Leviticus 26:11-21

11 "I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won't avoid or shun you;

12 I'll stroll through your streets. I'll be your God; you'll be my people.

13 I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely. "But If You Refuse to Obey Me . . . "

14 "But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments,

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.

20 No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees.

21 "If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins:

Leviticus 26:11-21 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.