The Blessings of Obedience
(Leviticus 26.3-13Deuteronomy 7.12-24)1 “If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. 2 Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours:
3 “The Lord will bless your towns and your fields.
4 “The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep.
5 “The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.
6 “The Lord will bless everything you do.
7 “The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.
8 “The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. 11 The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 12 He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. 13 The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. 14 But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods.
The Consequences of Disobedience
(Leviticus 26.14-46)15 “But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:
16 “The Lord will curse your towns and your fields.
17 “The Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.
18 “The Lord will curse you by giving you only a few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep.
19 “The Lord will curse everything you do.
20 “If you do evil and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and trouble in everything you do, until you are quickly and completely destroyed. 21 He will send disease after disease on you until there is not one of you left in the land that you are about to occupy. 22 The Lord will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die. 23 No rain will fall, and your ground will become as hard as iron. 24 Instead of rain, the Lord will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed.
25 “The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you. 26 When you die, birds and wild animals will come and eat your bodies, and there will be no one to scare them off. 27 The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure. 28 The Lord will make you lose your mind; he will strike you with blindness and confusion. 29 You will grope about in broad daylight like someone blind, and you will not be able to find your way. You will not prosper in anything you do. You will be constantly oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to help you.
30 “You will be engaged to a young woman—but someone else will marry her. You will build a house—but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard—but never eat its grapes. 31 Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given as slaves to foreigners while you look on. Every day you will strain your eyes, looking in vain for your children to return. 33 A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 Your sufferings will make you lose your mind. 35 The Lord will cover your legs with incurable, painful sores; boils will cover you from head to foot.
36 “The Lord will take you and your king away to a foreign land, where neither you nor your ancestors ever lived before; there you will serve gods made of wood and stone. 37 In the countries to which the Lord will scatter you, the people will be shocked at what has happened to you; they will make fun of you and ridicule you.
38 “You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines. 40 Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war. 42 All your trees and crops will be devoured by insects.
43 “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. 44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.
45 “All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you. 46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever. 47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts. 48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked—in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 The Lord will bring against you a nation from the ends of the earth, a nation whose language you do not know. They will swoop down on you like an eagle. 50 They will be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone, young or old. 51 They will eat your livestock and your crops, and you will starve to death. They will not leave you any grain, wine, olive oil, cattle, or sheep; and you will die. 52 They will attack every town in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and the high, fortified walls in which you trust will fall.
53 “When your enemies are besieging your towns, you will become so desperate for food that you will even eat the children that the Lord your God has given you. 54-55 Even the most refined man of noble birth will become so desperate during the siege that he will eat some of his own children because he has no other food. He will not even give any to his brother or to the wife he loves or to any of his children who are left. 56-57 Even the most refined woman of noble birth, so rich that she has never had to walk anywhere, will behave in the same way. When the enemy besieges her town, she will become so desperate for food that she will secretly eat her newborn child and the afterbirth as well. She will not share them with the husband she loves or with any of her children.
58 “If you do not obey faithfully all of God's teachings that are written in this book and if you do not honor the wonderful and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 he will send on you and on your descendants incurable diseases and horrible epidemics that can never be stopped. 60 He will bring on you once again all the dreadful diseases you experienced in Egypt, and you will never recover. 61 He will also send all kinds of diseases and epidemics that are not mentioned in this book of God's laws and teachings, and you will be destroyed. 62 Although you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few of you will survive, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as the Lord took delight in making you prosper and in making you increase in number, so he will take delight in destroying you and in bringing ruin on you. You will be uprooted from the land that you are about to occupy.
64 “The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve gods made of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever worshiped before. 65 You will find no peace anywhere, no place to call your own; the Lord will overwhelm you with anxiety, hopelessness, and despair. 66 Your life will always be in danger. Day and night you will be filled with terror, and you will live in constant fear of death. 67 Your hearts will pound with fear at everything you see. Every morning you will wish for evening; every evening you will wish for morning. 68 The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you.”
Omanangeko noupuna
1 “Ove ngeenge to pwilikine nawa ondaka yOmwene Kalunga koye, u diinine shili oipango yaye aishe, ame handi i ku lombwele nena eli, opo nee Omwene Kalunga koye ote ke ku tula kombada yoiwana aishe yokombada yedu. 2 Nomanangeko noupuna aeshe aa tae uya kombada yoye, ndele tae ku hange, ngeenge to pwilikine ondaka yOmwene Kalunga koye.
