28 (8) The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou settest thy hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.

(9) The Lord shall establish thee a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

(10) And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.

(11) And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers to give thee.

(12) The Lord shall open to thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give the rain to thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

(13) And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou hearken to the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

(14) and thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

(15) But it shall come to pass, if thou will not heaken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day: that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

(16) cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

(17) Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

(18) Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy sheep.

(19) Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

(20) The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, confusion, and failure, in all that thou settest thy hand to do, until thou art destroyed, and until thou perish quickly: because of the wickedness of thy doings, in that thou hast forsaken me.

(21) The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave to thee, until it consumes thee from off the land, into which thou goest to possess it.

(22) The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

(23) And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

(24) The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

(25) The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thy enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

(26) And thy carcass shall be food for all birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and no man shall scare them away.

(27) The Lord will smite thee with the pox of Miżrayim, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

(28) The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.

(29) And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed evermore, and no man shall save thee.

(30) Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell in it: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather its grapes.

(31) Thy ox shall be slaughtered before thy eyes, and thou shalt not eat of it: thy ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given to thy enemies, and thou shalt have none to come to the rescue.

(32) Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another people, and thy eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thy hand.

(33) The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowst not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always:

(34) so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes which thou shalt see.

(35) The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a festering eruption that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot to the top of thy head.

(36) The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, to a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, of wood and stone.

(37) And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations into which the Lord shall lead thee.

(38) Thou shalt carry much grain out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

(39) Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

(40) Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thy olive shall cast its fruit.

(41) Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

(42) All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the beetle consume.

(43) The stranger that is in the midst of thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.

(44) He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

(45) Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou wouldst not hearken to 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 wouldst not serve the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

(48) therefore shalt thou serve thy 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, which will swoop down like the vulture; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

(50) a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favour to the young:

(51) and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: such a one as shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

(52) And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou didst trust, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God has given thee.

(53) And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body, the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God has given thee, in the siege, and in the distress, with which thy enemy shall distress thee:

(54) the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

(55) so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, when he has nothing left him; because of the siege, and of the distress, with which thy enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

(56) The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for fastidiousness and delicateness, her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her daughter,

(57) and towards her afterbirth that comes out from her, and towards her children whom she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things in secret; because of the siege and distress, wherewith thy enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

(58) If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Tora that are written in this book, that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God;

(59) then the Lord will make thy plagues remarkable, and the plagues of thy offspring, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

(60) Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Miżrayim, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave to thee.

(61) Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this Tora, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou art destroyed.

(62) And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldst not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.

(63) And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to annihilate you; and you shall be plucked from off the land into which thou goest to possess it.

(64) And the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth to the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, wood and stone.

(65) And 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 despair of mind:

(66) and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have no assurance of thy life:

(67) in the morning thou shalt say, Would it were evening! and at evening thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thy heart with which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thy eyes which thou shalt see.

(68) And the Lord shall bring thee back into Miżrayim with ships, by that road of which I spoke to thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there you shall be sold to your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

(69) These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moshe to make with the children of Yisra᾽el in the land of Mo᾽av, besides the covenant which he made with them in Ḥorev.

29 (1) And Moshe called to all Yisra᾽el, and said to them, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Miżrayim to Par῾o, and to all his servants, and to all his land;

(2) the great trials which thy eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

(3) yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.

(4) And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not worn old upon you, and thy shoe is not worn old upon thy foot.

(5) You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink: that you might know that I am the Lord your God.

(6) And when you came to this place, Siĥon the king of Ḥeshbon, and ῾Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we smote them:

(7) and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Re᾽uveni, and to the Gadi, and to the half tribe of the Menashshi.

