Leviticus 26:1-13

Blessings of Obedience

1 'You shall not make for yourselves 1idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves 2an image or 3a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a 4figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.
2 '5You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD.
3 '6If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,
4 then 7I 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.
5 '8Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and 9live securely in your land.
6 '10I shall also grant peace in the land, so that 11you may lie down with no one making you tremble. 12I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and 13no sword will pass through your land.
7 'But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword;
8 14five 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.
9 'So I will turn toward you and 15make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will 16confirm My covenant with you.
10 '17You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because * of the new.
11 '18Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you.
12 '19I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
13 '20I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and 21I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Leviticus 26:1-13 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.

Cross References 21

  • 1. Leviticus 19:4; Deuteronomy 5:8
  • 2. Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 16:21
  • 3. Exodus 23:24
  • 4. Numbers 33:52
  • 5. Leviticus 19:30
  • 6. Deuteronomy 7:12-26; Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14
  • 7. Deuteronomy 11:14
  • 8. Deuteronomy 11:15; Joel 2:19, 26; Amos 9:13
  • 9. Leviticus 25:18, 19; Ezekiel 34:25
  • 10. Psalms 29:11; Psalms 85:8; Psalms 147:14
  • 11. Zephaniah 3:13
  • 12. Leviticus 26:22
  • 13. Leviticus 26:25
  • 14. Deuteronomy 32:30
  • 15. Genesis 17:6; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 48:4
  • 16. Genesis 17:7
  • 17. Leviticus 25:22
  • 18. Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45, 46; Ezekiel 37:26
  • 19. Genesis 3:8; Deuteronomy 23:14; 2 Corinthians 6:16
  • 20. Exodus 20:2
  • 21. Ezekiel 34:27

Footnotes 5

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.