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Deuteronomy 28:32

Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand:
Deuteronomy 28:32 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand.
  • BSB Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
  • NKJV Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand.
  • NASB Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them constantly; but there will be nothing you can do.
  • NLT You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Their children will be carried off to other peoples while they watch helplessly, powerless to act.

Overview

The agony of seeing one's children enslaved with no power to intervene is among the bitterest curses. This foreshadows the trauma of exile and captivity. The helpless longing portrays the deep grief that follows abandonment of God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Joel 3:6The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
  • Deut 28:41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
  • 2 Chr 29:9For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
  • Job 17:5He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
  • Ps 119:82Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
  • Lam 5:17For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
  • Mic 4:10Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
  • Deut 28:65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
  • Jer 16:2–4Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
  • Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
  • Ezek 24:25Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
  • Ps 119:123Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
  • Num 21:29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
  • Neh 5:2–5For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.
  • Isa 38:14Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
  • Deut 28:18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
  • Amos 5:27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.
  • Ps 69:3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
  • Lam 2:11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
  • Jer 15:7–9And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.
  • Lam 4:17As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 28:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).

How Deuteronomy 28:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.