(8) Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

60 (1) Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (2) For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (3) And nations shall walk at thy light, and kings at the brightness of thy rising. (4) Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (5) Then thou wilt see, and be filled with light, and thy heart shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to thee, the riches of the nations shall come to thee. (6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midyan and ῾Efa; all they from Sheva shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. (7) All the flocks of Qedar shall be gathered together to thee, the rams of Nevayot shall minister to thee: they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. (8) Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? (9) Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Yisra᾽el, because he has glorified thee. (10) And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. (11) Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day or night; that men may bring to thee the riches of the nations, and their kings with their train. (12) For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. (13) The glory of Levanon shall come to thee, the cypress, the maple, and the box tree, together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. (14) The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending to thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Żiyyon of the Holy One of Yisra᾽el. (15) Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. (16) Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord shall save thee, and the mighty One of Ya῾aqov shall redeem thee. (17) For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thy taskmasters, righteousness. (18) Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. (19) The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light to thee: but the Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. (20) Thy sun shall no more go down; nor shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. (21) Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever; they shall be the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. (22) The least one shall become a thousand, and the smallest one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in its time.

1. The minimum size of a bright spot must be that of a Cilician split bean squared. The space covered by a split bean equals that of nine lentils. The space covered by a lentil equals that of four hairs; It turns out that the size of a bright spot must be no less than that of thirty-six hairs.

2. If a bright spot was of the size of a split bean and in it there was quick flesh of the size of a lentil: If the bright spot grew larger it is unclean, but if it grew smaller it is clean. If the quick flesh grew larger it is unclean, and if it grew smaller it is clean.

3. A bright spot the size of a split bean and in it there was quick flesh less than the size of a lentil: If the bright spot grew larger it is unclean, but if it grew smaller it is clean. If the quick flesh grew larger it is unclean, but if it grew smaller, Rabbi Meir rules that it is unclean; But the sages rule that it is clean, since a nega cannot spread within itself.

4. If a bright spot was larger in size than a split bean and in it there was quick flesh larger than a lentil, irrespective of whether they increased or decreased, they are unclean, provided that they do not decrease to less than the prescribed minimum.

5. If a bright spot was the size of a split bean and quick flesh the size of a lentil encompassed it, and outside the quick flesh there was another bright spot, the inner one must be isolated and the outer one must be certified unclean. Rabbi Yose says: the quick flesh is not a sign of uncleanness for the outer one, since the inner bright spot is within it. If it decreased or disappeared: Rabban Gamaliel says: if its destruction was on its inner side it is a sign of spreading of the inner bright spot while the outer one is clean, but if its destruction was on its outer side, the outer one is clean while the inner one must be isolated. Rabbi Akiva says: in either case it is clean.

6. Rabbi Shimon said: when is this the case? When the quick flesh was exactly the size of a lentil. But if it was larger than a lentil, the excess is a sign of spreading of the inner one, and the outer one is unclean. If there was white scurf less that the size of a lentil, it is a sign of the spreading of the inner bright spot but it is not a sign of spreading of the outer one.

7. There are twenty-four tips of limbs in the human body that do not become unclean on account of quick flesh: the tips of the fingers and the toes, the tips of the ears, the tip of the nose, the tip of the penis; and also the nipples of a woman. Rabbi Judah says: also those of a man. Rabbi Eliezer says: also warts and warts with thin necks do not become unclean on account of quick flesh.

8. The following places in a person do not become unclean on account of a bright spot: the inside of the eye, the inside of the ear, the inside of the nose and the inside of the mouth, wrinkles, wrinkles in the neck, under the breast and the armpit, the sole of the foot, the nails, the head and the beard; and a boil, a burn and a blister that are festering. All these: Do not become unclean on account of negaim Do not combine with other negaim, A nega is not considered to spread into them, Do not become unclean on account of quick flesh, And they do not act to prevent a person from being considered to have turned completely white. If subsequently a bald spot arose in the head or beard, or if a boil, a burn or a blister formed a scar: They may become unclean by negaim, But they do not combine with other negaim, A nega is not considered to spread into them, And they do not become unclean on account of quick flesh. But they do act to prevent a person from being considered to have all turned white. The head and the beard before they have grown hair, and warts with thin necks on the head or the beard, are treated as the skin of the flesh.

