Leviticus 26:6-16

6 And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and there shall not be {anybody who makes you afraid}, and I will remove harmful animals from the land, and {no sword shall pass through your land}.
7 And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword {before you}.
8 And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue a myriad; and your enemies shall fall by the sword {before you}.
9 And I will turn to you, and I will make you fruitful, and I will make you numerous; and I will keep my covenant with you.
10 And you shall eat {old grain}, and {you shall clear away the old before the new}.
11 And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people.
13 I [am] Yahweh, your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke, and I caused you to walk erectly.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 " 'But if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out all these commands,
15 and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self abhors my regulations, to not carry out all my commands [by] your breaking my covenant,
16 I {in turn} will do this to you: then I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed {in vain}, and your enemies shall eat it.

Leviticus 26:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 26

In this chapter, after a repetition of some laws against idolatry, and concerning keeping sabbaths, and reverencing the sanctuary of God, Le 26:1,2; in order to encourage the Israelites to keep the various statutes and commandments in this book, and in the preceding, many promises are made of plenty, and peace, and safety from enemies, and of the presence of God with them, Le 26:3-13; and on the contrary, to such as should despise and break his commandments, the most grievous things are threatened, as diseases of body, destruction by their enemies, barrenness and unfruitfulness of land, the sore judgments of wild beasts, famine, sword, and pestilence, Le 26:14-39; and yet after all, when they should confess their sins, and were humbled for them, the Lord promises to remember the covenant he made with their ancestors, and would deal kindly with them, and not cast them away, and utterly destroy them, Le 26:40-46.

Footnotes 19

  • [a]. Literally "who makes afraid" or "making afraid"
  • [b]. Literally "a sword shall not pass through in your land"
  • [c]. Literally "to your faces"
  • [d]. Hebrew "from"
  • [e]. Hebrew "from"
  • [f]. Or "ten thousand"
  • [g]. Literally "to your faces"
  • [h]. Literally "old what is stale"
  • [i]. Literally "old from the faces of new you shall bring out"
  • [j]. Or "soul"
  • [k]. Or "as a God for you"
  • [l]. Or "as a people for me"
  • [m]. Or "And"
  • [n]. Or "you do not do" or "you do not observe" or "you do not perform"
  • [o]. Or "soul"
  • [p]. Or "do" or "observe" or "perform"
  • [q]. Literally "also" or "indeed"
  • [r]. Or "and"
  • [s]. Literally "for the emptiness"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.