You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.
- KJV Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
- ESV Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
- NKJV “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
- NASB “Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the country.
- NLT Your towns and your fields will be blessed.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
God promises blessing in every place, whether city or field, for the obedient.
Overview
This merism covers the whole sphere of daily life, urban and rural. No realm of Israel's existence falls outside God's blessing. It shows that covenant faithfulness touches every corner of ordinary life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 39:5From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field.
- Ps 144:12–15Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.
- Hag 2:19Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
- Ps 107:36–37He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell.
- Gen 26:12Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
- Isa 65:21–23They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Mal 3:10–11Bring 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.
- Ps 128:1–5A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Amos 9:13–14“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.
- Zech 8:3–5This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 28:3 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.