§ The mishna teaches that Rabbi Yishmael says: A woman who discharges on the forty-first day after immersion observes both the strictures of a woman who gave birth to a male, and those of a menstruating woman, but not the strictures of a woman who gave birth to a female, as the formation of a male offspring takes forty-one days, whereas the formation of a female offspring takes eighty-one days. It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yishmael says, in explanation of his opinion: In the case of a woman who gave birth to a male, the verse deems her impure for seven days and deems her pure for an additional thirty-three days, for a total of forty days; and with regard to a woman who gave birth to a female, the verse deems her impure for fourteen days and deems her pure for another sixty-six days, for a total of eighty days.

It can therefore be inferred that just as when the verse deems a woman impure and then deems her pure for a total of forty days in the case of a male, its amount of time is parallel to the time of the formation of a male embryo; so too, when the verse deems a woman impure and deems her pure for a total of eighty days in the case of a female, its amount of time is parallel to the time of the formation of a female embryo. Accordingly, the formation of a female ends on the eighty-first day after conception. The Rabbis said to Rabbi Yishmael in response: One cannot derive the amount of time of the formation of an embryo from the extent of a woman’s period of impurity after giving birth.

Furthermore, the Rabbis said to Rabbi Yishmael that there is a proof against his opinion from an incident involving Cleopatra, Queen of Alexandria. Since her maidservants were sentenced to death by the government, she took advantage of the opportunity and experimented on them in order to examine the amount of time it takes for an embryo to develop. She had her maidservants engage in intercourse and operated on them following their execution in order to determine the stage at which an embryo is fully formed, and found that both in this case, when the embryo is male, and that case, when it is female, the formation is complete on the forty-first day after conception. Rabbi Yishmael said to them in response: I bring you proof from the Torah, and you bring me proof from the fools?

The Gemara asks: What proof from the Torah does Rabbi Yishmael bring for his opinion? If we say that his proof is the aforementioned derivation that in the case of a woman who gave birth to a male, the verse deems her impure for seven days and deems her pure for an additional thirty-three days, for a total of forty days; and in the case of a female, the verse deems her impure for fourteen days and deems her pure for an additional sixty-six days, for a total of eighty days, didn’t the Rabbis say to him in response that one cannot derive the amount of time that the formation of an embryo takes from the extent of a woman’s period of impurity after giving birth?

The Gemara answers: Rabbi Yishmael’s derivation is that the verse states: “If a woman bears seed and gives birth to a male…and if she gives birth to a female” (Leviticus 12:2–5). The verse adds another explicit mention of childbirth with regard to a female, besides the mention of childbirth in the case of a male, when it could have simply stated: And if it is a female. Rabbi Yishmael derives from here that not only are the periods of ritual impurity and purity of one who gives birth to a female double those of a woman who gives birth to a male, but the formation of a female embryo also takes twice the time.

The Gemara asks: And for what reason does Rabbi Yishmael refer to the proof that the Rabbis cited from Cleopatra’s experiment as a proof from the fools? The Gemara answers: One can say that the maidservant who was pregnant with a female embryo became pregnant first, forty days before the maidservant who was pregnant with a male embryo. Consequently, it took the female embryo eighty days to be develop, not forty.

The Gemara asks: And how would the Rabbis respond to this claim? The Gemara answers: Cleopatra gave the maidservants a purgative medicine to drink before they engaged in intercourse, which would have terminated any previous pregnancy. And Rabbi Yishmael would respond that there are bodies that are not affected by this medicine, i.e., certain pregnancies are not terminated by the medicine. Consequently, the maidservant who was pregnant with a female embryo might have been pregnant prior to the experiment.

