Promise of Blessing and Retribution(A)

26 ‘You shall (B)not make idols for yourselves;

neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves;

nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;

for I am the Lord your God.

(C)You shall [a]keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary:

I am the Lord.

(D)‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,

(E)then I will give you rain in its season, (F)the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

(G)Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;

you shall eat your bread to the full, and (H)dwell in your land safely.

(I)I will give peace in the land, and (J)you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;

I will rid the land of (K)evil[b] beasts,

and (L)the sword will not go through your land.

You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.

(M)Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;

your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

‘For I will (N)look on you favorably and (O)make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My (P)covenant with you.

10 You shall eat the (Q)old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.

11 (R)I will set My [c]tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.

12 (S)I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves;

I have broken the bands of your (T)yoke and made you walk [d]upright.

14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,

15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,

16 I also will do this to you:

I will even appoint terror over you, (U)wasting disease and fever which shall (V)consume the eyes and (W)cause sorrow of heart.

And (X)you shall sow your seed [e]in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 I will [f]set (Y)My face against you, and (Z)you shall be defeated by your enemies.

(AA)Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall (AB)flee when no one pursues you.

18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you (AC)seven times more for your sins.

19 I will (AD)break the pride of your power;

I (AE)will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

20 And your (AF)strength shall be spent in vain;

for your (AG)land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.

22 (AH)I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number;

and (AI)your highways shall be desolate.

23 ‘And if (AJ)by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,

24 (AK)then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

25 And (AL)I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant;

when you are gathered together within your cities (AM)I will send pestilence among you;

and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 (AN)When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, (AO)and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,

28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;

and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29 (AP)You[g] shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.

30 (AQ)I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;

and My soul shall abhor you.

31 I will lay your (AR)cities waste and (AS)bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not (AT)smell the fragrance of your [h]sweet aromas.

32 (AU)I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.

33 (AV)I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;

your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

34 (AW)Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;

then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—

for the time it did not rest on your (AX)sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send (AY)faintness[i] into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;

the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;

they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.

37 (AZ)They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues;

and (BA)you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38 You shall (BB)perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39 And those of you who are left (BC)shall [j]waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands;

also in their (BD)fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

40 But (BE)if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,

41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies;

if their (BF)uncircumcised hearts are (BG)humbled, and they (BH)accept their guilt—

42 then I will (BI)remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;

I will (BJ)remember the land.

43 (BK)The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them;

they will accept their guilt, because they (BL)despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.

44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, (BM)I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them;

for I am the Lord their God.

45 But (BN)for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, (BO)whom I brought out of the land of Egypt (BP)in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:

I am the Lord.’ ”

46 (BQ)These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel (BR)on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:2 observe
  2. Leviticus 26:6 wild beasts
  3. Leviticus 26:11 dwelling place
  4. Leviticus 26:13 erect
  5. Leviticus 26:16 without profit
  6. Leviticus 26:17 oppose you
  7. Leviticus 26:29 In time of famine
  8. Leviticus 26:31 pleasing
  9. Leviticus 26:36 fear
  10. Leviticus 26:39 rot away

Blessings of Obedience

26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves (A)idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves (B)a carved image or (C)a memorial stone, nor shall you place a (D)figured stone in your land to bow down [a]to it; for I am the Lord your God. (E)You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord. (F)If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then (G)I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. (H)Indeed, your threshing season will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. So you will eat your [b]food to the full and (I)live securely in your land. (J)I shall also grant peace in the land, so that (K)you may lie down, with no one to make you afraid. (L)I shall also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and (M)no sword will pass through your land. Instead, you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; (N)five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. So I will turn toward you and (O)make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will (P)confirm My covenant with you. 10 And (Q)you will eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. 11 (R)Moreover, I will make My [c]dwelling among you, and My soul will not [d]reject you. 12 (S)I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 (T)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and (U)I broke your yoke and made you walk erect.

Penalties of Disobedience

14 (V)But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you (W)reject My statutes, and if your soul loathes My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, but rather to (X)break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will [e]summon a (Y)sudden terror against you, consumption and fever that will make the eyes fail and the (Z)soul languish; also, (AA)you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it. 17 And I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated before your enemies; and (AB)those who hate you will rule over you, and (AC)you will flee when no one is pursuing you. 18 If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you (AD)seven times more for your sins. 19 I will also (AE)break down your pride of power; and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 (AF)Your strength will be consumed uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

21 ‘Yet if you [f](AG)show hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you (AH)seven times according to your sins. 22 (AI)I will also let loose among you the animals of the field, which will deprive you of your children and eliminate your cattle, and reduce your number so that (AJ)your roads become deserted.

23 (AK)And if by these things you do not learn your lesson regarding Me, but you show hostility toward Me, 24 then I in turn will (AL)show hostility toward you; and I, even I, will strike you (AM)seven times for your sins. 25 I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute (AN)vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send a (AO)plague among you, so that you will be handed over to the enemy. 26 (AP)When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread [g]in rationed amounts, so that you will (AQ)eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then (AR)I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I for My part will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 Further, (AS)you will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I then (AT)will destroy your high places, and cut down your (AU)incense altars, and [h]pile your [i]remains on the [j]remains of your idols, for My soul will loathe you. 31 I will turn your cities into (AV)ruins as well and make your (AW)sanctuaries desolate, and I will not (AX)smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make (AY)the land desolate (AZ)so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I (BA)will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins.