3 “To ka kala wa nangekwa noupuna moshilando ndele to ka kala wa nangekwa noupuna momapya.
4 “Oludalo lolutu loye, noiimati yomepya loye, noludalo leengobe doye noludalo leedi doye tali ka kala la nangekwa noupuna.
5 “Oshimbale shoye noshiyaxa shoye shokulungila olumbololo lomungome tai ka kala ya nangekwa noupuna.
6 “To ka kala wa nangekwa noupuna mokuya kwoye, ndele to ka kala wa nangekwa noupuna mokupita mo kwoye.
7 “Omwene te ke ku taataela ovatondadi voye tave ku homona. Tave ku homona nondjila imwe, ndelenee tava ka ya onhapo neendjila heyali.
8 “Omwene ta lombwele enangeko noupuna li ku shikule momaanda nomwaaishe ho tula eke loye. Ye ote ku nangeke noupuna moshilongo osho Omwene Kalunga koye te ke ku pa.
9 “Omwene ote ke ku likalekela oshiwana shiyapuki, ngaashi Ye e shi ku anenene, ove ngeenge to diinine oipango yOmwene Kalunga koye, ndele to ende neendjila daye. 10 Noiwana aishe yokombada yedu otai ka mona nokutya, edina lOmwene ola tumbala kombada yoye, ndele yo otai ke ku tila. 11 NOmwene ote ke ku pa ouwa tau xungile moludalo loye nomoludalo loimuna nomoludalo lomapya moshilongo, Omwene e shi udanekela ooxo nokwaana, opo e shi ku pe. 12 Omwene ote ke ku yeululila elimba laye liwa, nokutya eulu, opo a lokifile oshilongo shoye odula pefimbo liwa, ndele opo a nangeke noupuna oilonga aishe yomake oye, ndele ove oto ka yandja eengele koiwana ihapu, ndelenee ove mwene ito pumbwa okulya eengele. 13 NOmwene ote ke ku ninga omutwe hamushila, ndele ove oto ka tungala, ito ka xutuka, ove ngeenge ho pwilikine oipango yOmwene Kalunga koye, ei ame handi ku lombwele nena eli, ove u i diinine noku i wanifa, 14 ndele nye itamu yapuka mo nande kolulyo ile kolumosho meendjovo adishe odo ame handi mu lombwele nena eli, muha shikule oikalunga imwe mu i longele.
Okukala kwaIsrael, Kalunga ngeenge te va tula omutima
15 “Ndelenee ove ngeenge ito pwilikine ondaka yOmwene Kalunga koye, opo u diinine shili oipango aishe ei yaye neenghedimhango daye, ame ohandi ku lombwele nena eli, opo nee omatulomutima aeshe aa tae uya kombada yoye ndele tae ku hange.
16 “Ove to ka kala wa tulwa omutima moshilando, ndele to ka kala wa tulwa omutima momapya.
17 “Oshimbale shoye noshiyaxa shoye shokulungila olumbololo lomungome tai ka kala ya tulwa omutima.
18 “Oludalo loye noiimati yomapya oye noutanguda veengobe doye noudjona veedi doye tai ka kala ya tulwa omutima.
19 “Ove to ka kala wa tulwa omutima mokuya mo kwoye, ndele to ka kala wa tulwa omutima mokupita mo kwoye.
20 “Omwene ta ka tuma mokati keni etulomutima nedundakanifo nomahaluhalu mukeshe eshi to ka longa, fiyo ove to nyonaunwa po diva, omolwoilonga yoye ii, eshi ove we liteeka nge.
21 “Omwene te shi ningi, ove to kwatwa koudu wolutapo, fiyo Ye ote ku hanauna po moshilongo oko to i u shi nangale. 22 Omwene ote ke ku tumina oudu wenangatelo nolwiidi, oidinda noupyu, epupyu noluteni, okahaudjololo nonhimba; ndele yo otai ke ku shikula fiyo wa xula po. 23 Neulu loye li li kombada yomutwe woye tali ka ninga oshikushu, nedu li li koshi yoye tali ka ninga oshivela. 24 Omwene ta shitukifa odula yoye ondwi nomute, tai di meulu, tai ya kombada yoye fiyo wa xula po.
25 “Omwene te shi ningi nokutya, ove to tewa kovatondadi voye. Nondjila imwe to i u ke va shakeneke, ndelenee neendjila heyali ove to ke va ya onhapo; ndele ove to ka ninga oixuna koilongo aishe kombada yedu. 26 Noimhu yeni tai ka ninga eendja deedila adishe dokeulu nodoinamwenyo kombada yedu, itapa kala ou te i te po.
