Deuteronomy 28:62

King James Version

And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

Hebrew Names Version
You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

Lexham English Bible
And you shall remain only a few people in place of the fact you were formerly as the stars of heaven as far as number is concerned, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

English Standard Version
Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

New Century Version
You people may have outnumbered the stars, but only a few of you will be left, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

New English Translation
There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God.

Amplified Bible
"Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, you who were as numerous as the stars of heaven shall be left few in number.

New American Standard Bible
"Then you will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And ye shall be left few in nomber, where ye were as the starres of heauen in multitude, because thou wouldest not obey the voyce of the Lord thy God.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then you shall remain few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

Contemporary English Version
There are as many of you now as the stars in the sky, but if you disobey the Lord your God, only a few of you will be left.

Complete Jewish Bible
You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky — because you did not pay attention to the voice of Adonai your God.

Darby Translation
And ye shall be left a small company, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah thy God.

Easy-to-Read Version
You might have as many people as the stars in the sky. But only a few of you will be left, because you did not listen to the Lord your God.

George Lamsa Translation
And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heaven for multitude; because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Good News Translation
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.

Literal Translation
And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of Jehovah your God.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And there shal be left but a fewe people of you, which afore were as the starres of heauen in multitude: because thou hast not herkened vnto the voyce of the LORDE thy God.

American Standard Version
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

Bible in Basic English
And you will become a very small band, though your numbers were like the stars of heaven; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And ye shalbe lefte fewe in number, where before ye were as the starres of heauen in multitude: because thou wouldest not hearken vnto the voyce of the Lorde thy God.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

King James Version (1611)
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the starres of heauen for multitude: because thou wouldest not obey the voyce of the Lord thy God.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of the sky in multitude; because thou didst not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God.

English Revised Version
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Berean Standard Bible
You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And ye schulen dwelle fewe in noumbre, that weren bifore as the sterris of heuene for multitude, for thou herdist not the vois of thi Lord God.

Young's Literal Translation
and ye have been left with few men, instead of which ye have been as stars of the heavens for multitude, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah thy God.

Update Bible Version
And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

Webster's Bible Translation
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldst not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.

World English Bible
You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

New King James Version
You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

New Living Translation
Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.

New Life Bible
You will have been as many as the stars of heaven but there will be few of you left, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

New Revised Standard
Although once you were as numerous as the stars in heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And ye shall be left men few in number, whereas ye had become as the stars of the heavens for multitude, - because thou hast not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh thy God.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God.

Revised Standard Version
Whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, you shall be left few in number; because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

THE MESSAGE
Because you didn't listen obediently to the Voice of God , your God, you'll be left with a few pitiful stragglers in place of the dazzling stars-in-the-heavens multitude you had become.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.

Contextual Overview

⁴⁵ Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: ⁴⁶ And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. ⁴⁷ Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; ⁴⁸ Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. ⁴⁹ The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; ⁵⁰ A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: ⁵¹ And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. ⁵² And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. ⁵³ 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: ⁵⁴ So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

few in number: In the seige of Jerusalem there died 1,100,000 persons, and more than 90,000 were carried captive; and, having afterwards provoked the Romans by their crimes and rebellions, they persecuted them nearly to extirpation; to which, if the tens of thousands which were slaughtered year after year in every country be added, it appears wonderful that there were any remains left. Deuteronomy 4:27, Leviticus 26:22, 2 Kings 13:7, 2 Kings 24:14, Nehemiah 7:4, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 24:6, Jeremiah 42:2, Jeremiah 52:28-30, Mark 13:20, Romans 9:27-29

as the stars: Deuteronomy 10:22, Nehemiah 9:23, Romans 9:27

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 1:10 - your God Amos 5:3 - The city Hebrews 11:12 - as the stars

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And ye shall be left few in number,.... There were but very few left in the land of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar's general when Jerusalem was taken by him; and these were of the poorer sort, and were left for vinedressers and husbandmen, Jeremiah 39:10; and how much they were reduced by the Romans will appear by the accounts Josephus gives of those that were slain, and made prisoners by them: he says i,

"there were 1,100,000 slain at the siege of Jerusalem and by the war, and 97,000 made prisoners;''

and it is computed that 1,240,490 were destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of the nation k; and it is also said by their historian l, that of those that were transported from Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine into Spain, scarce a thousandth part remained and that an infinite number were slain in France and Germany; and though their number equalled those that came out of Egypt, yet scarce five thousand of them were left:

whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; and, as it is sometimes said, as the sand of the sea, as was promised to Abraham, Genesis 15:5; and was fulfilled in the days of Solomon 1 Kings 4:20;

because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God; in his law, and by his prophets; and especially by the voice of the true Messiah, in his everlasting Gospel; of whom it is said, "today if ye will hear his voice"; &c. Hebrews 3:7.

i De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3. k See Dr. Newton (Bp. of Bristol) on Prophecies, vol. 1. Dissert. 7. sect. 6. p. 186. l Shebet Judah, sect. 49. p. 316.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15-19 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20-68.

