43. Outsiders who live among you will become your leaders. They will rise higher and higher. But you will sink lower and lower.
44. They will lend money to you. But you won't be able to lend money to them. They will be the leaders. But you will be the followers.
45. The Lord your God will send all of those curses on you. They will follow you everywhere. They'll catch up with you. You will be under the Lord's curse until you are destroyed. That's because you didn't obey him. You didn't keep the commands and rules he gave you.
46. Those curses will remain as miraculous signs and wonders against you and your children after you forever.
47. You didn't serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness when times were good.
48. So he will send enemies against you. You will have to serve them. You will be hungry and thirsty. You will be naked and poor. The Lord will put the iron chains of slavery around your necks until he has destroyed you.
49. The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away. It will come from the ends of the earth. It will dive down on you like an eagle. You won't understand that nation's language.
50. Its people will look mean. They won't have any respect for old people. They won't show any kindness to young people.
51. They will eat up the young animals among your livestock. They'll eat up the crops on your land. They'll destroy you. They won't leave you any grain, olive oil or fresh wine. They won't leave you any calves or lambs. They'll destroy you.
52. They'll surround all of the cities through your whole land. They'll get ready to attack them. They'll do those things until the high, strong walls you trust in fall down. That's what will happen to the cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
53. Your enemies will surround you and get ready to attack you. They will make you suffer greatly. So you will eat your own children. You will eat the dead bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.
54. There may be a gentle and caring man among you. But he will treat his own brother badly. He'll be just as mean to the wife he loves and to any of his children who are still alive.
55. He won't give to a single one of them any part of the dead bodies of his children that he's eating. It will be all he has left to eat. That's how much your enemies will make you suffer when they surround all of your cities to attack them.
56. There may be a gentle and caring woman among you. She wouldn't even touch the ground with her feet without first putting her sandals on. But she will not share anything with the husband she loves. She won't share with her own children either.