or ye.
Definition: you (second pers. sing. masc.)
Usage: Occurs in 997 OT verses. KJV: thee, thou, ye, you. See also: Genesis 3:11; Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 14:1.
בָּ/עִ֑יר
ʻîyr
H5892
"excitement"
Prep | N-fs
In the Bible, this word refers to a city or town, often a place with a wall or a watchman. It is used to describe a settlement or encampment, like the city of Ai, which is mentioned in the book of Joshua. The word is used to identify specific locations in the Bible.
Definition: 1) excitement, anguish 1a) of terror
Usage: Occurs in 936 OT verses. KJV: Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town. See also: Genesis 4:17; Deuteronomy 3:6; Joshua 14:12.
וְ/אָר֥וּר
ʼârar
H779
"to curse"
Conj | V-Qal-Inf-c
To curse someone or something, like God cursing the serpent in Genesis 3. It means to execrate or wish harm upon someone, often used in the context of punishment or judgment. This word appears in various biblical accounts.
Definition: 1) to curse 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to curse 1a2) cursed be he (participle used as in curses) 1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed 1c)(Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on 1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed
Usage: Occurs in 52 OT verses. KJV: [idiom] bitterly curse. See also: Genesis 3:14; Deuteronomy 27:23; Psalms 119:21.
אַתָּ֖ה
ʼattâh
H859
"you(m.s.)"
Pron
You is the translation of a Hebrew word used to address someone directly, like when God says you to someone in the Bible. It can be singular or plural, and is often translated as thee, thou, or ye.
Definition: you (second pers. sing. masc.)
Usage: Occurs in 997 OT verses. KJV: thee, thou, ye, you. See also: Genesis 3:11; Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 14:1.
בַּ/שָּׂדֶֽה
sâdeh
H7704
"field"
Prep | N-ms
A field or land is what this word represents, often referring to a flat area of land used for cultivation or as a habitat for wild animals, as described in the book of Genesis. It can also mean a plain or a country, as opposed to a mountain or sea. This term is used in the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Definition: 1) field, land 1a) cultivated field 1b) of home of wild beasts 1c) plain (opposed to mountain) 1d) land (opposed to sea)
Usage: Occurs in 309 OT verses. KJV: country, field, ground, land, soil, [idiom] wild. See also: Genesis 2:5; Deuteronomy 28:38; Nehemiah 12:29.
Study Notes — Deuteronomy 28:16
Show Verse Quote Highlights
- Context
- Cross References
- Deuteronomy 28:16 Summary
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Reflection Questions
- Gill's Exposition on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Trapp's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Ellicott's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Cambridge Bible on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Whedon's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
- Sermons on Deuteronomy 28:16
Context — The Curses of Disobedience
14Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.
15If, 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:
16You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. 18The fruit of your womb will be cursed, as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malachi 3:9–12 | You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts. |
| 2 | Proverbs 3:33 | The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous. |
| 3 | Joel 1:4 | What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten. |
| 4 | Jeremiah 14:18 | If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’” |
| 5 | Haggai 1:9–11 | You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.” |
| 6 | Joel 2:3 | Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them. |
| 7 | Lamentations 2:11–22 | My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. They cry out to their mothers: “Where is the grain and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives fade away in the arms of their mothers. What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can ever heal you? The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading. All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!” 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. The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest. Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street. Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion. You summoned my attackers on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared. |
| 8 | 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. |
| 9 | Joel 1:8–18 | Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth. Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up. Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and all the residents of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes— joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away. How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering. |
| 10 | Haggai 2:16–17 | from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty. I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD. |
Deuteronomy 28:16 Summary
[Deuteronomy 28:16 means that if we disobey God's commands, every part of our lives will be affected by His judgment, whether we are in the city or in the country. This is because God wants us to follow His ways and trust in His faithfulness, as seen in Deuteronomy 7:9-10. When we disobey, we can face negative consequences, but when we obey, we can receive God's blessings, as promised in Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and Psalm 37:3-7. By following God's commands and trusting in His faithfulness, we can live a life that is pleasing to Him and receive His blessings.]
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to be cursed in the city and in the country?
To be cursed in the city and in the country, as stated in Deuteronomy 28:16, means that every aspect of life will be affected by God's judgment, whether in urban or rural settings, as a result of disobedience to God's commandments, as seen in Deuteronomy 28:15.
Is this curse only for the Israelites, or does it apply to everyone?
While Deuteronomy 28:16 is specifically addressed to the Israelites, the principle of blessings and curses for obedience and disobedience is a universal theme throughout the Bible, as seen in Leviticus 26:1-46 and Jeremiah 11:1-17.
