Rewards for Obeying God

26 “‘Don’t make idols for yourselves. Don’t set up statues or memorials. Don’t put stone statues in your land to bow down to. This is because I am the Lord your God.

² “‘Remember my Sabbaths, and respect my Holy Place. I am the Lord.

³ “‘Remember my laws and commands, and obey them. ⁴ If you do these things, I will give you rains at the right season. The land will produce crops. And the trees of the field will produce their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest. And your grape harvest will continue until it is time to plant. Then you will have plenty to eat. You will live safely in your land. ⁶ I will give peace to your country. You will lie down in peace. No one will make you afraid. I will keep harmful animals out of your country. And armies will not pass through your country.

⁷ “‘You will chase your enemies and defeat them. You will kill them with your sword. ⁸ Five of you will chase 100 men. And 100 of you will chase 10,000 men. You will defeat your enemies and kill them with your sword.

⁹ “‘Then I will show kindness to you. I will let you have many children. I will keep my agreement with you. ¹⁰ You will have enough crops to last for more than a year. You will harvest the new crops. And you will have to throw out the old crops to make room for the new ones. ¹¹ Also I will place my Holy Tent among you. I will not turn away from you. ¹² I will walk with you and be your God. And you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God. You were slaves in Egypt. You were bent low from the heavy weights you carried as slaves. But I broke the heavy weights that were on your shoulders. I let you walk proudly again.

Punishment for Not Obeying God

¹⁴ “‘But you must obey me. You must obey all my commands. ¹⁵ If you refuse to obey all my laws and commands, you have broken our agreement. ¹⁶ If you do that, I will cause terrible things to happen to you. I will cause you to have disease and fever. They will destroy your eyes and kill you. You will not have success when you plant your seed. And your enemy will eat your crops. ¹⁷ I will be against you, and your enemies will defeat you. These enemies hate you. And they will rule over you. You will run away even when no one is chasing you.

¹⁸ “‘If you still do not obey me, I will punish you seven times more for your sins. ¹⁹ And I will also break the great cities that make you proud. The skies will not give rain. The earth will not produce crops. ²⁰ You will work hard, but it will not help. Your land will not grow any crops. Your trees will not give their fruit.

²¹ “‘If you still turn against me and refuse to obey me, I will beat you seven times harder. The more you sin, the more you will be punished. ²² I will send wild animals to attack you. They will take your children away from you. They will destroy your cattle. They will make you so few in number the roads will be empty.

²³ “‘If you don’t learn your lesson after all these things, and if you still turn against me, ²⁴ I will also turn against you. I will punish you seven more times for your sins. ²⁵ You broke my agreement, and I will punish you. I will bring armies against you. You will go into your cities for safety. But I will cause diseases to spread among you. Then your enemy will defeat you. ²⁶ There will be very little bread to eat. Ten women will be able to cook all your bread in one oven. They will measure each piece of bread. You will eat, but you will still be hungry.

²⁷ “‘If you still refuse to listen to me, and if you still turn against me, ²⁸ I will really show my anger. I will punish you seven more times for your sins. ²⁹ You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters. ³⁰ I will destroy your places where false gods are worshiped. I will cut down your incense altars. I will pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols. I will hate you. ³¹ I will destroy your cities. I will make your holy places empty. I will not smell the pleasing smell of your offerings. ³² I will make the land empty. Your enemies who come to live in it will be shocked at it. ³³ I will scatter you among the nations. I will pull out my sword and destroy you. Your land will become empty. Your cities will become waste. ³⁴ You will be taken to your enemy’s country. So your land will finally get its rest. It will enjoy its time of rest all the time it lies empty. ³⁵ During the time the land is empty, it will rest. It will have the rest you should have given it while you lived in it.

³⁶ “‘Those who are left alive will lose their courage in the land of their enemies. They will be frightened of everything. They will be frightened by even the sound of a leaf being blown by the wind. They will run as if someone were chasing them with a sword. They will fall even when no one is chasing them. ³⁷ They will run as if someone were chasing them with a sword. They will fall over each other, even though no one is chasing them. You will not be strong enough to stand up against your enemies. ³⁸ You will die among other nations. You will disappear in your enemies’ countries. ³⁹ So those who are left alive will rot away in their enemies’ countries. They will rot away because of their sins and their ancestors’ sins.

There Is Always Hope

⁴⁰ “‘But maybe the people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors. Maybe they will admit they turned against me and sinned against me. ⁴¹ That made me turn against them. So I sent them into the land of their enemies. These disobedient people might be sorry for what they did. They might accept punishment for their sin. ⁴² If they do, I will remember my agreement with Jacob. I will remember my agreement with Isaac and Abraham. And I will remember the land. ⁴³ The land will be empty. It will enjoy its time of rest. Then those who are left alive will accept the punishment for their sins. They will learn that they were punished because they hated my laws. And they refused to obey my rules. ⁴⁴ They truly sinned. But if they come to me for help, I will not turn away from them. I will listen to them even in the land of their enemies. I will not completely destroy them. I will not break my agreement with them. This is because I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ For their good I will remember the agreement with their ancestors. I brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. I did it so I could become their God. The other nations saw these things. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the laws, rules and teachings the Lord gave the people of Israel. He gave these laws to the Israelites through Moses. This was at Mount Sinai.