Deuteronomy 28:20-26

First series of judgments. The curse of God should rest on all they did, and should issue in manifold forms of disease, in famine, and in defeat in war.

Deuteronomy 28:20

Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the original is used Deuteronomy 7:23; 1 Samuel 14:20 for the panic and disorder with which the curse of God smites His foes.

Deuteronomy 28:22

“Blasting” denotes (compare Genesis 41:23) the result of the scorching east wind; “mildew” that of an untimely blight falling on the green ear, withering it and marring its produce.

Deuteronomy 28:24

When the heat is very great the atmosphere in Palestine is often filled with dust and sand; the wind is a burning sirocco, and the air comparable to the glowing heat at the mouth of a furnace.

Deuteronomy 28:25

Shalt be removed - See the margin. The threat differs from that in Leviticus 26:33, which refers to a dispersion of the people among the pagan. Here it is meant that they should be tossed to and fro at the will of others, driven from one country to another without any certain settlement.

Deuteronomy 28:27-37

Second series of judgments on the body, mind, and outward circumstances of the sinners.

Deuteronomy 28:27

The “botch” (rather “boil;” see Exodus 9:9), the “emerods” or tumors 1Sa 5:6, 1 Samuel 5:9, the “scab” and “itch” represent the various forms of the loathsome skin diseases which are common in Syria and Egypt.

Deuteronomy 28:28

Mental maladies shah be added to those sore bodily plagues, and should Deuteronomy 28:29-34 reduce the sufferers to powerlessness before their enemies and oppressors.

Blindness - Most probably mental blindness; compare Lamentations 4:14; Zep 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:14 ff.

Deuteronomy 28:30-33

See the marginal references for the fulfillment of these judgments.

Deuteronomy 28:38-48

Third series of judgments, affecting every kind of labor and enterprise until it had accomplished the total ruin of the nation, and its subjection to its enemies.

Deuteronomy 28:39

Worms - i. e. the vine-weevil. Naturalists prescribed elaborate precautions against its ravages.

Deuteronomy 28:40

Cast ... - Some prefer “shall be spoiled” or “plundered.”

Deuteronomy 28:43, Deuteronomy 28:44

Contrast Deuteronomy 28:12 and Deuteronomy 28:13.

Deuteronomy 28:46

Forever - Yet “the remnant” Romans 9:27; Romans 11:5 would by faith and obedience become a holy seed.

Deuteronomy 28:49-58

Fourth series of judgments, descriptive of the calamities and horrors which should ensue when Israel should be subjugated by its foreign foes.

Deuteronomy 28:49

The description (compare the marginal references) applies undoubtedly to the Chaldeans, and in a degree to other nations also whom God raised up as ministers of vengeance upon apostate Israel (e. g. the Medes). But it only needs to read this part of the denunciation, and to compare it with the narrative of Josephus, to see that its full and exact accomplishment took place in the wars of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, as indeed the Jews themselves generally admit.

The eagle - The Roman ensign; compare Matthew 24:28; and consult throughout this passage the marginal references.

Deuteronomy 28:54

Evil - i. e. grudging; compare Deuteronomy 15:9.

Deuteronomy 28:57

Young one - The “afterbirth” (see the margin). The Hebrew text in fact suggests an extremity of horror which the King James Version fails to exhibit. Compare 2 Kings 6:29.

Deuteronomy 28:58-68

Fifth series of judgments. The uprooting of Israel from the promised land, and its dispersion among other nations. Examine the marginal references.

Deuteronomy 28:58

In this book - i. e. in the book of the Law, or the Pentateuch in so far as it contains commands of God to Israel. Deuteronomy is included, but not exclusively intended. So Deuteronomy 28:61; compare Deuteronomy 27:3 and note, Deuteronomy 31:9.

Deuteronomy 28:66

Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee - i. e. shall be hanging as it were on a thread, and that before thine own eyes. The fathers regard this passage as suggesting in a secondary or mystical sense Christ hanging on the cross, as the life of the Jews who would not believe in Him.

Deuteronomy 28:68

This is the climax. As the Exodus from Egypt was as it were the birth of the nation into its covenant relationship with God, so the return to the house of bondage is in like manner the death of it. The mode of conveyance, “in ships,” is added to heighten the contrast. They crossed the sea from Egypt with a high hand. the waves being parted before them. They should go back again cooped up in slaveships.

There ye shall be sold - Rather, “there shall ye offer yourselves, or be offered for sale.” This denunciation was literally fulfilled on more than one occasion: most signally when many thousand Jews were sold into slavery and sent into Egypt by Titus; but also under Hadrian, when numbers were sold at Rachel’s grave Genesis 35:19.

No man shall buy you - i. e. no one shall venture even to employ you as slaves, regarding you as accursed of God, and to be shunned in everything.