How can we avoid this curse and instead receive God's blessings?
To avoid the curse and receive God's blessings, we must carefully follow all of God's commandments and statutes, as stated in Deuteronomy 28:13-14, and trust in God's faithfulness, as promised in Deuteronomy 7:9-10 and Psalm 37:3-7.
What is the significance of the city and the country being cursed?
The city and the country represent all areas of life, indicating that God's judgment will be comprehensive, affecting every aspect of our lives, including our work, our relationships, and our daily activities, as seen in Deuteronomy 28:16-18.
Reflection Questions
- How do I ensure that I am following God's commandments in every area of my life, so I can avoid the curse and receive God's blessings?
- What are some ways that I can trust in God's faithfulness and provision, even in difficult circumstances, as seen in Psalm 37:3-7?
- How can I apply the principle of obedience and disobedience to my own life, and what are the potential consequences of my choices, as seen in Galatians 6:7-8?
- What does it mean to be 'cursed' in a spiritual sense, and how can I seek God's forgiveness and restoration, as seen in 1 John 1:9 and Psalm 51:1-17?
Gill's Exposition on Deuteronomy 28:16
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 28:16
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. No JFB commentary on these verses.
Trapp's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
Deuteronomy 28:16 Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. Ver. 16.
Ellicott's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
(16-19) Cursed. . . .—Here we have the counterpart of Deu 28:3-6, inclusive. The only difference is in the position of “the basket and the store” which come one place earlier in the curses than in the blessings.
Cambridge Bible on Deuteronomy 28:16
15–46. The Curses The opening Deuteronomy 28:15-20, correspond to the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:1-7, except that there are no antitheses to Deuteronomy 28:1 b and Deuteronomy 28:2 b, and that the curse on basket and kneading-bowl precedes that on fruit of thy body, etc. Then the Discourse leaves the limits it had observed in the remainder of the blessings, Deuteronomy 28:8-14, and while here and there it gives the exact contrast of these blessings (cp. Deuteronomy 28:23 f. with Deuteronomy 28:12 a, Deuteronomy 28:25 with Deuteronomy 28:7 b, Deuteronomy 28:37 and Deuteronomy 28:46 with Deuteronomy 28:10, Deuteronomy 28:43 f. with Deuteronomy 28:12 b, Deuteronomy 28:13 a), the rest is a detailed antithesis to the summary blessing in 11; and diseases, calamities to man and beast, failures of seed and harvest, losses of children and property, and even exile, are set forth in detail. The opinion that Deuteronomy 28:26-37 and Deuteronomy 28:41 are later additions is plausible, not because they contain predictions of exile but because they elaborate the rest; and this rest, Deuteronomy 28:21-25 (or 26), Deuteronomy 28:38-40 and Deuteronomy 28:42-46, more nearly corresponds to Deuteronomy 28:8-14. In view of the repeating style of D it is impossible to say whether some even of those vv. are original or expansions; there are no sufficient grounds for the detailed analysis by Steuernagel.
Whedon's Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:16
16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.
Sermons on Deuteronomy 28:16
| Sermon | Description | |
|---|---|---|
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(Saved Through the Fire) 04 - Love & Righteousness by Milton Green | In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of loving and encouraging one another, as words can hurt. He expresses a desire to share the teachings with the Pope, emphasiz |
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Money in Heaven by Charles S. Price | Charles S. Price preaches on the parable of the dishonest steward, emphasizing the importance of using money wisely to secure blessings in the Kingdom of Heaven. He highlights that |
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Tenth River -- Covetousness by Martin Knapp | Martin Knapp delivers a powerful sermon on the sin of covetousness, emphasizing how it is an inordinate desire to possess what belongs to others, leading to various destructive beh |
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It Ends With Me! Breaking Bloodline Curses by Vlad Savchuk | Vlad Savchuk delivers a powerful message on breaking generational curses, emphasizing that many struggles stem from ancestral demons that are passed down through family lines. He p |
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Home Blessings by C.H. Spurgeon | C.H. Spurgeon emphasizes the significance of a God-fearing household in his sermon 'Home Blessings,' illustrating that divine protection and blessings are bestowed upon homes led b |
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God Will Resore All Your Wasted Years by David Wilkerson | In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of two verses from the book of Joel in the Bible. These verses describe the destructive power of worms and insects that devou |
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Why Revival Tarries by H.T. De Villiers | In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the challenges and temptations faced when praying for revival in a world filled with iniquity. He shares his personal experience of feeling |