Leviticus 26
Expanded Bible
Rewards for Obeying God
26 “‘Don’t make idols for yourselves or set up ·statues [carved images] or ·memorials [pillars]. Don’t put stone statues in your land to bow down to, because I am the Lord your God [19:4; Ex. 20:4–6; Deut. 5:8–10].
2 “‘·Remember [Keep; Guard] my Sabbaths, and ·respect [fear] my ·Holy Place [sanctuary; 19:3, 30; 23:3; Ex. 20:8–14; Deut. 5:12–15]. I am the Lord.
3 “‘If you ·remember [keep; guard] my ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and commands and obey them, 4 I will give you rains at the right season [Deut. 11:14]; 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 and live ·safely [securely] in your land. 6 I will give peace to your country; you will lie down ·in peace, and no one will make you afraid [L and not be afraid]. I will keep ·harmful [dangerous] animals out of your country, and ·armies [L the sword] will not pass through it.
7 “‘You will ·chase [pursue] your enemies and ·defeat them, killing them with your [L they will fall before you by the] sword. 8 Five of you will ·chase [pursue] a hundred men; a hundred of you will ·chase [pursue] ten thousand men [Deut. 32:30; Josh. 23:10; Is. 30:17]. ·You will defeat your enemies and kill them with your [L They will fall before you by the] sword.
9 “‘Then I will ·show kindness to [L turn toward] you and ·let you have many children [L I will make you fruitful and multiply you]; I will ·keep my agreement [establish my covenant/treaty] with you. 10 You will ·have enough crops to last for more than a year [old grain long stored]. When you harvest the new crops, you will have to throw out the old ones to make room for them. 11 Also I will place my ·Holy Tent [sanctuary] among you, and I will not ·turn away from [L abhor] you. 12 I will walk with you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. I broke the ·heavy weights that were on your shoulders [bars of your yoke] and let you walk ·proudly [erect; standing tall] again.
Punishment for Not Obeying God
14 “‘But if you do not ·obey [keep; guard] me and ·keep [obey] all my commands, 15 and if you ·turn away from [disdain] my ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·hate [abhor] my ·laws [regulations], refusing to obey all my commands, you have broken our ·agreement [covenant; treaty]. 16 As a result, I will do this to you: I will ·cause terrible things to happen to [bring dread/terror on] you. I will cause you to have disease and fever that will destroy your eyes and slowly kill you. You will not have success when you plant your seed, and your enemy will eat your crops. 17 I will ·be [L set my face] against you, and your enemies will defeat you. These people who hate you will ·rule [exercise dominion] over you, and you will run away even when no one is ·chasing [pursuing] you.
18 “‘If after all this you still do not ·obey [listen to] me, I will ·punish [discipline] you seven times more for your sins. 19 I will break your great pride, and I will make the sky like iron and the earth like bronze [C there would be no rain]. 20 ·You will work hard, but it will not help [L Your strength will be for no purpose]. Your land will not grow any crops, and your trees will not give their fruit.
21 “‘If you still turn against me and refuse to ·obey [listen to] me, I will ·beat [strike] you seven times harder. The more you sin, the more you will be punished. 22 I will send wild animals to attack you, and they will ·take your children away from you and destroy [L bereave you and cut off] 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 [strike] you seven more times for your sins. 25 You broke my agreement, and I will ·punish [L have my revenge against] you. I will bring ·armies [L the sword] against you, and if you go into your cities for safety, I will cause ·diseases [plagues] to spread among you so that ·your enemy will defeat you [L you will be given into the enemy’s hand]. 26 ·There will be very little bread to eat; [L When I break your staff of bread,] ten women will ·be able to cook all [bake] your bread in one oven. They will measure [L by weight] each piece of bread, and you will eat, but you will ·still be hungry [L not be satisfied].