34 (BB)Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. 35 All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. 36 As for those among you who are left, I will also bring (BC)despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a scattered leaf will chase them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee [k]as though from the sword, and they will fall. 37 (BD)They will then stumble over each other as if running from the sword, although no one is pursuing; and you will have no strength to stand before your enemies. 38 Instead, (BE)you will perish among the nations, and your enemies’ land will consume you. 39 (BF)So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their wrongdoing in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the wrongdoing of their forefathers they will rot away with them.

40 ‘But (BG)if they confess their wrongdoing and the wrongdoing of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—(BH)or if their uncircumcised heart is humbled so that (BI)they then make amends for their wrongdoing, 42 then I will remember (BJ)My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also (BK)My covenant with Isaac, and (BL)My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 (BM)For the land will be abandoned by them, and will restore its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their wrongdoing, [l]because they rejected My ordinances and their (BN)soul loathed My statutes. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so (BO)loathe them as (BP)to destroy them, (BQ)breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will remember for them the (BR)covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that (BS)I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 (BT)These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the sons of Israel [m]through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:1 Lit over
  2. Leviticus 26:5 Lit bread
  3. Leviticus 26:11 Or tabernacle
  4. Leviticus 26:11 Lit abhor
  5. Leviticus 26:16 Or impose...on you
  6. Leviticus 26:21 Lit walk with Me hostilely, and so throughout the ch
  7. Leviticus 26:26 Lit by weight
  8. Leviticus 26:30 Lit give
  9. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  10. Leviticus 26:30 Lit corpses
  11. Leviticus 26:36 Lit the flight of the sword
  12. Leviticus 26:43 Lit because and by the cause
  13. Leviticus 26:46 Lit by the hand of

Blessings of Obedience

26 [a]‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the Lord. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and [obediently] do them, then I will give you rain in its season, and the land will yield her produce and the trees of the field bear their fruit. And your threshing season will last until grape gathering and the grape gathering [time] will last until planting, and you will eat your bread and be filled and live securely in your land. I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. And you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight; your enemies will fall before you by the sword. For I will turn toward you [with favor and regard] and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish and confirm My covenant with you.(A) 10 You will eat the old supply of [abundant] produce, and clear out the old [to make room] for the new. 11 I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject nor separate itself from you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright [with heads held high as free men].

Penalties of Disobedience

14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not [obediently] do all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul rejects My ordinances, so that you will not [obediently] do all My commandments, and in this way break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to languish also. And you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat what you plant. 17 I will set My face against you so that [b]you will be struck down before your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.(B) 18 If in spite of all this you still will not listen to Me and be obedient, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 19 I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce].(C) 20 Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

21 ‘If then, you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times in accordance with your sins. 22 I will let loose the [wild] animals of the field among you, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you so few in number that your roads will lie deserted and desolate.(D)

23 ‘And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act [c]with hostility against Me, 24 then I also will act with hostility against you, and I will strike you seven times for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword on you that will execute vengeance for [breaking] the covenant; and when you gather together in your cities, I will send pestilence (virulent disease) among you, and you shall be handed over to the enemy.(E) 26 When I break your staff of bread [that is, cut off your supply of food], ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will ration your bread; and you will eat and not be satisfied.(F)

27 ‘Yet if in spite of this you will not [attentively] listen to Me but act with hostility against me, 28 then I will act with hostility against you in wrath, and I also will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.(G) 30 I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies upon the [crushed] bodies of your idols, and My soul will detest you [with deep and unutterable loathing].(H) 31 I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your sweet and soothing aromas [of offerings by fire].(I) 32 I will make the land desolate, and your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out the sword [of your enemies] after you; your land will become desolate and your cities will become ruins.(J)

34 ‘Then the land [of Israel] will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest, the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it.(K) 36 As for those who are left of you, I will bring despair (lack of courage, weakness) into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a scattered leaf will put them to flight, and they will flee as if [running] from the sword, and will fall even when no one is chasing them. 37 They shall stumble over one another as if to escape from a sword when no one is chasing them; and you will have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you. 39 Those of you who are left will rot away because of their wickedness in the lands of your enemies; also because of the wickedness of their forefathers they will rot away like them.

40 ‘If they confess their wickedness and the wickedness of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they have committed against Me—and also in their acting with hostility toward Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—then if their uncircumcised (sin-filled) hearts are humbled and they accept the punishment for their wickedness,(L) 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham, and remember the land.(M) 43 But the land will be abandoned by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment for their wickedness and make amends because they rejected My ordinances and their soul rejected My statutes. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so despise them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.(N) 45 But I will, for their sake, [earnestly] remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I have brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:1 Through Moses God explains clearly how He will bless the Israelites for their faithful obedience and repeatedly emphasizes that His blessings are contingent on Israel’s responsiveness. If the Israelites want God’s blessings, they must not take Him for granted.
  2. Leviticus 26:17 These verses specify the penalties for disobedience. The Scripture references indicate where the fulfillments of these prophecies are recorded. God keeps His word, whether a blessing or a judgment.
  3. Leviticus 26:23 Lit contrary to and so throughout the chapter.

26 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

13 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.