27 “NOmwene ote ku tumine omaxwambwa okuEgipiti noidinda nonghana nomavangwa, ndele ito dulu okuveluka kuyo. 28 Omwene te ku denge nomhepo yeenghwengu nepofi nepilalalo; 29 ndele to ka enda nokupamhadala mokati komutenya ngaashi ovapofi hava ende nokupamhadala momulaulu, ndele ito ka mona elao meendjila doye. Ndele efimbo alishe to ka kala wa fininikwa nokunyekwa, ndele uhe na omupopili. 30 Ove to ka putula okakadona, ndele umwe ota ka nangala nako. To ka dika eumbo, ndele ito ka kala mo. To ka kokola oshikokola shomuviinyu, ndelenee ito ka teya oiimati yasho. 31 Eengobe doye tadi ka tomenwa moipafi yoye, ndelenee ito ka lya ombelela yado. Ondongi yoye oto ke i kufwa moipafi yoye, ndelenee itai aluka vali kwoove. Oimuna yoye tai ka iwa nayo kovatondadi voye, ndelenee ove ku na omupopili. 32 Ovana voye ovamati noukadona tava ka kwatwa nokutwalwa koshiwana shimwe fimbo omesho oye tae shi tale nefiku alishe tae va djuulukwa neenghono, ndele ove ito dulu okuninga sha. 33 Oiimati yomomapya oye, nakeshe eshi we shi lilongela, otashi ka liwa kovanhu uhe va shii. Ndelenee ove to ka kala wa fininikwa nokuhepekwa efimbo alishe. 34 Ndele ove oto ka ya eenghwengu omolwaashishe eshi omesho oye ta tale. 35 Omwene ote ke ku tumina omaxwambwa mai meengolo nomomaulu, ndele ito dulu okuveluka, heeno, okudja komhadi fiyo okoluwewe lomutwe. 36 Omwene te ku twala nohamba yeni, ei mwe lihoololela, koshiwana inashi shiivika kooxo. Ndele oko oto ka longela oikalunga imwe, oshiti nemanya. 37 Ndele ove oto ka ninga oshinima shoixuna noshitevo shodino nomuyolwa mokati koiwana aishe omo Omwene te ke ku twala.
38 “Ove oto ka kuna ombuto ihapu, ndelenee to ka teya shinini, osheshi oshipaxu tashi ke shi lya po. 39 Ove to ka twika nokulonga oikokola yomiviinyu, ndelenee ito ka nwa omaviinyu ile oku a tuvikila. Osheshi omainyo tae ke di tuka. 40 Ove u nomalumono moshilongo shoye ashishe, ndelenee ito ka vava omaadi ado, osheshi eemono doye tadi ka yaumuka. 41 To ka dala ovana ovamati noukadona, ndelenee ito ka kala navo. Osheshi vo otava ka ya moupika. 42 Omiti adishe noiimati yomoshilongo shoye tai ka wilwa koshipaxu. 43 Omunailongo ou e li pwoove ota ka ehena komesho, e ku dule, fimbo ove to ka xutuka nokuxutuka. 44 Ye ote ke ku lila eengele, ndelenee ove ito ke mu lila eengele. Ye ota ka kala omutwe, ndele oove omushila.
