Leviticus 26:7-26

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

8 ¹Five 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.

9 ²I will turn to you and ³make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you.

10 You shall eat ⁴old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new.

11 ⁵I will make my dwelling^[a] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 ⁶And I ⁷will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

13 ⁸I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. ⁹And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 ¹⁰“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 ¹¹break my covenant,

16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with ¹²wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And ¹³you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 I will ¹⁴set my face against you, and ¹⁵you shall be struck down before your enemies. ¹⁶Those who hate you shall rule over you, and ¹⁷you 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 ¹⁸sevenfold for your sins,

19 and I will break ¹⁹the pride of your power, and I ²⁰will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

20 And ²¹your strength shall be spent in vain, for ²²your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

21 ²³“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.

22 And ²⁴I 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 ²⁵your roads shall be deserted.

23 “And ²⁶if by this discipline you are not turned to me ²⁷but walk contrary to me,

24 ²⁸then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

25 And ²⁹I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, ³⁰I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 ³¹When 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 ³²you shall eat and not be satisfied.

Leviticus 26:7-26 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

• 1. 26:8 [Deut. 32:30; Josh. 23:10; Isa. 30:17]
• 2. 26:9 2 Kgs. 13:23
• 3. 26:9 Neh. 9:23
• 4. 26:10 ch. 25:22
• 5. 26:11 Ezek. 37:26-28; [Rev. 21:3]
• 6. 26:12 Ex. 29:45; Cited 2 Cor. 6:16
• 7. 26:12 Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; Ezek. 11:20; 14:11; 36:28; 37:27; See Ex. 6:7
• 8. 26:13 See ch. 25:38
• 9. 26:13 Ezek. 34:27; [Jer. 27:2; 28:10, 13]
• 10. 26:14 [Lam. 2:17; Mal. 2:2]; See Deut. 28:15-68
• 11. 26:15 ver. 44; Deut. 31:20
• 12. 26:16 Deut. 28:21
• 13. 26:16 Deut. 28:33, 51; Job 31:8; Jer. 5:17; Mic. 6:15
• 14. 26:17 See ch. 17:10
• 15. 26:17 Deut. 28:25; Judg. 2:14; Jer. 19:7
• 16. 26:17 Ps. 106:41
• 17. 26:17 Prov. 28:1; [ver. 36; Ps. 53:5]
• 18. 26:18 ver. 21, 24, 28; 1 Sam. 2:5; Ps. 119:164; Prov. 24:16
• 19. 26:19 Ezek. 30:6; [Jer. 13:9]
• 20. 26:19 Deut. 28:23
• 21. 26:20 [Ps. 127:1; Isa. 49:4]
• 22. 26:20 [Hag. 1:10]; See ver. 4
• 23. 26:21 ver. 27
• 24. 26:22 Deut. 32:24; See ver. 6
• 25. 26:22 Judg. 5:6; Isa. 33:8; Lam. 1:4; Zech. 7:14
• 26. 26:23 Jer. 2:30; 5:3; See Amos 4:6-12
• 27. 26:23 [See ver. 21 above]
• 28. 26:24 2 Sam. 22:27; Ps. 18:26
• 29. 26:25 Deut. 32:25; Jer. 14:12; 24:10; 29:17, 18; Ezek. 5:17; 6:3; 14:17; 29:8; 33:2
• 30. 26:25 Num. 14:12; Deut. 28:21
• 31. 26:26 Ps. 105:16; Isa. 3:1; Ezek. 4:16; 5:16; 14:13
• 32. 26:26 Isa. 9:20; Mic. 6:14; Hag. 1:6

Footnotes

• [a] 26:11 Hebrew 'tabernacle'
• [b] 26:26 Hebrew 'staff'