27 “‘If you still refuse to ·listen to [obey] me and still turn against me, 28 I will ·show [L turn against you with] my great anger; I will ·punish [discipline] you seven more times for your sins. 29 You will eat the ·bodies [flesh] of your sons and [L the flesh of your] daughters [Deut. 28:53–57; Is. 49:26; Jer. 19:9; Ezek. 5:10]. 30 I will destroy your ·places where gods are worshiped [L high places] and cut down your incense altars. I will pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols [2 Kin. 23:14–16]. I will ·hate [abhor] you. 31 I will ·destroy your cities [make your cities a ruin] and make your holy places ·empty [desolate], and I will not smell the pleasing smell of your offerings. 32 I will make the land ·empty [desolate] so that your enemies who come to live in it will be shocked at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will pull out my sword and destroy you. Your land will become empty, your cities a ·waste [ruin]. 34 When you are taken to your enemy’s country, your land will finally get its ·rest [sabbath; 25:1–7]. It will enjoy its ·time of rest [sabbath] all the time it lies empty. 35 During the time the land is empty, it will have the ·rest [sabbath] you should have given it while you lived in it [2 Chr. 36:21].
36 “‘Those of you who are left alive will ·lose their courage [L place despondency in their hearts] in the land of their enemies. ·They will be frightened by the sound of a leaf being blown by the wind [L The sound of a driven leaf will make them flee]. They will ·run [flee] as if someone were chasing them with a sword, and they will fall even when no one is ·chasing [pursuing] them. 37 They will fall over ·each other [L their brother/kinsman], as if ·someone were chasing them with [L before] a sword, even though no one is ·chasing [pursuing] them. You will not be strong enough to stand up against your enemies. 38 You will ·die [perish] among other nations and ·disappear in your enemies’ countries [L the land of your enemies will consume you]. 39 So those who are left alive will ·rot [or pine] away in their enemies’ countries because of their sins. They will also ·rot [or pine] away because of their ·ancestors’ [fathers’] sins.
There Is Always Hope
40 “‘But maybe the people will confess their sins and the sins of their ·ancestors [fathers]; maybe they will admit they turned against me and ·sinned [committed treachery] against me, 41 which made me turn against them and send them into the land of their enemies. If ·these disobedient people [L their uncircumcised hearts; Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4] are ·sorry for what they did [L humbled] and accept punishment for their sin, 42 I will remember my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with Jacob [Gen. 35:9–15], my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with Isaac [Gen. 26:24], and my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with Abraham [Gen 12:1–3; 15; 17], and I will remember the land. 43 The land will be ·left empty by its people [L forsaken/abandoned of them], and it will enjoy its ·time of rest [sabbath; 25:1–7] as it lies ·bare [desolate] without them. Then those who are left alive will accept the punishment for their sins. They will learn that they were punished because they ·hated [disdained] my ·laws [regulations] and ·refused to obey [abhorred] my ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements]. 44 But even though this is true, I will not ·turn away from [disdain] them when they are in the land of their enemies. I will not ·hate [abhor] them so much that I completely destroy them and break my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with them, because I am the Lord their God. 45 For their good I will remember the ·agreement with their ancestors [L former covenant/treaty], whom I brought out of the land of Egypt [C the covenant with Moses; Ex. 19–24] so I could become their God; the other nations saw these things. I am the Lord.’”
46 These are the ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements], ·rules [regulations], and ·teachings [laws; instructions] the Lord made between himself and the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai.
Leviticus 26
Revised Geneva Translation
26 ‘You shall make no idols or graven images. Nor shall you rear up any pillar. Nor shall you set any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
2 ‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My Sanctuary. I am the LORD.
3 ‘If you walk in My Ordinances and keep My Commandments, and do them,
4 ‘I will then send you rain in due season. And the land shall yield her increase. And the trees of the field shall give their fruit.
5 ‘And your threshing shall reach until the vintage. And the vintage shall reach until sowing time. And you shall eat your bread in abundance, and dwell in your land safely.
6 ‘And I will send peace in the land. And you shall sleep. And no one shall make you afraid. Also, I will rid the land of evil beasts. And the sword shall not go through your land.
7 ‘Also you shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you upon the sword.
8 ‘And five of you shall chase a hundred. And a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. And your enemies shall fall before you upon the sword.
9 ‘For I will have respect to you and make you increase and multiply you and establish My Covenant with you.
