Shabbat

who eat without working). And it is [further] written, I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees hath the palmerworm devoured.  and it is also written, That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten;  and it is written, And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry, and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.  Read not, the flesh of his own arm [zero'o], but, the flesh of his own seed [zar'o]. As a punishment for delay of judgment,  perversion of judgment,  spoiling of judgment,  and neglect of Torah, sword and spoil increase, pestilence and famine come, people eat and are not satisfied, and eat their bread by weight, for it is written, and I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant:  now 'covenant' means nothing else but Torah, as it is written, But for my covenant of day and night [I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth];  and it is written, When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight;  and it is written, because, even because they rejected my judgments. For the crime of vain oaths, false oaths,  profanation of the Divine Name,  and the desecration of the Sabbath, wild beasts multiply, [domestic] animals cease, the population decreases, and the roads become desolate, for it is said, And if by these things [be-eleh] ye will not be reformed unto me;  read not be-eleh but be-alah;  and it is written, and I will send the beast of the field among you, etc.  Now, in respect to false oaths it is written, And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, so that you profane [we-hillalta] the name of thy God;  and of the profanation of the Name it is written, and that they profane not [ye-hallelu] my holy name;  and of the profanation of the Sabbath it is written, every one that profaneth it [mehallelehah] shall surely be put to death:  and [the punishment for] profanation is learnt  from a false oath. Through the crime of bloodshed the Temple was destroyed and the Shechinah departed from Israel, as it is written, So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land … And thou shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell.-21 hence, if ye do defile it, ye will not inhabit it and I will not dwell in its midst. As a punishment for incest,  idolatry, and non-observance of the years of release and jubilee  exile comes to the world, they [the Jews] are exiled, and others come and dwell in their place, for it is said, for all these abominations have the men of the land done, etc.;  and it is written, and the land is defiled, — therefore do I visit the in iniquity thereof upon it;  and it is written, that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it.  Again, with respect to idolatry it is written, and I will cast your carcases [upon the carcases of your idols];  and it is written, And I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries into desolation etc....  and you will I scatter among the nations.  Further, in reference to release and jubilee years it is written, Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land, etc.;  and it is written, As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest. As a punishment for obscenity,  troubles multiply, cruel decrees are proclaimed afresh, the youth of Israel's enemies  die, and the fatherless and widows cry out and are not answered; for it is said, Therefore shall the Lord not rejoice over the young men, neither shall he have compassion over their fatherless and their widows: for every one is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all is his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  What is meant by, 'but his hand is stretched out still'? — Said R. Hanan b. Rabbah: All know for what purpose a bride enters the bridal canopy, yet against whomsoever who speaks obscenely [thereof], even if a sentence of seventy years' happiness had been sealed for him,  it is reversed for evil. Rabbah b. Shila said in R. Hisda's name: He who puts his mouth to folly,  Gehenna is made deep for him, as it is said, A deep pit is for the mouth [that speaketh] perversity.  R. Nahman b. Isaac said, Also [for] one who hears and is silent,  for it is said, he that is abhorred of the Lord  shall fall therein. R. Oshaia said: He who devotes himself  to sin, wounds and bruises break out over him, as it is said, Stripes and wounds are for him that devoteth himself to evil.  Moreover, he is punished by dropsy, for it is said, and strokes reach the innermost parts of the belly.  R. Nahman b. Isaac said: Dropsy is a sign of sin. Our Rabbis taught: There are three kinds of dropsy: that [which is a punishment] of sin is thick; that caused by hunger is swollen; and what is caused by magic is thin.  Samuel the Little  suffered through it. 'Sovereign of the Universe!' he cried out, who will cast lots?'  [Thereupon] he recovered. Abaye suffered from it. Said Raba, I know of Nahmani  that he practises hunger.  Raba suffered from it. But was it not Raba himself who said, More numerous are those slain by delayed calls of nature  than the victims  of starvation? — Raba was different, because the scholars compelled him [to practise restraint] at the set times [for lectures]. Our Rabbis taught: There are four signs: — [i] Dropsy is a sign of sin; [ii] jaundice is a sign of causeless hatred; [iii] poverty is a sign of conceit;  croup  is a sign of slander. Our Rabbis taught: Croup comes to the world