The Gemara cites another baraita that presents a different version of this exchange between Rabbi Yishmael and the Rabbis: Rabbi Yishmael said to the Rabbis that there is a proof for his opinion from an incident involving Cleopatra, the Greek queen, as her maidservants were sentenced to death by the government, and she experimented on them and found that a male embryo is fully formed on the forty-first day after conception, and a female embryo is formed on the eighty-first day. The Rabbis said to him: One does not bring proof from the fools.

The Gemara explains: What is the reason the Rabbis consider this a proof from the fools? They claim that it is possible that this woman who was pregnant with a female embryo did not conceive when Cleopatra had her engage in intercourse; rather, she waited forty days, and then became pregnant when she again engaged in intercourse. Therefore, the embryo was formed in forty days.

And how would Rabbi Yishmael respond to this claim? He would claim that the maidservants could not have conceived on a later date, as Cleopatra transferred them to the custody of a steward, who made sure that they did not engage in intercourse during the experiment. And the Rabbis would say that there is no steward [apotropos] for restraining sexual intercourse, and therefore one can say that the warden himself engaged in intercourse with the maidservant.

The Gemara raises a difficulty with regard to Rabbi Yishmael’s proof: But how can one be sure that the female embryo was formed after eighty-one days? Perhaps if the womb of the woman carrying this female embryo would have been torn open on the forty-first day after conception, the female embryo would have already been found in it, just as in the case of a male embryo. Abaye says in response: It was a case where the indications of the ages of the two embryos, e.g., their hairs and fingernails, were identical. Evidently, the female embryo developed in eighty days to the same degree that the male embryo developed in forty days.

One who builds a minimal amount is liable. One who evens the ground in a house – such as one who lowered a mound or filled in a gully – is certainly building, so he is liable. [In the case of] one who provided the stone and who provided the mortar [in that sequence, only] the one who provided the mortar is liable. But in the top row, even the one that places the stone and lays it on the mortar is liable. For we do not lay [any more] mortar upon it. And one who builds on top of vessels is exempt.

One who makes a permanent tent is surely [doing] a subcategory of building, so he is liable. Likewise, one who makes an earthen vessel – such as an oven or a barrel before they are fired – is surely doing a subcategory of building, so he is liable. Likewise one who [processes] cheese is surely [doing] a subcategory of building, so he is liable; but he is not liable until he [processes] the size of a dried fig. One who inserts the handle of a hammer into its wooden [head] is surely [doing] a subcategory of building, so he is liable. And likewise anything that is similar to this. Likewise one who implants wood into wood – whether he implants [it] with a nail or whether he implanted the wood itself until it becomes one – is surely [doing] a subcategory of building, so he is liable.

The third section: One who always mocks things and actions, but he does not intend to disgrace those associated with them. Rather he pushes off things that should not be pushed off and pushes off the [possibility of] results from actions that have hope for results. And about this is it stated (Proverbs 13:13), “He who disdains a thing will be injured thereby.” And they said (Avot 4:3), “Do not disdain any man, and do not discriminate against anything; for there is no man that has not his hour, and there is no thing that has not its place.” And what brought this scoffer to this bad trait is his being wise in his [own] eyes. And sometimes this trait brings a person to heresy, to mock the commandments - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 119:51), “Though the arrogant have cruelly mocked me, I have not swerved from Your teaching.” And this third section is a group that does not accept reprimand, as it is stated (Proverbs 9:8), “Do not reprimand a scoffer, for he will hate you.” And it is [also] stated (Proverbs 9:7), “To rebuke a scoffer is to call down abuse on oneself.” And it is [further] stated (Proverbs 19:25), “Beat the scoffer and the simple will become clever.” And that which causes this group not to listen to reproof is that the trait that leads to this [type of scoffing] is that a person is wise in his [own] eyes. And this trait controls him so much until he scorns the intellect of anyone besides himself. And it is a trait that has no hope, as it is stated (Proverbs 26:12), “If you see a man who thinks himself wise, there is more hope for a dullard than for him.”