45 “Nomatulomutima aa aeshe tae ku hange, ndele otae ku shikula, ndele tae ku shakeneke, fiyo ove wa xula po, osheshi ove ino pwilikina ondaka yOmwene Kalunga koye, u diinine oipango yaye neenghedimhango daye, odo Ye e di ku lombwela. 46 Ndele do otadi ka kala edidiliko noshikumwifa kwoove nokoludalo loye fiyo alushe. 47 Ove eshi ino longela Omwene Kalunga koye nehafo nonenyakuko lomutima pefimbo linya wa li u noshishipo, 48 u nokulongela omutondadi woye, ou te ku tuminwa kOmwene mondjala nomenota nolutu longaho nokuhepa ashishe; ndele ye ota ka tula ondjoko yoshivela kofingo yoye fiyo ye te ku mane po. 49 Omwene ote ku tumine oshiwana shokokule, okomunghulo wedu, ngaashi onhwa tai tuka, oshiwana elaka lasho ku li udite, 50 oshiwana shi noshipala shikukutu, ou ita kenukile eenghwakutoka ndele ita file omunyasha onghenda, 51 ndele vo otava ka lya oludalo loimuna yoye noiimati yomepya loye fiyo ove wa xula po. Vo itave ku fiile nande oilya, omaviinyu ile omaadi, eenhana deengobe doye ile oudjona veedi doye, fiyo vo ve ku mana po. 52 Ndele vo otave ku fininike meenhu doilando yoye aishe fiyo eehotekuma doye dile noda pamekwa odo we di lineekela, otadi ngumaunwa po moshilongo shoye ashishe. Heeno, vo otave ke ku fininika meenhu doilando yoye aishe moshilongo shoye ashishe, osho we shi pewa kOmwene Kalunga koye. 53 Ndele fimbo ho fitikininwa mo noudjuu we ku etelwa komutondadi woye, ove oto ka lya oludalo lomolutu loye, ombelela yovana voye ovamati noukadona, ava Omwene Kalunga koye e ku pa. 54 Omulumenhu omulilundukifi nomulilelindebula unene mokati keni ota ka talela kombada yomesho omumwaina nomwalikadi waye e mu hole, novana vaye vamwe, ava ve li puye natango; 55 ye ita pe nande umwe ombelela yovana vaye, ye mwene te i li, osheshi ke shi naashi ta li mokufitikininwa nomoudjuu we u etelwa komutondadi woye meenhu doilando yoye aishe. 56 Omukainhu omulilundukifi nomulilelindebula mokati keni, ou ina hetekela okweenda kolupadi, ota ka talela omulumenhu waye omuholike nomona waye omumati nomona waye okakadona kombada yomesho, 57 ye ite va efele nande oshitungu tashi di moshidalelo shaye, nouhanana ava e noku va dala. Osheshi moluhepo laye alishe ye ote i li po meholeko mokufitikininwa nomoudjuu omo omutondadi waye e mu fininikila mo peenhu doilando yoye aishe.
58 “Ove ngeenge ito diinine shili eendjovo adishe domhango ei, da shangelwa mo membo eli, opo u tile edina la fimana nola tilika lOmwene Kalunga koye, 59 opo nee Omwene ta tumu kwoove nokoludalo loye omahepeko madjuu, omahepeko manene ndele taa kala omafiku mahapu, nomaudu mai taa kala omafiku mahapu. 60 Ndele Ye ote ku undulile omaudu aeshe omuEgipiti, aa wa li wa tila, ndele tae ku kwata. 61 Nomaudu e lili naku lili nomahepeko e lili naku lili aa inaa shangelwa mo membo lomhango ei, oo tuu oo Omwene te ke ku tumina, fiyo wa xula po. 62 Ndele nye monhele oyo mwa li vahapu ngaashi eenyofi dokeulu tamu ka ninga ovanhu vanini, shaashi ino pwilikina ondaka yOmwene Kalunga koye. 63 NOmwene ngaashi e mu hafela shito nokwe mu ningila ouwa, ndele e mu hapupalifa, osho ngaha Omwene te ke mu hafela oku mu hanauna po noku mu mana po; ndele tamu ka kufwa mo moshilongo osho tamu i mo mu ke shi nangale. 64 NOmwene ote ke mu undwila moiwana aishe, komunghulo umwe wounyuni fiyo okomunghulo mukwao wounyuni; ndele oko tamu ka longela oikalunga imwe, oshiti nemanya, inai shiivika kooxo. 65 Ndele mokati koiwana ito ka mona etulumuko nande, ndele omhadi yoye itai ka mona onhele yetulumuko. Ndelenee Omwene te ku pe omutima tau kakama, nomesho a ilauka, nomwenyo u noluhodi. 66 Nokukalawenyo kwoye otaku ka kala koulingodi, ndele to ka kala nokuhaluka oufiku nomutenya, ndele to ka limbililwa omolwokukalamwenyo kwoye. 67 Ongula keshe ove to ka tya: ‘Nda hala li toke!’ ndele onguloshi to ti: ‘Nda hala ku she!’ Omolwokuhaluka kwomutima woye taku ku kwata nomolwomamoniko omesho oye to ke a tala. 68 NOmwene ote ku shunifa kuEgipiti meeskepa, nondjila tuu oyo, nde i ku lombwela: Ove ito ke i mona vali. Ndele oko otamu ka landwa po ovapika ovalumenhu novakainhu kovatondadi veni, ndelenee itapa ka kala ou te mu lande.”