10 ‘You shall also eat old stores and clear out the old because of the new.
11 ‘And I will set My Tabernacle among you. And My Soul shall not loathe you.
12 ‘Also, I will walk among you. And I will be your God. And you shall be My people.
13 ‘I am the LORD your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their bondmen. And I have broken the bonds of your yoke and made you go upright.
14 ‘But if you will not obey Me, or do all these Commandments;
15 ‘and if you shall despise My Ordinances, or if your soul abhors My Laws (so that you will not do all My Commandments, but break My Covenant),
16 ‘then will I also do this to you: I will appoint fearfulness over you, a consumption and fever to consume the eyes and make the heart heavy. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 ‘And I will set My Face against you. And you shall fall before your enemies. And those who hate you shall reign over you. And you shall flee when no one pursues you.
18 ‘And if, after this, you will not obey Me, then will I punish you seven times more, according to your sins.
19 ‘And I will break the pride of your power. And I will make your Heaven as iron, and your Earth as brass.
20 ‘And your strength shall be spent in vain. Nor shall your land give her increase. Nor shall the trees of the land give their fruit.
21 ‘And if you walk stubbornly against Me, and will not obey Me, I will then bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins.
22 ‘I will also send wild beasts upon you, which shall rob you, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number. So your highways shall be desolate.
23 ‘Yet, if by these you will not be reformed by Me, but walk stubbornly against Me,
24 ‘then I will also walk stubbornly against you. And I will strike you yet seven times for your sins.
25 ‘And I will send a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of My Covenant. And when you are gathered in your cities, I will send the pestilence among you. And you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 ‘When I shall break the supply of your bread, then ten women shall bake your bread in one oven. And they shall deliver your bread again by weight. And you shall eat, but not be satisfied.
27 ‘Yet, after this, if you will not obey Me, but walk against Me stubbornly,
28 ‘then will I walk stubbornly in anger against you. And I will also chastise you seven times, according to your sins.
29 ‘And you shall eat the flesh of your sons. And the flesh of your daughters shall you devour.
30 ‘I will also destroy your high places and cut away your images and cast your carcasses upon the bodies of your idols. And My Soul shall abhor you.
31 ‘And I will make your cities desolate and bring your Sanctuary to nothing. And I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.
32 ‘I will also bring the land to a wilderness. And your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 ‘Also, I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be waste. And your cities shall be desolate.
34 ‘Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lies desolate. And you shall be in your enemies’ land. Then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths.
35 ‘All the days that it lies desolate, it shall rest, because it did not rest in your Sabbaths, when you dwelt on it.
36 ‘And upon those who are left, I will send a weakness into their hearts in the land of your enemies. And the sound of a leaf shaken shall chase them. And they shall flee as fleeing from a sword. And they shall fall, no man pursuing them.
37 ‘They shall also fall one upon another, as before a sword, though no one pursues them. And you shall not be able to stand before your enemies.
38 ‘And you shall perish among the heathen. And the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 ‘And those who are left shall rot in their iniquity, in your enemies’ lands. And in the iniquities of their fathers shall they rot also.
40 ‘Then they shall confess their iniquity, and the wickedness of their fathers, for their trespass which they have trespassed against Me; and also because they have walked stubbornly against Me.
41 ‘Therefore, I will walk stubbornly against them, and bring them into the land of their enemies. So, then, their uncircumcised hearts shall be humbled. And they shall willingly bear their iniquity.
42 ‘Then I will remember My Covenant with Jacob, and also My Covenant with Isaac. And I will also remember My Covenant with Abraham; and will remember the land.
43 ‘The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. But they shall willingly suffer their iniquity, because they despised My Laws, because their soul abhorred My Ordinances.
44 ‘Yet, notwithstanding this, when they shall be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away. Nor will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, to break My Covenant with them. For I am the LORD their God.
45 ‘But I will remember the Covenant of old for them, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the heathen, so that I might be their God. I am the LORD.’”
46 These are the Ordinances and the Judgments and the Laws which the LORD made between Him and the children of Israel, on Mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
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