Blessings for Obedience

26 “You shall not make (A)idols for yourselves or erect an (B)image or (C)pillar, and you shall not set up a (D)figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. (E)You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

(F)“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then (G)I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. (H)Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And (I)you shall eat your bread to the full and (J)dwell in your land securely. (K)I will give peace in the land, and (L)you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And (M)I will remove harmful beasts from the land, (N)and the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. (O)Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. (P)I will turn to you and (Q)make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat (R)old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 (S)I will make my dwelling[a] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 (T)And I (U)will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 (V)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. (W)And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 (X)“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but (Y)break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with (Z)wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And (AA)you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will (AB)set my face against you, and (AC)you shall be struck down before your enemies. (AD)Those who hate you shall rule over you, and (AE)you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again (AF)sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break (AG)the pride of your power, and I (AH)will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And (AI)your strength shall be spent in vain, for (AJ)your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 (AK)“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And (AL)I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that (AM)your roads shall be deserted.

23 “And (AN)if by this discipline you are not turned to me (AO)but walk contrary to me, 24 (AP)then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And (AQ)I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, (AR)I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 (AS)When I break your supply[b] of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and (AT)you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 “But (AU)if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you (AV)in fury, and I myself will discipline you (AW)sevenfold for your sins. 29 (AX)You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And (AY)I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and (AZ)cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will (BA)lay your cities waste and will (BB)make your sanctuaries desolate, and (BC)I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And (BD)I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be (BE)appalled at it. 33 And (BF)I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34 (BG)“Then the land shall enjoy[c] its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, (BH)I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The (BI)sound of a (BJ)driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And (BK)you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall (BL)rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

40 “But if (BM)they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they (BN)committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their (BO)uncircumcised heart is (BP)humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will (BQ)remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will (BR)remember the land. 43 But (BS)the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, (BT)I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and (BU)break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, (BV)whom I brought out of the land of Egypt (BW)in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

46 (BX)These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses (BY)on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle
  2. Leviticus 26:26 Hebrew staff
  3. Leviticus 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(A) or set up an image(B) or a sacred stone(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

“‘Observe my Sabbaths(E) and have reverence for my sanctuary.(F) I am the Lord.

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey(G) my commands, I will send you rain(H) in its season,(I) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.(J) Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want(K) and live in safety in your land.(L)

“‘I will grant peace in the land,(M) and you will lie down(N) and no one will make you afraid.(O) I will remove wild beasts(P) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies,(Q) and they will fall by the sword before you. Five(R) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.(S)

“‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,(T) and I will keep my covenant(U) with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.(V) 11 I will put my dwelling place[a](W) among you, and I will not abhor you.(X) 12 I will walk(Y) among you and be your God,(Z) and you will be my people.(AA) 13 I am the Lord your God,(AB) who brought you out of Egypt(AC) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke(AD) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,(AE) 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws(AF) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,(AG) 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever(AH) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.(AI) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.(AJ) 17 I will set my face(AK) against you so that you will be defeated(AL) by your enemies;(AM) those who hate you will rule over you,(AN) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.(AO)

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,(AP) I will punish(AQ) you for your sins seven times over.(AR) 19 I will break down your stubborn pride(AS) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(AT) 20 Your strength will be spent in vain,(AU) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.(AV)

21 “‘If you remain hostile(AW) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,(AX) as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals(AY) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few(AZ) in number that your roads will be deserted.(BA)

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction(BB) but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile(BC) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword(BD) on you to avenge(BE) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague(BF) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread,(BG) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me(BH) but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger(BI) I will be hostile(BJ) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(BK) 29 You will eat(BL) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.(BM) 30 I will destroy your high places,(BN) cut down your incense altars(BO) and pile your dead bodies[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,(BP) and I will abhor(BQ) you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins(BR) and lay waste(BS) your sanctuaries,(BT) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.(BU) 32 I myself will lay waste the land,(BV) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.(BW) 33 I will scatter(BX) you among the nations(BY) and will draw out my sword(BZ) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,(CA) and your cities will lie in ruins.(CB) 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate(CC) and you are in the country of your enemies;(CD) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest(CE) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf(CF) will put them to flight.(CG) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.(CH) 37 They will stumble over one another(CI) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.(CJ) 38 You will perish(CK) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(CL) 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’(CM) sins they will waste away.(CN)

40 “‘But if they will confess(CO) their sins(CP) and the sins of their ancestors(CQ)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile(CR) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(CS) are humbled(CT) and they pay(CU) for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob(CV) and my covenant with Isaac(CW) and my covenant with Abraham,(CX) and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted(CY) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected(CZ) my laws and abhorred my decrees.(DA) 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,(DB) I will not reject them or abhor(DC) them so as to destroy them completely,(DD) breaking my covenant(DE) with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember(DF) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt(DG) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai(DH) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.(DI)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:11 Or my tabernacle
  2. Leviticus 26:30 Or your funeral offerings