Deuteronomy 28:53

New Century Version

Your enemy will surround you. Those people will make you starve so that you will eat your own babies, the bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God gave you.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“You will eat your offspring, the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you.

Hebrew Names Version
You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

King James Version
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:

Lexham English Bible
And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom Yahweh your God gave to you, during the siege and during the distress your enemy inflicts upon you.

English Standard Version
And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

New English Translation
You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you.

Amplified Bible
"Then you will eat the offspring of your own body [to avoid starvation], the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you.

New American Standard Bible
"Then you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the hardship by which your enemy will oppress you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And thou shalt eate the fruite of thy bodie: euen the flesh of thy sonnes and thy daughters, which the Lorde thy God hath giuen thee, during the siege & straitnesse wherein thine enemie shall inclose thee:

Legacy Standard Bible
Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.

Contemporary English Version
while you wait in horror. Finally, you will get so hungry that you will eat the sons and daughters that the Lord gave you.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then, because of the severity of the siege and distress that your enemies are inflicting on you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom Adonai your God has given you.

Darby Translation
And in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee, thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters whom Jehovah thy God hath given thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
You will suffer very much. The enemy will surround your cities. They will not let you have any food. You will get very hungry. You will be so hungry that you will eat your own sons and daughters—you will eat the bodies of the children the Lord your God gave you.

George Lamsa Translation
And you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you: and you shall eat them in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall harass you;

Good News Translation
"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.

Literal Translation
And you shall eat the fruit of your body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom Jehovah your God has given to you, in the siege, and in the anguish with which your enemies shall distress you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt eate the frute of thine awne body, the flesh of thy sonnes and of thy doughters, which the LORDE yi God hath geue the, in that straytnesse and sege, wherwith thine enemye shall besege the:

American Standard Version
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Jehovah thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.

Bible in Basic English
And your food will be the fruit of your body, the flesh of the sons and daughters which the Lord your God has given you; because of your bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And thou shalt eate the fruite of thine owne body, the fleshe of thy sonnes, and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath geuen thee, in that straitnesse and siege, wherewith thyne enemie shall inclose thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters whom the LORD thy God hath given thee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee.

King James Version (1611)
And thou shalt eate the fruit of thine owne body, the flesh of thy sonnes, and of thy daughters (which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee) in the siege, and in the straitnesse wherewith thine enemies shall distresse thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, all that he has given thee, in thy straitness and thy affliction, with which thine enemy shall afflict thee.

English Revised Version
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 straiten thee.

Berean Standard Bible
During the siege and hardship that your enemy will impose on you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thou schalt ete the fruyt of thi wombe, and the fleischis of thi sones, and of thi douytris, whiche thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, in the angwisch and distriyng, bi which thin enemye schal oppresse thee.

Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast eaten the fruit of thy body, flesh of thy sons and thy daughters (whom Jehovah thy God hath given to thee), in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemies do straiten thee.

Update Bible Version
And you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy 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 with which thy enemies shall distress thee:

World English Bible
You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

New King James Version
You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.

New Living Translation
"The siege and terrible distress of the enemy's attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.

New Life Bible
During this time and because of the trouble caused by those who hate you, you will eat your own children, the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you.

New Revised Standard
In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And thou wilt eat the fruit of thy body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom Yahweh thy God hath given unto thee - in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemy will straiten thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.

Revised Standard Version
And you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

THE MESSAGE
And you'll end up cannibalizing your own sons and daughters that God , your God, has given you. When the suffering from the siege gets extreme, you're going to eat your own babies. The most gentle and caring man among you will turn hard, his eye evil, against his own brother, his cherished wife, and even the rest of his children who are still alive, refusing to share with them a scrap of meat from the cannibal child-stew he is eating. He's lost everything, even his humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.

Contextual Overview

⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you. They will chase you and catch you and destroy you, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commands and laws he gave you. ⁴⁶ The curses will be signs and miracles to you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ You had plenty of everything, but you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a pure heart, ⁴⁸ so you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, naked, and poor, and the Lord will put a load on you until he has destroyed you. ⁴⁹ The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the world, and it will swoop down like an eagle. You won't understand their language, ⁵⁰ and they will look mean. They will not respect old people or feel sorry for the young. ⁵¹ They will eat the calves from your herds and the harvest of your field, and you will be destroyed. They will not leave you any grain, new wine or oil, or any calves from your herds or lambs from your flocks. You will be ruined. ⁵² That nation will surround and attack all your cities. You trust in your high, strong walls, but they will fall down. That nation will surround all your cities everywhere in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ⁵³ Your enemy will surround you. Those people will make you starve so that you will eat your own babies, the bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God gave you. ⁵⁴ Even the most gentle and kind man among you will become cruel to his brother, his wife whom he loves, and his children who are still alive.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the fruit: Deuteronomy 28:18, Deuteronomy 28:55, Deuteronomy 28:57, Leviticus 26:29, 2 Kings 6:28, 2 Kings 6:29, Jeremiah 19:9, Lamentations 2:20, Lamentations 4:10, Ezekiel 5:10, Matthew 24:19

body: Heb. belly

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:24 - burnt 2 Kings 18:27 - eat 2 Kings 25:3 - the famine Psalms 59:15 - for meat Isaiah 8:21 - hardly bestead Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Jeremiah 15:7 - bereave Jeremiah 52:6 - the famine Zechariah 11:9 - and let Malachi 2:2 - and I Luke 23:29 - Blessed

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou shall eat the fruit of thine body,.... Than which nothing can be more shocking and unnatural, which is explained as follows:

the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee; which is an aggravation of the cruel and inhuman fact:

in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee; this shows the cause of it, a famine by reason of the closeness of the siege, so that no provisions could be brought in for their relief; and all within being eaten up, and everything that was eatable, even the most nauseous and disagreeable, they would be led on to this strange, unheard of, and barbarous action, eating their own children. This was fulfilled in the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 6:25; and in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 2:10 and again in the Apocrypha:

"Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.'' (Baruch 2:4)

and in the siege of the same city by the Romans; of which an instance will be hereafter given.

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.