Deuteronomy 28:29

²⁷ The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.

²⁸ The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,

and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

³⁰ You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.
KJV: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
WEB: You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you.
ASV: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee.
DARBY: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled continually, and there shall be none to save.
BLB: and you shall grope at noonday as a blind man gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and plundered all of the days, and no one shall save [you].

ÅB: Og du skal famle deg fram om middagen, som den blinde famler seg fram i mørket; du skal ingen lykke ha på dine veier, og det skal ikke times deg annet enn undertrykkelse og utplyndring alle dager, og det skal ikke være noen som frelser.
OTB: Midt på dagen vil du snuble omkring som en blind person i mørket. Du vil ikke lykkes i noe du gjør; dag etter dag vil du bli undertrykt og ranet, uten noen til å redde deg.
B1930: Og du skal famle dig frem om middagen, som den blinde famler sig frem i mørket; du skal ingen lykke ha på dine veier, og det skal ikke times dig annet enn undertrykkelse og utplyndring alle dager, og det skal ikke være nogen som frelser.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 59:10
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
Read in context
Job 5:14
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
Read in context
Judges 6:1–6
Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,
Read in context
Judges 10:8
who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.
Read in context
Psalms 106:40–42
So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
Read in context
Judges 4:2–3
So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.
Read in context
Judges 13:1
Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
Read in context
Judges 3:14
The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
Read in context