Natural conditions will be reversed: the resident aliens (see 1.16) will become more prosperous and powerful than the Israelites.

Shall mount above you higher and higher: they will become ever richer and more powerful. We may also express this as “foreigners who live in your land will become richer and more powerful.”

You shall come down lower and lower: this verse presents a picture that is the opposite of verses 12b-13; the Israelites will decline in power and wealth. Contemporary English Version has “while you become poor and powerless.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .