Leviticus 26:1-13
New English Translation
Exhortation to Obedience
26 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols,[a] so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before[b] it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You must keep my Sabbaths and reverence[c] my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
The Benefits of Obedience
3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and are sure to obey my commandments,[d] 4 I will give you your rains in their time so that[e] the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit.[f] 5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes,[g] and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so[h] you will eat your bread until you are satisfied,[i] and you will live securely in your land. 6 I will grant peace in the land so that[j] you will lie down to sleep without anyone terrifying you.[k] I will remove harmful animals[l] from the land, and no sword of war[m] will pass through your land. 7 You will pursue your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.[n] 8 Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and maintain[o] my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating stored produce from the previous year[p] and will have to clean out what is stored from the previous year to make room for new.[q]
11 “‘I will put my tabernacle[r] in your midst and I will not abhor you.[s] 12 I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves,[t] and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.[u]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 26:1 sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ʾelilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (ʾel, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”
- Leviticus 26:1 tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).
- Leviticus 26:2 tn Heb “and my sanctuary you shall fear.” Cf. NCV “respect”; CEV “honor.”
- Leviticus 26:3 tn Heb “and my commandments you shall keep and do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8; 25:18, etc.).
- Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
- Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “the tree of the field will give its fruit.” As a collective singular this has been translated as plural.
- Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”
- Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
- Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”
- Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
- Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and there will be no one who terrifies.” The words “to sleep” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “harmful animal,” singular, but taken here as a collective plural (so almost all English versions).
- Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.
- Leviticus 26:7 tn Heb “to the sword.”
- Leviticus 26:9 tn Heb “cause to arise,” but probably used here for the Lord’s intention of confirming or maintaining the covenant commitment made at Sinai. Cf. KJV “establish”; NASB “will confirm”; NAB “carry out”; NIV “will keep.”
- Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “old [produce] growing old.”
- Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “and old from the presence of new you will bring out.”
- Leviticus 26:11 tn LXX codexes Vaticanus and Alexandrinus have “my covenant” rather than “my tabernacle.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “my dwelling.”
- Leviticus 26:11 tn Heb “and my soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] will not abhor you.”
- Leviticus 26:13 tn Heb “from being to them slaves.”
- Leviticus 26:13 tn In other words, to walk as free people and not as slaves. Cf. NIV “with (+ your CEV, NLT) heads held high”; NCV “proudly.”
Leviticus 26:1-13
American Standard Version
26 Ye shall make you no idols, neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or [a]a pillar, neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down [b]unto it: for I am Jehovah your God. 2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 And five 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 And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you. 10 And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old [c]because of the new. 11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13 I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 26:1 Or, an obelisk
- Leviticus 26:1 Or, thereon
- Leviticus 26:10 Or, from before
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)