Leviticus 26:17

17 I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you.

Leviticus 26:17 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 26:17

And I will set my face against you
Exert his power, and stir up his wrath and indignation against them, as enemies of his, to cut them off; see ( Psalms 34:16 ) ; which is the reverse of having respect to them, ( Leviticus 26:9 ) ; and ye shall be slain before your enemies;
as they were sometimes by the Philistines and others: and they that hate you shall reign over you;
as did the Chaldeans and Babylonians; see ( Psalms 106:41 ) ; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you;
of such pusillanimous spirits should they be, and filled with such dread and terror of their enemies, so contrary from what is promised them on their obedience, ( Leviticus 26:8 ) .

Leviticus 26:17 In-Context

15 despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant,
16 I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops.
17 I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you.
18 "And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins.
19 I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.